Management Tips » Prospect Research
Prospect research, sometimes known as development research or donor research, is a key element of fundraising. The researcher will identify relevant information about potential donors, which will be used to develop a solicitation profile of an individual. Prospect research is most often utilized to find donors who have the potential to provide major gifts. However, the process is used to find donors at all levels and for all fundraising channels. This is done by evaluating a prospect’s ability to give and the person’s affinity for the nonprofit. Researchers follow a strict code of ethics to protect the prospects they research, as well as the organization for which they are doing the work. The process has evolved to include sophisticated, computerized information gathering and sorting.
Read more about prospect research, and why it's important to every nonprofit organization, in the articles below.
- 8 tips for prospect list development
- 11 steps to unclogging your major gift pipeline
- Using targeted information for better results
- 7 rules on information collection
- 7 ideas for estimating capacity to give
- 7 standards for information collection
- 7 steps to donor assessment
- Three ideas for middle donor acquisition
- 8 ways to target big donors
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