September 2008
CONTENTS:
1. Donor Trust and Prospect Research
2. Software Spotlight: PDF Search Engine
Donor Trust and Prospect Research
Greetings!
Trust is the backbone of philanthropy. When a donor gives away her money to a nonprofit organization she makes a leap of faith that those dollars will turn into positive action. As my visit to Prague comes to a close (I’m writing this from the airport) and I reflect on what I have learned about philanthropy in the Czech Republic, trust keeps bubbling up as the ingredient most needed to move people forward together.
Many nonprofit organizations in the U.S. have already built a high level of trust, but they continually need to maintain it. One of the “trust” questions I get asked in prospect research is how to tell trustees or campaign committees that prospect research is being completed on donors, especially on them.
There is no standard answer. It depends on where you are in the conversation with your special donors. If they have been kept apprised of your fundraising progress, if the research process has been carefully explained and questions have been answered, you are doing your job well. Some donors never need to know research is being conducted while others close to the decision making should be informed. If a donor demands to know why you thought she could give such a large gift, a thoughtful, positive and honest answer based on the data you know will go a long way toward strengthening your donor’s trust.
Avoiding the conversation or hiding the information is suspicious behavior. (Don’t forget that donors have a right to ask to review their file.) If research is being conducted in a sensitive manner with the goal of furthering the fundraising relationship, the nonprofit need not fear disclosure. If you read a profile and would not feel comfortable if the donor were reading over your shoulder, send it back to the researcher and ask that the offending or extraneous information be rewritten or omitted!
Whether you are in the U.S., the Czech Republic, or any other country, donor trust is essential for healthy philanthropy.
Software Spotlight: PDF Search Engine
PDF Search Engine is just that: a way to search for available pdf files based on keywords. Type in "prospect research" and the third result down is an excellent article titled Privacy and the Prospect Researcher by research veteran David Lamb.
The site is free. It brings up some junk like speaker bios, but can still be a useful way to find full-length articles and sometimes e-books on your topic.
Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts.
-Madame de Stael, writer (1766-1817)
FillaResearch helps organizations use research to create and maintain meaningful relationships with donors. We provide profiles on people, companies and foundations.
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