Wealth screening is an essential tool to help you identify your best prospects, engage with them and secure major gifts. By understanding a person’s capacity, affinity and proximity, you can tailor your fundraising approach and build stronger relationships with potential donors. With the right approach and engagement, wealth screening can help transform your major gift fundraising.
However, before you embark on your wealth screening journey, you must be transparent and tell your supporters about any research you’re planning to ensure that you comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
In this article, we’ll look at wealth screening and how charities can use it to build better donor relations.
What is wealth screening?
Wealth screening is the process of systematically identifying potential donors who have the capacity to give significant gifts. This involves analysing publicly available data about individuals, including their estimated wealth, giving history and corporate and social interests. Wealth screening can help you identify your best prospects, engage with them and secure major gifts.
Telling your supporters
Under GDPR you must be transparent about how you collect and use personal data for fundraising activities. For wealth screening, you will generally be relying on legitimate interest. This means informing your supporters about the specific purposes for which their personal data will be used (i.e. research) and providing them with the option to opt out of data processing is a critical part of your compliance process. You can do this by updating your privacy notice so it reflects the type of research activities you plan to undertake. Your privacy notice should be clear and concise – a good way to ensure it’s fit for purpose is to have someone else read it and explain it back to you.
Communication is key
When you implement wealth screening as part of your fundraising strategy, it’s a chance to communicate openly and honestly with your donors about the process. Transparency fosters trust and strengthens your relationship with donors, ensuring they feel respected and valued. By being upfront about wealth screening, you demonstrate your commitment to ethical fundraising practices, building a foundation of trust that can lead to increased support and long-term donor engagement.
Ensure you are transparent and upfront with your supporters when it comes to any type of data processing activity. If you’ve updated your privacy policy to reflect additional data processing, tell your supporters about the changes and provide them with the opportunity to opt out. Being transparent and respectful of people’s privacy is not only the right thing to do, but it will help build trust and develop an ongoing relationship with your donors.
Keep data minimisation at the heart of your research
One of the key principles of the GDPR is the concept of “data minimisation”. This requires that you only collect and process the minimum amount of personal data necessary to achieve your specific purpose. This applies to all fundraising activities and organisations should only collect and process personal data that is necessary for their fundraising efforts.
Make sure that you’re taking a privacy-by-design approach and that your organisation has the appropriate measures in place to protect individuals’ data. This should include things like encryption, device access controls and regular backups. Outline the steps you’ll take to protect individuals’ data in your data protection policy.
At Prospecting for Gold, we specialise in research, wealth screening, consultancy and regulatory compliance, making fundraising more effective and successful.
Wealth screening can help you expand your donor base and boost your fundraising. By understanding your supporters, you can personalise your approach, making your fundraising efforts more effective and efficient.
Successful major gift fundraising isn’t just about securing a donation. It’s about building relationships, understanding people’s motivations and aligning their interests with your cause.
To find out how we can help you on your fundraising journey, get in touch with us today.