May 2008
CONTENTS:
1. How much info do you need for the first visit?
2. Software Spotlight: Property Shark
3. Focus on FillaResearch: Coriell Institute
How much info do you need for the first visit?
Some gift officers go on a first visit with very little information and others insist on a complete profile before picking up the phone. Which is the best method? Both!
If you suspect the prospect will want to make a gift at the first meeting or if your prospect is elderly, having a full profile can help to maximize the gift and try to minimize possible embarrassments like a recent death or financial set-back. Other times, a gift at a certain level with no other information can be enough to trigger a first visit to qualify a prospect.
In between all and nothing is the screening profile. It focuses on wealth: occupation, real estate and other assets, and giving history. Using primarily paid databases, in one or two hours a researcher can deliver an abbreviated profile that gives you a pretty firm grasp on the ability to give.
Screening profiles are best when:
• You need to confirm ability to give before spending time and resources
• Time or other circumstances won't allow a full profile
Software Spotlight: Property Shark
Most people know how well Zillow estimates home values and price trends, but Property Shark is another powerful tool with free registration. Property Shark is limited to 6 free searches a day and a cluster of states in the Northeast, but unlike Zillow, it produces the last owner of record. It is particularly useful for those elusive and exclusive New York cooperative apartments.
"Thank you for the wealth screening profiles. I’m always amazed with what you give me! The information was especially useful with the older prospects that have been generous for so many years. I have a better idea of who their peers are now and how to approach them."
Maren Gaughan
Executive Director of Development
Coriell Institute for Medical Research
|
Dear Friend, On my first two visits to Prague I could not take enough pictures of the churches, gothic spires, and beautifully carved doors and sculptures. Now that I have been living in Prague for a month, my focus has changed. I find myself more interested in its people, neighborhoods and habits. I enjoy watching people with their dogs and greeting shop owners in Czech. A similar shift has occurred with you, my clients. Last year most of you were focused on asking prospects for a gift and needed comprehensive profiles. As I have been talking and listening to you, identifying and confirming major gift prospects has come into focus as another important priority. Screening profiles that are quick and sharply focused on wealth scope out your prospect “neighborhood” and help you get beyond the obvious tourist attractions and into your organization’s broader donor community. So put on your walking shoes and let’s go meet the neighbors! Cheers, P.S. It is exciting to hear about your programs, your donors and your goals. Thank you for sharing! |
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.
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)