Why Prospect Research Is So Important to Gift Development

Prospect research is fundamental to guiding fundraising strategy and vital to identifying which potential donors have not only the inclination, but the financial capacity to support your nonprofit. Properly completed, prospect research can greatly reduce the time and effort spent by gift officers to find the most likely and wealthiest supporters. Without first identifying potential donors, major gift and planned giving officers will proceed blindly into the vast plethora of the donation world without information or direction.

The benefits of prospect research cannot be overestimated. Good research will answer the following questions:

Who are our best donors at present? Is it possible to increase gifts from them?
What are our donors’ existing connections to other nonprofits? Are the missions of those nonprofits similar to ours?
Can charitable giving histories be constructed? If yes, then what would be the appropriate “ask” amounts based on these histories?
Which of our donors might be better planned giving prospects than be inclined to make major gifts right now?
How do we find donors who have not already been approached?
Should major givers be segmented by dollar amount to facilitate pursuing the most generous ones first?
How will we track the relationship process with each prospect?
Should we make and continually update a list of present and potential supporters for future fundraising events?

Once the above questions are answered, the gift-development cycle can be successfully launched, and the relationship-building process with each prospect will be much easier to start with face-to-face meetings. Since the number of givers has now been pared down and prioritized to a manageable group, gift officers’ efforts will be more efficient.

Edward Stephon
Staff Writer, Major Gifts Today

Caitlin Fillmore

Cait is a former nonprofit executive with extensive fundraising and marketing experience in human service, healthcare, arts, religious, and animal organizations. Throughout her career, Cait focused on elevating transparency and storytelling at nonprofits in Iowa and California. Cait studied journalism at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa and worked as a reporter before her nonprofit career. Born and raised in the Midwest, Cait moved to California in 2017. She now works as a freelance writer and spends her free time cooking and cheering on the Chicago Bears. You can view her work at www.caitlinslhfillmore.com.

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Why Prospect Research Is So Important to Gift Development

The benefits of prospect research cannot be overestimated. Good research will answer the following questions:

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