Tag Archives: major gift

Gift acceptance: Boldly look a gift horse in the mouth!

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Prospect research is all about finding assets and drooling over the gift possibilities, but at today’s AFP Suncoast chapter meeting, I heard all about the challenges of accepting some of those non-traditional assets as gifts. Two accountants from Gregory Sharer & Stuart, Catherine Mary Sullivan and Amy Mierzejewski told us to be prepared to boldly look the gift horse in the mouth!

Taxes and audits are not easy lunch conversation, but Catherine and Amy walked us through the important parts of a gift acceptance policy and why we should have one. Talking to donor prospects is always a delicate dance and having a gift acceptance policy gives you:

*  A graceful way to let the prospect know you’ll be inspecting the opportunity with counsel and possibly decline the gift
*  Talk about who needs to pay for the costs incurred by accepting the gift, such as appraisals and valuations
*  And lets the prospect know your organization is a good steward of its mission by accepting only the gifts it is capable of using

As part of the conversation, Catherine and Amy touched upon the many issues that arise with gifts like gold coins, real estate, gift annuities and more. And of course, it was quite clear that they are accountants and we are fundraisers – which is to say that if I ever had to consider accepting an unusual gift, I would definitely call Gregory Sharer & Stuart for their expertise and NOT try to do it myself!

Prospect research is the same way. If you just need preliminary information to make a first visit with a prospect, Google away. But if you are going to ask for big-hairy-scary-gift, you need to call on someone like Aspire Research Group to provide you with a donor prospect profile that will make sure you walk away with the major gift that rewards your organization *and* respects the donor.

Do you need a donor prospect profile? Contact Aspire Research Group today.

A Call to Donors Who Can Appreciate the Mission

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“The worst thing for artists is not to have the money available to carry out the ideas they have in their heads,” says Mark Bradford, explaining the thought that went into his $100,000 donation to create the Artists2Artists Fund.

Bradford would know. An article in the Wall Street Journal describes him as once being a financially struggling artist himself; one who was greatly helped by the award of a $50,000 fellowship grant from nonprofit organization United States Artists (USA). It’s important to him now to make available monetary grants for other artists who are in the same spot he once was.

An artist born and raised in Los Angeles with two degrees from California Institute of the Arts according to art21, Bradford is the lead donor to the Artists2Artists Fund of USA, which is designed in an innovative way as to best use social networking for community fundraising.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the  Artists2Artists Fund will be financed by established artists, and will match funds received through USA Projects, which is a social-network fundraising website. Artists can create their own pages on the website, where their works and ideas for future works will be displayed. People donate money for a specific artist to USA, which matches their gift. Of the funds raised, 81% goes to the artist and the other 19% covers program and website expenses.

So how does a nonprofit come by a donor as valuable as Mark Bradford? Look to his story. He is someone who appreciates the value of USA’s mission because his success, at least in part, grew from it. Bradford was the recipient of aid, and is now the leading donor to USA’s budding project. And his donation goes beyond just money– along with the $100,000 major gift he provided, he is also helping USA blaze a new trail for arts philanthropy by starting up a social-network fundraising website and encouraging successful artists to give back.

It is interesting that no gift from Mark Bradley could be found to the California Institute of the Arts where he received two degrees. One of Mr. Bradley’s primary motivations to give to USA was giving back. Why didn’t he want to give back to his alma mater? Did the Institute ask? Do they just not publicly recognize their alumni gifts? After a visit to their website I couldn’t even find a place to make a gift. From appearances, it would seem that the Institute missed a golden opportunity with Mark Bradley.

Mr. Bradley’s primary giving motivation appears to be to give back, but he also gave back in a way that mirrors his art and expressed values. In his art he re-purposes paper, twine and other materials he finds out in the world. He makes art possible from various discarded materials. The Artists2Artists Fund takes small gifts from many people and pulls them together to create a matching grant to an artist. Technology makes it possible to turn small gifts into a real opportunity for a struggling artist.

