Want to attract HNWI to your summer fundraising event? Whether you’re after major donors or local celebrities, the right research techniques can help you build a guest list with impact. Here are four ways to get started.
The summer event planning season is in full swing. If you want to impress with a star-studded guest list, prospect research can help you find celebrities or major donor prospects to attend your summer events.
Events are the perfect way to deepen relationships with existing donors, bring new donors on board, and showcase your charity’s hard work. However, if your guest list is looking a bit sparse even though you’ve planned the perfect event, these research methods can help.
Data Mining
You might think your own supporter database has already given all it can, but it’s often the perfect starting point for in-house prospecting. If you want to add HNWI and business leaders to your guest list, start by searching for anyone with a senior-sounding job title:
- President
- Chief Executive
- Owner
- Founder
- Chairman
Then, analyse past giving trends to see if any previous donors could be reengaged with an event invitation.
Prospect research
Prospect research simply means getting to know your donors better, and that’s exactly what you should be doing before inviting them to an event. Prospect research identifies potential supporters, these could be individuals, businesses, trusts or foundations likely to attend an event. Then further research is carried out to understand who these people are, what they care about, their potential capacity to donate and their connection to your cause. Once you have that information, you can tailor your communications to each person’s interests so your event invitation speaks to their values.
Wealth Screening
Another way to really get the most out of your database and uncover hidden gems is through wealth screening. This compares the information in our Wealth Intelligence Database with your supporter database.
During a wealth screening, we identify potential donors who have the capacity and propensity to support your charity events. This involves analysing publicly available data about individuals, including their estimated wealth, publicly available philanthropy, and other corporate and social connections.
Desk research (cold prospecting)
If you want to expand the reach of your event by inviting more than just your current supporters, our New Names service can help. This identifies people not currently connected to your organisation but (research suggests) have both the capacity to give and an affinity to support your cause. When we do this research, we provide a rationale for each person we identify, which explains why we think they are appropriate for your event.
If you are a charity with universal appeal and a strong geographic focus, our Millionaire Next Door research may be right for you. With this research, we identify the wealthiest people in your local community. We can’t search for affinity, but if wealth and location are all you need, this can be a very effective way of building your invite list.
At Prospecting for Gold, we specialise in research, wealth screening, consultancy and regulatory compliance, making fundraising more effective and successful.
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.
Our wealth screening and data summary report is free when we screen 2,000 or more of your UK supporters. Ready to transform your major gift fundraising? Contact us today.