The New Face of

Prospect Development

800.933.4446 | www.wealthengine.com | info@wealthengine.com

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Presented By

Sally Boucher Director of Research, WealthEngine Institute

Sally Boucher, CFRE, is the Director of Research at WealthEngine

with a 15-year background in higher education, the arts, and

human services development. She has provided professional

services to hundreds of non-profit organizations.

Sally is the primary author of the Growing Individual Gifts

Workbook, the Best Practices for Prospect Research in Higher

Education Fundraising Report, and a contributor to the Measuring

Fundraising Return on Investment and the Impact of Prospect

Research white paper. She regularly presents on analytics, return

on investment, research and major giving.

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WealthEngine Helps Nonprofits Find the Right People for the Right Purpose

Fully integrated. Scalable. Best in class. Your results are ready.

Who are my best donors and prospects? Analytics allows you to draw conclusions and make informed decisions.

What can I learn about these people? In-depth, contextual information to better understand each of your prospects.

How can I find more prospects just like them? Leading tools to build your prospect pipeline and thoughtfully expand your reach.

What strategies should I use to reach them? Customized insight and advice to develop and execute your fundraising strategy

with precision.

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Agenda

The Pulse of The Profession

– How do we spend our time and what do we measure?

What’s Trending?

– What are the current trends and what are the skills

we need?

How does it all fit together?

– Where does Prospect Development fit, and where do

you fit?

The Pulse of the Profession

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The Pulse of the Profession

Survey Results from Summer 2011

Received 100 responses

We asked questions about five main categories of work within Prospect Development

– Reactive Research

– Proactive Research

– Prospect Management

– Analytics, Data Analysis and Information and Data Mining

– Supervisory and Management

For each area, we asked

– What are your responsibilities?

– What goals/metrics do you track?

– If you track metrics, what were your results?

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Survey Respondents

Director 22.8%

Manager/Supervisor 30.4%,

Analyst 38.0%

Administration/Data Entry 8.9%

Current Title

Director 23%

Manager/Supervisor 30%

Analyst 38%

Administration/Data Entry 9%

Education 60% Health Care

25%

Other 15%

Non-profit Education

Non-profit Hospital/Health Care Other Non-profits

Organization Type

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_

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Salary Ranges of Respondents

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

No Answer

Part-time

Below $30,000

$30-$39,000

$40-$49,000

$50-$59,000

$60-$69,000

$70-$79,000

$80-$89,000

$90-99,000

$120,000 and above

Salary Ranges of Respondents

Grand Total

Over 50% of respondents fall into the $40K to $60K salary range

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Areas of Responsibility

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Prospect Research

Prospect Management

Business/Finance

Data Analysis/Analytics

Corporate/Foundation Giving

Planned Giving

Annual Giving/Membership

Stewardship/Donor Relations

Special Events

Major Gifts

Development Information …

What are your current responsibilities?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Prospect Research

Prospect Management

Business/Finance

Data Analysis/Analytics

Corporate/Foundation Giving

Planned Giving

Annual Giving/Membership

Stewardship/Donor Relations

Special Events

Major Gifts

Development Information Systems/Services

Same

Don't Know/Not Sure

What job responsibilities do you aspire to in 1-3 years?

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Time Spent in Key Areas

Key Responsibility Area 0% 1%-5% 6%-20% 21%-

40%

41%-

60%

61%-

80%

81%-

100%

Prospect Identification and Proactive

Research 3% 6% 46% 33% 7% 2% 3%

Prospect Research, Qualification and

Reactive Research 2% 9% 19% 37% 18% 13% 1%

Prospect Management and Tracking

10% 31% 29% 19% 0% 2% 0%

Data Analytics, Data Management and

Information Systems 15% 28% 27% 20% 3% 0% 1%

Management and Supervisory 29% 23% 23% 10% 5% 1% 0%

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Metrics and Goals Tracked in Proactive Research

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Number of publications reviewed

Number of prospects identified for annual fund

Number of hours spent doing proactive research

Number of prospects identified for planned giving

Number of prospects identified for corporate and foundation giving

Do not track metrics in the area of proactive research

Number of prospects identified by source (such as wealth screening, …

Amount of capacity identified (For example, 10 prospects at …

Number of prospects identified for major gifts

Metrics/Goals Proactive Research

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Metrics and Goals Tracked in Reactive Research

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Average time to complete event bios