USA recognized that one of its previous aid recipients was now a successful artist. They took the time to listen to his interests and created a gift opportunity that matched Mark Bradley’s needs as well as their mission. Do you have a way to identify those who receive your services and move on to financial and other success? Once you identify the person, do you have a way to find out how to best connect?

Aspire Research Group helps organizations across the country find better ways to connect with donors. By preparing comprehensive, in-depth profiles on donor prospects we have helped clients just like USA learn enough about their prospects to reach out in a meaningful way by identifying board memberships, peers who could solicit, past giving history, wealth and so much more. You can bet that USA did their research before asking Mark Bradley for a gift. Have you done yours?

To learn more about donor prospect profiles, visit www.AspireResearchGroup.com or call (800) 494.4132.

There's a new blogger in town!

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There is a lot to be said about the prospect research and fundraising community. People are saying it all the time– on blogs, on Facebook, in news articles, and just about everywhere else that writing can be published. All of these opinions, facts, and experiences are out there waiting to be digested…so who gets the job?

Me! I’m Jakki, the new Marketing Intern at Aspire Research Group.

My job is to take a deep look into how prospect research is at work in the fundraising community, digest the material, and present it to you, the people who want to know, right here on this blog. My goal is to give you insight into others’ experiences in the field, feature real-life stories about landing major gifts, and hopefully give you an idea of the kinds of benefits that can be gained from using the services that Aspire Research Group provides.

So keep an eye out for my weekly guest-blogs. Feel free to comment with feedback, or your own opinions on whatever I cover for the week. The fundraising community is full of people looking to add on to what they already know…so why don’t we learn together?

An easy-to-use, kickbutt cultivation strategy tool

4Fundraisers, Focused Fundraising, , , , ,

I usually attract two types of clients: those that want to identify major gift prospects and those that want research on identified prospects. No matter which service I provide, sometimes my clients get stalled on the next steps. You might have the donor prospect right there in front of you, but over time the path to a gift gets as lost as Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs in the forest of development activities.

Prospect research consultants (including me) often talk about moves management or relationship management systems. These are powerful tools capable of catapulting your major giving to a new level. But there is another tool you can easily customize that gives you a laser-like focus on one donor prospect at a time. Just like the one you have in front of you right now. 

Creating a Cultivation Strategy document is easier than you might think. This document should highlight key considerations such as capacity to make a gift, when you expect to ask for a gift (average is 18 months out), primary giving motivations and other vital pieces of information. But the true beauty of a Cultivation Strategy document is the action steps section.

Using everything you know about the donor prospect you have to sketch out the actions and completion dates that take you to the day you solicit the gift (just like a roadmap). If you have just identified a prospect these actions might be vague and the dates might just have the month. In the worksheet I created  each action requires you to list the objectives. Those objectives are the lasers!

When you sketch out your actions for the first time you will immediately recognize just how short the time really is between your start date and your solicitation date. Yikes! Knowing the objective, the outcome you desire from each action, ensures you stay on track. No meandering. None of the “let’s just pick another prospect” because you dropped the ball on the first one.

At Aspire Research Group we want you to close more major gifts. Gifts reward your donors, the people you serve and you. Call or email us today to find out how we can help you close more major gifts.

A challenge to prioritize a LARGE list of donors

Focused Fundraising, Fundraising Analytics, , , , ,

I spoke on the phone with a prospective client. She described a type of fundraising I have never had contact with before and yet we came up with a guerilla prospect research strategy to help her meet her goal.

She is a gift officer for a regional affiliate of a national organization tasked with getting 10 new major gifts before the end of the fiscal year in June. Her research budget is under $2,000.

The donors at the gift levels below major gift in her geographic area number in the thousands. There was a wealth screening performed, but no ratings for likelihood to give. Other affinity indicators are just now being recorded, such as event attendance, but have not been recorded in the past. Choosing among thousands based on capacity alone has not yielded good donor prospects. She needed help!

