September 2009
CONTENTS:
1. Letter from Jen
2. Are you losing your prospects?
3. Resource Spotlight: Pipl.com
4. Focus on Aspire Research: APRA FL President-Elect
Greetings!
The Labor Day weekend is over and so is summer. It means time for learning and waiting for school buses and for fundraisers it means reconnecting with donors and prospects that were away on vacation or kicking that campaign back into high gear.
Here at Aspire Research Group we are working on meeting current demand for prospect profiles while developing new services like data analysis for blossoming nonprofits and a well-rounded service package for organizations seeking an ongoing prospect research program.
Jen Filla
President,
Aspire Research Group LLC
P.S. The Information Seeking list of recipients increased 20% in July and August. Thank you so much for your interest!
P.P.S. Please do not be shy with questions or commentary on prospect research. You can always expect a warm welcome at 610-566-5113 or jen at aspireresearchgroup.com
Are you losing your prospects?
All of us are focused on finding good prospects – for annual fund, major gifts, events – you name it. (I am always on the lookout for a few good clients myself!) But do we need expensive new services to find more good prospects or can we do more with what we have?
How many of you have ever watched the Road Runner cartoon? Wile E. Coyote would start out with some pretty clever ideas on catching the Road Runner, but they never worked. If he would have just revised his scheme the tiniest bit he would have caught the Road Runner. Instead he goes down an ever more violent path that usually destroys him and he never does catch the Roadrunner (except that he is an invincible cartoon, of course).
Now pretend your major gift donor prospects are Road Runners and you are Wile E. Coyote. Instead of using a prospect tracking system, you keep trying different approaches to cultivation. Instead of pursuing your original (possibly undocumented) cultivation plan, every time you finally remember or have time to focus on your best prospects, you forget exactly which direction you had been going and start anew.
Whether you have a high-end donor database with a prospect tracking module or need to create a system within your database, if you are serious about raising major gifts consistently you have to keep the donor prospect moving with a consistent message – about your organization and your attitude toward the prospect. Prospect tracking systems are an industry best practice because they work. You are excellent at starting and building relationships. Put the two together and you will catch far more Road Runners!
Prospect tracking systems can be as simple as notes on your calendar and a written cultivation strategy to as complex as database coding for multiple solicitor relationships and performance-based dollar, date and action steps. As you know so well, the real cost is in the methodical cultivation effort not the haute couture of a system.
Without a method for tracking prospects, some prospects are bound to get lost or mishandled. Can you afford to lose any prospects?
Pipl is one very cool little tool. It is a people-search-engine that can. Type in your prospect’s name and in a wonderful summary-style format it finds information from some of the “deep web” such as state corporation records databases. Like all generic search tools the information needs to be verified (unless you want to believe that I have been licensed to practice law in CO since 2000), but it is a great shortcut start to your search.
Focus on Aspire Research: APRA FL President-Elect
Have you heard of the Association of Professional Fundraisers for Advancement, otherwise known as APRA? Now you have!
Jen Filla is honored to be president-elect of the Florida chapter this year and determined to broaden educational opportunities and discussions on ethics in prospect research in Florida.
Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
Aspire Research Group helps organizations use research to create and maintain meaningful relationships with donor prospects. We provide profiles on people, companies and foundations.
Contact Aspire Research Group and ask how we can help you find and get to know your major gift donors better. Call 610.566.5113 or email jen at aspireresearchgroup.com