Finding Major Donor Prospects

If you have trouble connecting, please contact Heather at

919.451.1329.

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NameOrganization

What is one question you’d like answered today?

Amanda RodriguezDogwood Alliance

Betsy DassauCary Creative Reuse for the Arts

Brenda BattleDown East Partnership for Children

Camilla EubanksNC Coalition Against

Domestic Violence

Cheri GrauerIowa Natural Heritage Foundation

Gwen GriffithCumberland River Compact

Henrietta ZalkindDown East Partnership for

Children

Jan NicholsNC Justice Center

Jill WigginsLand Trust for the Little Tennessee

Karen RindgeWakeUP Wake County

Katherine O’BrienEllerbe Creek Watershed

Association

Lexi KayYadkin Riverkeeper

Lucy MartinezNC Justice Center

Nicole StewartNC Conservation Network

Rose HobanRaleigh Public Record

Russell HermanOrganizeNorthCarolina.org

Sean KasofskyBlue Print NC

Sheena WoodsWhite Oak-New Riverkeeper

Alliance

Heather YandowThird Space Studio

Today’s Agenda

A Model Prospecting Program• Creating your draft prospect list• Refining your list• Researching your prospects• Organizing your prospects• Making it happen!

“You already know all the people you need to know to raise all the

money you want to raise” -Kim Klein

Finding Major Donor Prospects

Finding prospects has a lot to do with volume, data, and research

AND

A successful major donor program is created by building strong relationships

Major DonorsWhat makes your donors MAJOR?

Major Donors• What makes your donors MAJOR?– Treat them differently from other donors– Different for every group– Most groups have a dollar limit: $100 and above,

$5,000 and above– Mostly an internal definition– Key ?: How many donors can you treat in this way?

Major DonorsMajor donors need to have the three Cs: care,

connection, and capacity

care

capacity

connection

Creating Your List

Where do you find prospective donors?

Current donors

Staff and Board contacts

Sister organizations

Local foundations

Random people

Current Donors• Best way to find new major

donors is by upgrading existing donors– All about building relationships

• Mine your giving data! Look for people who:– Have a history of consistent giving– Have given big gifts in the past few years– May be giving under their capacity

• Ask current donors for names and introductions to other donors

Staff and Board• Create a culture of

fundraising in your organization

• Make sure staff are comfortable talking about the basics of your organization and funding

• Ask staff and Board to be on the lookout for new people to bring into the organization

• Ask for names and contact information for potential donors

Questions? Comments?

Sister Organizations

• What organizations in your area do similar or compatible work? What are other organizations that you, your staff, or your Board give to?

• Look at their donor lists – website, newsletter, annual report, donor wall!

• Know that these donors have capacity and likely care – need connection

Local Foundations

• http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/foundfinder/

• Search by city, state, or zip• Examine 990’s, particularly:– Page 6: list of officers and possibly their contact

info– Page 10: if and how they accept proposals– Page 11: list of grantees

Data Management

• Important to track data consistently• Important to include:– First and last name– Spouse/partner

name– City– Source of name– Links to relevant

website

Questions? Comments?

Focus

Focus

• You’ve mostly identified people with capacity and/or care, but you need connection.

• Have Board and staff respond to your list.– Do they know? Can they introduce?– Give option for “call me later to discuss”

• Compare potential prospects to your email list or donor list.

Research Top Prospects• GOAL: if you have a connection (or potential),

find out enough information to make an ask– Giving history– Contact information– Work or personal history

• Simple sources of info– People who know them– Google– Tray.com– White Pages

What other methods do you use for research?

Questions? Comments?

Organize

• Organize your prospects according to your pyramid • Focus on the largest

donors first

A Sample PyramidAmount Number of Gifts Total Gifts

$25,000 1 $25,000

$10,000 1 $10,000

$5,000 3 $15,000

$2,500 6 $15,000

$1,000 12 $12,000

$500 16 $8,000

$250 24 $6,000

$100 40 $4,000

Average of $50 100 $5,000

203 $100,000

Create Your Own PyramidAmount # of

GiftsTotal Gifts

$25,000 1 $25,000

$10,000 1 $10,000

$5,000 3 $15,000

$2,500 6 $15,000

$1,000 12 $12,000

$500 16 $8,000

$250 24 $6,000

$100 40 $4,000

Avg of $50 100 $5,000

203 $100,000

The Pyramid and Prospects

Amount # of Gifts

Total Gifts Likely Previous Donors

New Prospects Needed

$25,000 1 $25,000 1 0

$10,000 1 $10,000 0 4

$5,000 3 $15,000 1 8

$2,500 6 $15,000 3 12

$1,000 12 $12,000 5 28

$500 16 $8,000 10 24

$250 24 $6,000 15 36

$100 40 $4,000

Avg of $50 100 $5,000

203 $100,000

Need 112 prospects!

The Pyramid and ProspectsAmount # of

Gifts

Total Gifts

Likely Previous Donors

New Prospects Needed

Donor Names

Prospect Names

$25,000 1 $25,000 1 0

$10,000 1 $10,000 0 4

$5,000 3 $15,000 1 8

$2,500 6 $15,000 3 12

$1,000 12 $12,000 5 28

$500 16 $8,000 10 24

$250 24 $6,000 15 36

$100 40 $4,000

Avg of $50

100 $5,000

Questions? Comments?

Action!• Prioritize and plan. Try focusing on a different

set of donors each quarter: – Q1 - renew previous donors– Q2 - reach out to new donors $5,000 and up– Q3 – reach out to new donors below $5,000– Q4 – clean-up

• Delegate – use the Coordinator/Director part of your title!

• Follow up – give a timeline and check in

• A Model Prospecting Program– Creating your “big list”– Defining your prospects– Researching your prospects– Organizing– Making it happen!

Thank you!

Heather Yandow919.780.4117heather@thirdspacestudio.com