At first I suggested looking at recency and frequency and the consultant who had brought me to the table recommended identifying high lifetime giving. It felt like a slap on the face to me to learn that none of those were good affinity indicators for her. Her organization was a direct mail machine operating as if it were selling widgets instead of asking for gifts. The only donors kept in the database and solicited were those who gave every single year. If you stop giving you are dropped from the list. New donors are acquired every year.

Recency is irrelevant because otherwise the donor is not solicited. Frequency is a given or the donor is dropped from the list. Lifetime giving is high because those that stop giving are dropped from the list.

Think about that for a minute. Imagine yourself, a gift officer, alone in the ocean treading water watching a huge wave of donors approaching you. There is no shallow water of engagement to allow donors to walk closer to the organization’s shore. No surf to get donors excited about being the ones who can change the landscape of the cause. Instead it feels enormous and insurmountable. She will be swallowed by all that water – all those donors that look the same.

And she needs 10 new donors giving cash at a certain level or higher. In eight months.

Lucky for her, there is one prospect researcher on staff. Not so lucky is that he supports the entire national organization. And a wealth screening did add capacity ratings to each donor record. But how can she identify affinity to get a good prospect list?

In order to narrow the list on a very small budget, I suggested pulling all donors at two levels below the target gift level who also have a high capacity rating AND high lifetime giving. The cream of the crop from that list can be checked, one at a time if necessary, to see if a gift at the desired level has been made to any charity using NOZA or DonorSearch.

She will start with a small number, around 50, and begin calling each one to get a visit. Starting small ensures narrowing the list this way actually yields good prospects and gives her a chance to tweak her approach. The consultant had some strategies for getting that first visit including a warm-up letter. I can support her with donor prospect profiles when she is close to a large gift.

When a prospect researcher works intimately with a gift officer the results can be magical. I enjoy being part of a team. Knowing that the pleasure I take in data can be translated by gift officers into a donor’s love affair with a worthy organization keeps me LOVING my job!

If you are looking for a prospect researcher to work with you to reach your fundraising goal, click here to contact me.

Videos on the Art of the Ask

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The American College has made a series of five videos that walk you through the cultivation and asking of a donor prospect. They are called “Donor Dialogues: The Art of the Ask” and they are AWESOME! Really, really!

Don’t even let me hear you think it: FIVE videos, Jen? I’m not sitting through FIVE YouTube videos. But I bet that once you see the first one you’ll be hooked. We’re talking some great discussion *and* role-play. Yes, you read that correctly: ROLE PLAY. And you don’t even have to get up in front of an audience. Told you it was good.

And of course video #3 talks about the importance of prospect research as you get closer to asking for a major gift. Granted he calls it “legal stalking” which has an awful connotation, but I’m going to let that slide because overall the series is very professionally produced, pleasant to watch, and grossly informative (touché!).

How to use Prospect Profiles for Successful Solicitations

4Fundraisers, Focused Fundraising, Major Gift Teams, , , ,

Sometimes when I tell fundraisers that my firm does a lot of prospect profiles they balk at the perceived price tag. “I can find everything I need to know on Google – for free.” But we all know that doesn’t ring true. The real cost is when you ask for $10,000 and the prospect was ready to give at least $100,000.

How much you know about your major gift prospect matters. You work hard to engage your prospect and when you walk through the door and ask for a major gift, you expect the answer to be “yes”. Or better yet, “I need to talk with my accountant”. The people your organization serves deserve those major gifts and it is your job to raise them.

What the Fundraisers Say

But the answer isn’t always “yes”. In his article, “Prospect Research: A Tool for Professionalism in Fund Raising“, Michael J. Worth, Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs at The George Washington University writes the following …way back in 1991:

“The greatest risk in fund raising is that too little will be known about the donor, resulting in approaches that are ill-conceived, insensitive, and ineffective.”

Ouch!

Even further back in time, in 1933, John D. Rockefeller Jr. commented, “You cannot deal successfully with all people the same way. Therefore, it is desirable to find out something about the person you are going to [visit]…. Information such as this puts you more closely in touch with him and makes the approach easier.”

