By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
The best person to approach for a major gift is someone who already supports your charity. Sometimes those donors are hidden in plain sight in your donor database. Here’s how to find them.
Prefix: Major donors tend to be university educated. Their prefix may give that away. Search for donors who have Dr., Hon., Judge or Prof. before their name. Also look for “Mr. & Mrs.” salutations, since most generous donors are married.
First Name: Search for first names that have been handed down through multiple generations, such as John Rockefeller, III. Names like this indicate old money.
Middle Name: Use this name when searching online directories, LinkedIn, Facebook and other sites for donors who have common names. People with common names (such as John Smith) sometimes use their full name (John Phillip Smith, for example) or their middle initial (John P. Smith) to distinguish themselves from other people with the same first and last name.
Last Name: Does the last name sound familiar? Is it the name of a local leader, business tycoon or celebrity (author, artist, athlete)? Also search your database for other donors with the same last name living at the same address. Are these two donors married to each other? Check the other donor’s giving history to see if the donor gives less, the same or more than your current donor. You may find that the spouse is the more generous donor. Add the two totals to see how much the couple gives annually.
Suffix: Look for suffixes that indicate a higher level of income:
- post-graduate degree, such as MBA, Ph.D
- professional designation, such as CPA, MD
- senior job title, such as CEO, president, vice-president
Salutation: If your donor is actually a couple that gives as a couple (whom you address as “Dear Alan & Ruth,” for example), Google them as a couple. They may have donated large gifts to other causes as a couple.
Check the change log or notes field in your database to see if donors with single name salutations were once listed as a couple, and vice versa. Changes in marital status usually affect a person’s ability to give (either improving it or hindering it).
The best person to approach for a major gift is someone who already supports your charity. Sometimes those donors are hidden in plain sight in your donor database. Here’s how to find them.
C/O Names: Exercise extra caution with donors whose mail is care of someone else (“Alan Sharpe C/O Samuel Trudel,” for example), particularly if the C/O person has the letters “POA” (Power of Attorney) after their name. Donors who receive their mail care of someone else at the same address are likely infirm and unable to make prudent decisions about their finances.
Address: Look for donors who live in upper-income neighbourhoods. If in doubt, view the donor’s house using Google Street View. Look for high-end homes with multiple garages (while remembering that most generous people live in modest homes).
Multiple Addresses: Search for donors who have more than one address on their record. Look for seasonal addresses, such as a cottage in Muskoka or a second house in The Hamptons.
Institution Name: Many major donors are businesses owners who give through their businesses to save taxes. Search to see if these corporate donors are also in your database as individuals. Google the company name and visit the company website to learn more about the owner’s net worth.
Some high-net-worth individuals donate their largest gifts through their family foundation and their smaller gifts as individuals. Search your database for foundations, then look for donors in your database whose last names match the names on the family foundation board of directors. You may find, for example, that you receive donations from “The Bill and Belinda Baxter Foundation” as well as from “Bill and Belinda Baxter” themselves. Google the foundation name and visit the foundation website (the larger family foundations have websites) to learn more about the net worth of the individual(s) who controls the family foundation.
Phone Number: Does the phone number include an extension number? Perform a reverse lookup on the phone number to discover the name of the company. Google the company name and visit the company website to learn more about the donor’s role there. Is she the owner or a senior executive?
Email Address: Look for domain names that indicate higher income, such as jsmith@ibm.com (possible executive at a Fortune 500 firm) and john.carruthers@carrutherscontracting.ca (owner of a large, local general contracting business). Visit the domain name and search within the site for the donor by name, using the “Search within site” feature on your Google Toolbar.
Google the donor’s email address. You may just find that it appears on a listing of another charity’s board of directors, or on online discussion groups that give you insight into the donor’s interests.
Date of First Gift: Search for donors who gave their first gift a long time ago and have given faithfully ever since.
Number of Lifetime Gifts: Search for donors who have given more gifts in their lifetime than your average, even if the total amount, monetarily, is not unusually high.
Value of Lifetime Gifts: Look for donors who have given more money in their lifetime than your average donor.
Largest Gift: Search for donors who have already given a gift that meets or exceeds your threshold for a major gift.
Cumulative Value of Annual Giving: Some major donors give you a major gift each year, but in installments. You’ll miss these donors if you search only for large single gifts. Search instead for donors whose cumulative annual giving meets or exceeds your threshold for a major gift. For example, if your threshold for a major gift is $10,000, look for donors who have given multiple gifts in one year that totaled $10,000 or more.
Date of Last Gift: The best prospects for major gifts gave you a gift within the last 12 months. If they have not supported you for years, they have a reason. You’ll need to discover it, and remedy it, before you can expect to receive another gift.
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Thanks for providing this very helpful and understandable information and guide to prospect research for major gifts/donors. It is one of the clearest and most succinct presentations I have ever come across.