Not every nonprofit can afford to implement a system of prospect rating, or pay for a wealth/gift capacity screening project. Not every nonprofit can afford an in-house research staff. That doesn’t negate the need to identify the most promising constituents to cultivate for major individual gifts.
Here are some practical and affordable tips on how you can mine your constituents list to find the most promising possible donors. I have addressed only seven examples; you can add others to your list of factors to consider based on your organizational profile and record- keeping capabilities. But this is a good starting point.
If your organization has a donor database look for existing data fields you can use to locate data and compile your version. If need be you can create a spreadsheet or a separate database to manage this information.
I recommend you add a numerical score to each category, using the examples noted below, to help you determine who to contact first. For each person rated, note your points for each item, then total them at the end. Sort the scores from all those you have rated and start at the top of the list.
1.PROSPECT RATING: if you numerically rate readiness to give and capacity to give this is a great place to start. Add all the other ratings suggested below to this first numeral. If you’re unfamiliar
with Prospect Rating Codes contact me to share a sample with you.
2.RELATIONSHIP TO YOUR NONPROFIT (student/client/patient/patron/etc) Has the possible donor been a recipient of your programs and services? Add a point for each year of activity, or for each occasion.
3.ACTIVITY WITH YOUR NONPROFIT (board member, key volunteer, attends events, etc). The recency and frequency of involvement can tell you a lot about interest. You might score a point for each incidence within, say, the past three years.
4.BIRTHDATE: Age may be an indicator of the accumulation and availability of giftable assets. Prospects with school-or college-age children may not yet have disposable income or assets. Retirees may be in a greater position to give. You might, for example, assign a point for each decade older than 40.
5.GIVING SUMMARY to your nonprofit. Among those donors who have not yet made major gifts, consistency may be more valuable than gift amounts. Scoring can be simple – award a point for each consecutive year a gift has been made.
6.EMPLOYER: Is there potential for a corporate gift as well as a personal one? Add a point.
7.BUSINESS TITLE: This can be especially valuable if your prospect is the business owner or principal, a likely decision maker. Score a point here.
This all looks pretty straightforward at a glance, but things are rarely as simple as we wish. You may find it easy to manage this sort of research for a list of several dozen names. Scoring hundreds, even thousands, is another thing entirely. So start with what is usually considered the most valid factor – giving history.
Within your existing data management system sort your donors based on years of consistent giving to identify your most loyal donors. If the number you identify who have given for three – five years is still too large to run through the rating plan, run that list again based on lifetime giving amount. Start at the top of that list. Pick up the phone.
What a terrific problem to have more names than you can contact within a month. What you will have done is generate your major gift suspects list for the entire year.