I met a guy who was previously a Vice President of Development at a decent-sized higher education institution. When he found out I was a prospect researcher he admitted that he never really did know what those prospect researchers did in his office. He was in charge, and he didn’t want to fire them, but there was a perception of zero value to him.
Since then I have met accomplished consultants and other nice fundraisers who are completely ignorant of what prospect research does – even though it is a critical piece of their success. Pretty wild, huh?
That’s like suggesting you know you need your cell phone, but you’re not sure why. You don’t have to know how to use every bell and whistle on the new phones, but you would be seriously limited if you didn’t have a cell phone at all. Why? Because you make phone calls with it!! Prospect research helps you focus on your best donor prospects. That’s pretty important!
I’m not exactly sure why the words “prospect research” make so many fundraising folks uncomfortable, but I’d like to do what I can to change that. As I was sitting at a conference contemplating this surprisingly common resistance to prospect research, I thought I might break it down with journalist questions. Here’s what I came up with:
| Who? | Identifying. Prospect research identifies which donors to spend time with. You wouldn’t start with “A” and go to “Z” for 10,000+ records, would you? (not even for 1,000 records!) |
| What? | Tracking. Prospect research creates tracking systems to ensure you know what actions you must accomplish to keep your prospects cultivated and eventually solicited. Can you keep up with 100+ prospects in your head? I think not. |
| Where? | Reporting. Prospect research helps you keep track of where you are in reaching your goals. Reporting on things like the number of proposals likely to close before fiscal year-end is critical for planning! |
| When? | Strategy. Want to know when you should send out those appeal letters? Want to know if you have capacity in your donor pool for a campaign goal? Prospect research informs strategies with your own donor data. |
| Why? | Money. To raise more money for your mission! Prospect research answers the strategic fundraising questions that lead to wildly successful fundraising programs. Period. |
So the next time you or I run into someone who claims ignorance of prospect research, we can say to them: “It’s so easy! Prospect research helps you focus on your best donor prospects.” And then when we get back to our offices and send the “nice to meet you” networking email, we can direct them to this blog post, which (I hope) quickly and easily explains the value prospect research has in any serious fundraising endeavor.
Whatcha think about that?