Professionally researched prospect profiles give you the information you need to prepare for successful solicitations. Online resources continue to improve and prospects are posting more and more information about themselves publicly. A prospect researcher is skilled at homing in on the most important information and checking the most reliable sources. Moving through the solicitation process without a prospect profile is like driving naked – you might not get caught the first time, but eventually you will be embarrassed!

Exactly How to Use the Information

Major gift donors are sophisticated and savvy. Flatter them with your knowledge of their business and philanthropy. Listen carefully to discover what can’t be found online – their personal motivations for giving and their values. Don’t alarm them with facts on their real estate, securities holdings and other wealth.

Instead, keep your knowledge of their wealth in the back of your mind so you can effortlessly respond, moving gracefully into an ask that is welcomed and answered with an enthusiastic “Yes! …just let me talk to my accountant”.

  • Are you choosing your prospects randomly?
  • Do you feel like you are going on prospect visits blind?
  • Are you confident in your ask amount?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, call Aspire Research Group today to learn how we can help: 727 202 3405 or visit www.AspireResearchGroup.com

Snooping on Facebook

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Hot new post on the blog {grow} called “Snooping on Facebook: Not Just for Stalkers Anymore” is written by a young intern at a private non-profit foundation. What could she be doing? Prospect research of course!

Smart and intuitive, she was able to find a celebrity sports player’s home address and other information by connecting information to his new wife’s publicly posted picture and friends on Facebook.

To all you prospect researchers out there I’m going to step out on a limb here and say…who hasn’t done this type of searching? I’ve found that being able to match a photograph when other things like home address and date of birth aren’t available has been a boon.

I’d also like to ask: How many news articles about the ability of people and software to connect multiple pieces of public information into a shockingly detailed truth about someone does it take before the public accepts the reality and/or changes behavior?

In the meantime, I feel a bit of job security that the kind of intuitive sleuthing we do as a profession is not a skill most people have developed and if the history of people’s aversion to change is any indicator, this info and more will continue to be available. After all, she didn’t name names because that would be unethical, so her “Mr. Schmoogley” is not likely to ever know he’s been snooped upon. Prospect researchers care deeply about such things as privacy. I’d venture say we care more deeply than most about privacy.

Now I think I might have to go and write a pitch for a new TV show that spotlights me, prospect researcher, combining multiple clues through my acute observation and intuition and landing the biggest gifts ever. Oh wait! That’s been done for something much sexier: solving crimes… Psych!

I wish I had some cryptic 80’s reference to throw in, but I don’t so I’ll just have to thank my colleague, Jay Frost, for pointing out this great article on PRSPCT-L. Thanks Jay!

Cultivation and Research: Salting the Prospect Soup

4Fundraisers, ,

saltshakersmI’d like you to imagine that prospect research is like salt. Too little salt and your food tastes bland, but too much and you end up bloated with water. No matter what the size of your budget or development shop you should always be using prospect research. The trick is using just the right amount. So how much research do you need when a prospect is in the cultivation phase?

Some of the best information comes from face-to-face contact with prospects. Before going on a visit or making a phone call decide what you want to find out next. Do they have children and grandchildren? This affects estate planning. Do they give to others? Where is your organization on their top ten list? Where is their wealth coming from?

As you are gathering critical information in-person, back at the office a prospect researcher can help you connect the pieces. You might ask your researcher to:

  • Get initial wealth/asset verification before continuing visits
  • Investigate likely compensation or confirm company ownership
  • Look for a family foundation or confirm a directorship

Sometimes development staff make the mistake of wanting “everything you get” on a prospect before even picking up the phone. In many cases over-researching in the beginning of a relationship is really procrastination, which can lead to lots of information and not enough gifts!

During cultivation you need just enough information to keep the relationship progressing toward a major gift. In July we will discuss how to keep track of all this information during cultivation.