The basic aim of prospect research is to optimize your organisation's chances of getting the largest donations it can from its prospective donors, or prospects.
So how do you do this?
Well, what you don't do is go out and buy the Sunday Times Rich List and select the first 100 people on the list, present them to your major donor fundraiser with a big grin on your face and then head off down the pub, a job well done.
That type of research, if it even deserves the title, may be quick and easy, but it is also impersonal and amateurish and will have a very low rate of return. It is, if you like, one end of the research scale. The arse end.
At the other end is Prospect Research. Oh yes, capitals.
In contrast to the first option, it is rarely quick and easy, never impersonal, and must always be carried out in a professional manner. It may be complicated, is invariably time consuming, and should be highly specific to your organisation. But if done properly, and with suitable support from an experienced major donor team, it will always result in significant donations. And that, in the end, is what we're after.
OK, so your overall aim is to optimize your organisation's chances of getting the largest donations it can, but what exactly does this involve?
First, it involves finding something that will put you ahead of the competition and persuade the prospect to support your organisation rather than the one down the road. And the one thing that will put you ahead of the competition, the one thing guaranteed to persuade the prospect to consider supporting you, is a genuine affinity with your cause.
Secondly, given that you wish to get donations of a certain size, it involves identifying and assessing wealthy prospects. And by wealthy, of course, we mean liquid wealth such as cash or shares. It's no use trying to cosy up to Lord Bloggs, 100th on the Sunday Times Rich List at £500 million, if £495m of this wealth is tied up in his stately home, artworks, antiques and jewellery, none of which he has any intention of selling. You need to be aware of a prospect's liquid wealth and, more importantly, how much of that he may be prepared to donate.
What is in this section?
Genuine Affinity - how to find those prospects who really dig your shit
The Cultivation Cycle - how does research fit into the 'bigger picture'?
- the Data Protection Act and ethical research - yeah, boring.