Welcome AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Specific project Prospecting for planned giving prospects How to visualize results More general discussion of free and low cost resources and projects Staffing options Take homes, handouts AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Broad application Can apply to all/most non profits Data Donor records Several years worth of donation data Does not require deep, broad data on your donors Excel, does not require advanced stats, stats package Can make it more complex AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

“RFM is a method used for analyzing customer value. It is commonly used in database marketing and direct marketing and has received particular attention in retail and professional services industries.” RFM stands for: R ecency - How recently did the customer purchase? F requency - How often do they purchase? M onetary Value - How much do they spend? Business tool Way of simplifying your donor data AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Requirements Donor records History of donations IT help Excel Scoring model Simplistic Additive AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Will identify donors “flying below the radar” Will find people in the next tier Leadership annual giving/annual fund donors Can be used to: Prioritize suspects Prioritize unknown groups of prospects, attendees, results of a screening Prioritize phonathon calls AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Decide on rating scale 0-10 points, max. of point, max of 15 Pull list of donors only Sort data by variable #1, Recency Rank best to worst Look at where the data breaks Don’t have to divide groups evenly Want to separate best donors from others Score donors in a new column Repeat for Variables #2 (Frequency) and #3 (Monetary) Sum the 3 scores AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Sort known prospects vs. unknown Then by score Known--- review for upgrading Unknown--- review for assignment/visit, more research Excel file AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Add to the file As you gather/gain more data Children? (presence/absence, yes/no) Gender, age Giving Trend (up/down/flat) Engagement score External screening results Add negative variable(s) Multiple pledge write-offs Repeat for different ‘flavors’ of giving Annual vs. capital vs. endowment vs. reunion giving vs. total giving Add RFM score to fundraising system label score so people know Hi and Low Allow fundraisers to target the highest scoring in each city AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Prospecting for Planned Giving Prospects AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Data Visualization How to use RFM scores and ratings to prioritize your prospect pool AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Data Visualization, Cont’d. Sample report AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Study your best donors Determine what demographics they have in common Apply these criteria to your database of donors to see who else has the same demographics Sample Top 50 donors: What they have in common 3+ consecutive years giving Home zip codes: 17011, 17050, RFM score: Marital status: Married Age range: AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Creating prospect research program takes time Gets you and your staff focused on top prospects Where to Start Database Clean Accurate Consistent Checklist for GOs Importance of Call Reports Institutional memory is lost every time a staff member leaves the organization If it's not in the database, it didn't happen. Create Ratings Capacity Affinity Alerts News Personal (Donor names) Business (Donors' companies) Organization (Yours) AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Now the "Research" Prioritize Begin with top-rated capacity and affinity donors/prospects Create a template for a profile to compile info Create a checklist of sources to search (see handouts) Internal External Personal Develop your instincts It's like putting the pieces of a puzzle together ” It takes just as much time to find nothing as it does to find something." Know when to stop What next? In depth data mining Develop (or use established) wealth capacity formulas Look for NEW prospects to your organization Prospect research partner with development officers to raise more funds more efficiently AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Value add Capacity building Prioritize all work Inform ask amounts, not under ask Skilled in data Data acquisition Information and knowledge management Reporting Is a neutral party Performance metrics AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

When PR is not a full-time or a dedicated role Metrics Goal setting Numeric goals, e.g., “identify 10 new MG prospects quarterly” Creative Staffing volunteers, retirees, interns, admin assistant Outsourcing Consultant for list prioritization Buy what you can afford, X hours then stop Retirees Wealth screenings Costs have come down Screen all constituents, buy what you can afford Buy just the top records ….. that are not yet in your MG pipeline AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Aha! moments AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring

Thank You! Ted Reese, Jane A. Price, Emily Helman, Cindy Progin, AFP/PANO Collaborative Conference, Sept. 21, 2015, Prospect Research on a Shoestring