Mar 2008
CONTENTS:
1. The Question: To Profile or Not to Profile
2. Software Spotlight: To Google or Not to Google
3. Focus on FillaResearch
To Profile or Not to Profile
The more information you have on your prospects, the more major gifts you will raise. It sounds so simple – until you have to pay the bill for prospect research! As stewards of donated funds, it is important to ensure that the money you spend on prospect research efficiently furthers your fundraising goals.
Following are a few common sense rules of thumb to help you decide on the best use of contracted prospect research:
Am I going to ask for a big gift?
If you think it’s likely you will ask your prospect for $25,000 or more, order a full profile. If you suspect wealth, but don’t have screening software, ask for a snapshot profile focused on giving capacity.
Will I actually use the information in the profile?
If you are not sure the prospect wants to give to your organization, pick up the phone and start cultivating first! As you get closer to asking for a gift, request a full profile to help decide how much and what type of gift.
Will I gain new information?
If you have cultivated your prospect well and know enough to determine that all wealth indicators are private information (trusts, non-insider stock, etc.) a profile may not reveal anything you don’t already know.
Prospect research happens to be my favorite topic. So if you ever want to chat about whether to order that profile or creative ways to manage your research costs, just call me at 610.566.5113. I’d be delighted to help you find the right solution.
Software Spotlight:
To Google or Not to Google
Yahoo! is good, but it hasn't unseated Google just yet. If you don’t already know about them, here are some must use Google search tips:
• keyword site:www.sitenamehere.com =>
use this to search a domain exclusively for a keyword
• -keyword => use the hyphen before a keyword to return pages minus that term
• define:keyword => use this to find a definition for your keyword
FillaResearch helps organizations use research to create and maintain meaningful relationships with donors.
Contact FillaResearch and ask how we can help you find and get to know your major gift donors better. Call 610.566.5113 or email jen@fillaresearch.com.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward
College Administrator, Writer (1921-1994)
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The truly beautiful thing about traveling is that my business travels with me. You can still call me at the same phone number and email me at the same email address. My office hours will shift a little ending at 3pm ET. There are advantages for my clients with my move as well. For example, you might be able to convince your accounting department that a meeting in Prague should be considered a business expense, and if you have insomnia over one of your prospects you could call me as early as 2am ET! I might have concerns for your state of mind, but with the six hour time difference I will be awake to answer the phone. I expect to feature some fabulous photos from Prague over the next three newsletter issues so be on the lookout. I am also interested to learn more about doing research in Europe, especially relating to privacy laws and the impact of the European Union. If you want to know something specific, please let me know.Cheers, P.S. Don’t be shy! Just call or email me. We can talk big picture right down to technical details. "As a consultant working with a new client I approached FillaResearch because the organization needed to know more about its closest prospects to begin growing its major gifts. Instead of profiling all of the organization’s best prospects at once, Jen recommended starting with the ones who were being most actively cultivated. We did and the comprehensive information and analysis provided has been critical in building donor strategy." Corrine Sylvia, CFRE |