Average time to complete corporate/foundation research brief

Average time to complete research briefs or rating memo's

Number of research hours worked

Do not track metrics in the area of reactive prospect research

Average time to complete full profile

Average response or turn-around time for research requests

Amount of capacity qualified (For example, 10 prospects at …

Number of event bios requested

Number of corporate and/or foundation research requests …

Number of research briefs or rating memo’s completed

Number of corporate and/or foundations researched

Number of event bios completed

Number of proactively identified prospects research-qualified

Number of research requests received

Number of full research profiles completed

Number of research requests completed

Metrics/Goals Reactive Research

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Metrics and Goals Tracked in Prospect Management

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Amount of capacity under management

Number of one-on-one meetings with fundraisers

Number of group or prospect management meetings attended

Do not track metrics in the area of prospect management

% of portfolios in various stages (i.e, qualification, cultivation, stewardship)

Number of prospects assigned to front line fundraisers

Metrics/Goals Prospect Management

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Metrics and Goals Tracked in Analytics and Supervisory Functions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Number of predictive models deployed

Number of predictive models created

Number of prospect lists for annual fund

Number of prospect lists of corporate and foundation funders

Number of prospect lists for planned giving

Number of prospect lists for special events

Do not track metrics in the area of analytics or data management

Metrics/Goals Analytics

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Number of staff training events conducted …

Number of staff supervised

Number of continuing education or …

Do not track metrics in the area of …

Goals/Metrics Supervisory

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The Bottom Line

Many people are happy where they are within the

profession. The key areas where there is desired

movement are into major gifts and stewardship/donor

relations.

The most time is still spent in Reactive Research.

Proactive is next, with Prospect Management and Data

Analytics activities almost equal.

Most organizations track similar metrics in each of the

major areas. These are relatively few and the actual

measurements indicate that either few are truly

tracking them, or that the results are not widely shared

within the team.

Trends in Prospect Development

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What do you see as trends in the field of prospect development?

“Increasing call upon the prospect researcher to lead in strategy

development.”

“Less emphasis on reactive research (i.e. profiles) and much more on

prospect identification; use of analytic methodology.”

“An increased focus on in-house analytics as a method of focusing fund

raising efforts -- both on the annual and major giving fronts.”

“Social media is making a difference and in many ways helps define

who our audience is, especially in reaching different demographics.”

Survey Says…

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What new skills are you learning or would you like to learn

to help you keep pace with changes in the profession??

“Become more skilled at data mining.”

“Data visualization - I just completed my first major data

mining project, and the greatest challenge was conveying the

information in an informative, revealing way.”

“Keeping an open mind about Social Media availability,

reliability and content.”

“Just need more time to feel like I fully engage w/ social

media, but what I've done has been helpful and in so many

ways beyond fundraising.”

Survey Says…

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Trends in Prospect Development

Relational – More collaborative, consultative relationships

– More proactive, less reactive

– Work with broader range of departments

Analytic – More emphasis on data-driven decisions

– More need for analysis, data mining, intelligent list-building

– Predictive modeling gaining traction

– Data visualization

– Business Intelligence

– Measure and Report Return on Investment

Social Media – Crosses all boundaries

– Flattens hierarchies

– Anyone can talk, anyone can listen

– Makes surveys and other forms of market research accessible

– Increases data by magnitudes – big data!

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More collaborative/consultative relationship with front line fundraisers

and more interaction with other departments including marketing &

communications, annual giving and planned giving

Trends: Relational

What Does it Mean? • More involved in strategy

development

• Collaboration on improving

fundraisers’ success means greater

impact on organizational success

• Influence which prospects are

seen, which are prioritized, when

gift is received

• Broader interface across entire

unit means more opportunities to

learn more and contribute more

Where Do I Start? • Schedule one-on-one meetings

• Build trust and credibility

• Develop partnerships

• Ask questions

• Learn more about their job

• Educate more about your job

• Make others aware of your

interests and skills

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Trends: Relational

Less Reactive/More Proactive Research

What Does it Mean? • Less time reacting to others’

priorities

• More time setting priorities

• More time planning full strategies

• Collaborate on improving

fundraisers’ performance metrics

• Changing MGO expectations, skill

sets

• More big picture/less small details

• Reactive is not ever going away so

do not despair if that is your

passion!

Where Do I Start? • Document time for reactive

research

• Data speaks – use analytic skills to

show relative value of time spent

• If you work with a fundraiser who

takes a list and gets the job done

without a lot of details, use that as

evidence

• Make your case to limit requests to

tie to specific development stages

• Prioritize requests based on

importance – not time in the queue

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Analysis, Data Mining, Segmentation,

Predictive Modeling

Trends: Analytic

What Does it Mean? • More involvement in strategy

development

• Measurable impact on fundraising

success (ROI)

• Influences decision-making at

every level of the development

unit

• Benefits can accrue to any/all

departments

Where Do I Start? • Think “analytically”

• Need access to data

• Start with Excel, may progress to

specialized software

• Start with small projects

• Build credibility with audience

• Learn how to explain results

visually and in layman’s terms

• Find a willing collaborator

• Show the benefit – what’s in it

for them?

