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| Re: Database Screening and Prospect Research
Posted by Tony Poderis   on 7/5/2011, 9:14 am, in reply to "Database Screening and Prospect Research"
VIP Poster
I will give it go, and hope it helps.
Question No. 1: No experience lately, have I, and not with those particular screening companies when I had such screening done some years ago for our Orchestra. Others here may know about those resources you named, and of other such donor screening ideas. The second part of question No. 1, can be answered, I believe, in at least a couple of ways to consider:
--- asking those firms for a few references which you can contact for referral information.
--- that the cost of the search/screening may be expensive beyond practical results and useful application of results, depending upon the size of the database. You said that the organization’s database is “... relatively small.” How small, relatively speaking, will determine how many names you may submit to a wealth screening resource.
--- the best way to begin is to ask for a sample, trial run. Never the entire file at first, but, again, depending on the size of the database.
--- the fact that, while the goal is to get some idea of a given donor’s “wealth,” you cannot have any idea of that donor’s liabilities. So, don’t let any purveyor of such screening services tell you it is a sure bet they can provide the “net worth” of anyone.
But, it is a start, if accurate screenings pick up your donors’ ownership of securities, properties, etc. (Of course, all such data is publicly available, and may be obtained in other, free ways.)
You also do not need such screenings to come up with some reasonable idea of wealth from the zip codes of the donors, knowledge of what they give to other charities, “word-of-mouth,” etc.
Question No. 2: To my way of thinking, the quickest, least expensive by far, and the most reliable, is indeed to “... dig into this donor base (yourself) and begin to build it.”
If your review of the donor database, relative to seeking accurate-as-can-be estimates of real donation potential of each donor, was only with the Executive Director of the organization, you should be able to identify a few, if not several, other individuals close to the organization for some time, and who know the givers in the community.
With no more than about three such individuals convened at one time, or individually, you prepare them for a meeting with an assurance that a prospect identification and rating session with them would be one “strictly confidential” in order to seek their explicit ratings of potential giving of each and every name on the donor database.
I cannot know what is meant by the donor data “dump” you experienced with the ED, but if she or he did not look with thought and care at each name, one by one, and attempt to place an exact dollar amount next to each name, then the process should be repeated in that way. If M/M John Smith “could give $1,000,” then $1,000 is what they should be rated to for building up the donor giving table/chart. What the ED does not know, someone else in the organization surely must---including select donors themselves who are the most true believers in the organization.
I have conducted such identification, rating and evaluation sessions countless times, and they are an absolute must when it comes to wanting to know who has the money to give, and how much can they give if they choose to give it. It does no good to hand a listing of donors/prospects and expect anyone to tell you much about donation potential in a general, “dumping,” way. Say each and every name, and wait for a number, or no number, then move on and say the next name, from A to Z.
Though you are obviously experienced, in the event you need to convince the ED and other leaders of the importance of such ratings, do use my argument for that important process from my article:
--- Rating and Evaluating Prospects: Whom Do You Ask For How Much
http://www.raise-funds.com/1998/rating-and-evaluating-prospects-whom-do-you-ask-for-how-much/
Having in hand the names of the donors, and a blank space next to each name for the placement of the agreed-upon suggested donation to be sought, is truly the only way to begin to meet any fund-raising goal.
http://www.raise-funds.com/worksheets-forms/
(Scroll down to the section, “Rating Prospects for Goal Setting”)
Finally, at any time in the process---it is never too early or too late---use any and all of the donor cultivation/stewardship tools available to you, working to the following guide.
--- Building Donor Loyalty
A Goal For Every Organization
http://www.raise-funds.com/2003/building-donor-loyalty-chapter-1/
Best fund-raising wishes,
Tony
Tony Poderis
http://www.raise-funds.com
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