Research is a crucial component of major gift fundraising, as it enables you to identify potential donors, understand their giving capacity and philanthropic interests, and create targeted fundraising campaigns. In this blog, we’ll look at some tried and tested research techniques to help transform your major gift fundraising.
Prospect research
Prospect research involves researching and evaluating prospects, some of whom may already be supporting you or others that might be new to you, to determine their capacity and inclination to give. This could involve desk research, data mining and analysis or prospecting in person to find out who your existing supporters can connect you with. Prospect research can help you fill guest lists for fundraising events, source new prospects for a major gift campaign or even find donors for a capital appeal.
Wealth screening
Wealth screening is a specific form of prospect research that identifies potential major donors by helping you understand their wealth and other social and philanthropic indicators alongside their connection to your cause and giving history. You can then use this information to create targeted fundraising campaigns and build relationships with donors who have the capacity to give at a high level. Wealth screening can be conducted using our Wealth Intelligence Database which contains details of wealth, publicly acknowledged philanthropy, as well as other social and corporate indicators such as company directorships and connections.
Prospect research for legacy fundraising
There’s no time like the present to start laying the groundwork for gifts in wills. Prospect research can help transform your legacy income. Legacy fundraising sits perfectly alongside other fundraising programmes and you don’t need a huge investment to ensure you have a campaign with impact. Using research techniques you can analyse your existing data to find who among your current supporters might be good to include in a legacy campaign. It’s also worth thinking about legacy prospects or pledgers when wealth screening – a screening may help identify those who have the potential to give a major gift during their lifetime.
Surveys and focus groups
Use surveys and focus groups to your advantage by gathering information about the opinions and attitudes of current or potential donors. Surveys can be conducted online or through the mail, phone or in-person interviews and can be used to gather information about your supporters’ philanthropic interests, giving capacity and opinions about your organisation. Focus groups, on the other hand, involve gathering a group of individuals together to discuss specific topics related to your organisation and its mission. This can provide valuable insights into the perceptions and attitudes of potential donors.
While these research techniques are effective in identifying potential donors, they should not be used in isolation. You should use a combination of research techniques to gain a comprehensive understanding of your potential donors and their giving capacity.
Data protection
All of this research can be done in a way that complies with data protection and privacy laws, such as GDPR. You can find out more here.
We can help
At Prospecting for Gold, we have over 20 years of experience helping organisations meet their fundraising goals with GDPR-compliant research techniques.
Our team provides research, wealth screening, consultancy, regulatory compliance and training support to charities of all sizes, making fundraising more effective and successful.
Get in touch to learn more about the people who support your cause, get detailed insight into your best prospects and identify new ones, whether they be wealthy individuals, grant makers or institutional funders.