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Trends: Analytic

Data Visualization/Business Intelligence

Return on Investment

What Does it Mean? • Impact is enterprise-wide

• Drives decision making

• Communication with all levels

• All working from the same page

• Underline critical and actionable

information

• Report and communicate successes

• Define Key Performance Indicators

• Straddles IS, Research, Marketing

• Teambuilding

Where Do I Start? • Take analysis one step further to

represent visually

• Need good communications skills

• Excel, specialized software, CRM

• Know what message you are

promoting

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Social Media/New Technologies

Trends: Social Media and New Technologies

What Does it Mean? • New sources and types of information

• Verification and interpretation key

• New data to feed analytics and list

building

• Enterprise-wide activity

• Research opportunities

• Listening opportunities (market

research)

• Responding opportunities

• Engagement opportunities

• Talking to your donors and supporters

yields better understanding and more

effective work

Where Do I Start? • Facebook, LinkedIn

• Get comfortable with the platforms

• Keep an open mind

• Join your organization’s online

communities

• Join other communities that are

relevant to your mission

• Understand your organization’s

policies or guidelines

• Listen and respond where

appropriate

• Surveys

• Experiment with analytic tools:

Google analytics, Simply Measured,

Sprout Social, Hootsuite

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The Changing Paradigm

Prospect Development

Development Leadership

Front Line Fundraising

Major

Planned

Annual

Information Systems

Communications and

Marketing

• Prospect Development is

widening and deepening.

• More data means more and

deeper insights. More data

means more expertise

needed to extract, verify,

interpret and translate it.

• The things Prospect

Development is doing are

touching more

departments and crossing

more boundaries.

• All of the trends are

pointing to more strategy

development, more

influence in more areas,

and more measurable

impact.

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What is your impact?

Shorter time to

cultivate and

close

Higher Gift

Amount

Identified

Natural Partner

Identified Donor

More Donor

Satisfaction

•Started relationship

from a more

enlightened position

•Involved in more

meaningful ways

•Asked for appropriate

amount and type of

gift

•Stirred Passions

•Attended to interests

Alert improved

timing

More Gift Officer

Satisfaction (ROPE)

•Fewer “cold” calls

•Larger Gift Amount

•Easier to build

relationship and

engage prospect

•Improved ability to get

referrals

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Measuring Value

What Are The Best Metrics? Number of prospects ID’d?

Number of profiles completed?

Or, number of gifts touched?

Number of PD “influences” during the gift cycle?

Time from ID to Close?

Ratio of % of capacity ID’d/asked/received?

Number of calls it takes a gift officer to get an appointment?

Success of marketing/annual giving outreach based on list testing – improved response rates, average gift size, renewal rates?

Is it all ROI? What about ROE? What about ROPE?

Where Do You Fit?

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E

I

R

A

S

C

Holland’s Six Personality Tendencies Who Do You Enjoy Working With?

Data

Ideas

People Things

Enterprising Entrepreneur

Business Executive

Salesperson

Travel Agent

Manager

Buyer

Conventional Banker

Bookkeeper

Secretary

Computer Programmer

Financial Analyst

Tax Preparer

Social Religious Worker

Clinical Psychologist

Speech Therapist

Nurse

Counselor

Teacher

Artistic Actor

Composer

Musician

Designer

Interior Decorator

Dancer

Investigative Geologist

Chemist

Physicist

Laboratory Assistant

Medical Technician

Biologist

Realistic Auto Mechanic

Aircraft Controller

Electrician

Farmer

Surveyor

www.BusinessModelYou.com

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This is a GREAT time to be in Prospect Development

1. Determine :

•What you are good at

•What you enjoy doing

•Who you enjoy working with

2. Be proactive and think outside

the boundaries

3. Talk with colleagues and make

sure they know what you want

to do and where you want to go

4. Look for continuing education

opportunities

5. Look for ways to start small and

grow skills

6. Always think about how what

you do adds value to your

colleagues, department and

organization

More Wealth and Fundraising Intelligence

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Knowledge Center & Thought Leadership

We support innovation and advancement in the field…

Growing Individual Gifts Workbook Tools you need to grow your fundraising results

ProspectResearchResources.com Free tools for every research request

WealthEngine Institute Free education, knowledge sharing and networking

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Questions? Contact Us!

800.933.4446

www.wealthengine.com

info@wealthengine.com

If you’d like to learn more about how you can implement

data driven solutions in your nonprofit, contact us!

Read more about WealthEngine’s Analytics for Nonprofits here.