Fundraisers have more data available to them than ever before. But instead of making fundraising easier, irrelevant information can cause confusion, leaving charities wondering why a prospect that looks perfect on paper isn’t responding to cultivation.
After 27 years of helping organisations secure major gifts with research-based fundraising, we’ve simplified our approach to ranking major gift prospects, so you know who’s more likely to respond to cultivation before making an ask.
What is prospect ranking?
A prospect is someone with an affinity for your work, the capacity to give a major gift and a connection to your cause. Prospect ranking is the process of assessing and prioritising those prospects based on their likelihood to give to your organisation. It can help busy fundraising teams streamline their cultivation by focusing on the prospects most likely to build long-term relationships with your organisation.
The key ranking factors
A prospect that’s right for your organisation will have the ability to give to your cause (capacity), an interest in your organisation’s work (affinity) and be easy to reach (proximity).
When we research a prospect’s capacity, we look at indicators like:
- Business interests
- Previous philanthropic giving
- Senior professional roles
- High salaries and bonuses
- Business sales
- Inherited wealth
- Property ownership
Signs that a prospect has an affinity to your organisation can include:
- Previous donations
- Volunteering
- Event attendance
- Personal experience related to the cause
To understand someone’s proximity to your cause, we look at:
- Existing relationships with trustees, staff, volunteers, or supporters
- Shared professional or social networks
- Potential warm introductions through current donors
- Geographic or community connections
How to create a simple scoring system
Different team members may have different approaches to ranking prospects, but it’s useful to agree on an organisation-wide process that works for you.
Your criteria could include:
- Previous giving history to your organisation
- Propensity to give
- Capacity to give
- Broader philanthropy
- Access (your ability to reach them)
Agree on the criteria you want to use and assign each one a score between, say, 1 and 3, depending on which ones are more important to your fundraising strategy. You can then agree on a scoring system to rate each prospect against these criteria.
Capacity and propensity to give are often closely linked, as prospects typically need both to make a major gift. As part of the ranking process, you can also assess indicators such as giving history and age.
Giving history can provide insight into both propensity and capability to give, with donations to similar causes or gifts to your own organisation often carrying greater weighting. Some organisations also consider age, as older prospects may have fewer financial commitments and greater assets or pension savings.
However, some worthwhile prospects may appear lower in rankings due to limited publicly accessible information, so you should always sense-check rankings using internal knowledge, existing relationships, and fundraiser experience before finalising priorities.
At Prospecting for Gold, we have 27 years of experience in research, wealth screening, consultancy and regulatory compliance, making fundraising more effective and successful.
To find out how we can help you on your fundraising journey, get in touch with us today.
Download our free prospect ranking briefing here.