Growing Your Pipeline of Prospective Donors, Part One
Identifying New Donor Prospects
Identifying donor prospects requires a solid strategy—and is not a task for one person. Creating a major gifts committee is highly recommended. You should include board members, current major donors, key stakeholders and individuals deeply-rooted in your constituency.
- Identify current and past donors.
- Major gift and annual donor history;
- Board members’ networks; and
- Event attendees and volunteers with the capacity to give major gifts.
- Expand your list by performing research of potential new donors.
- Ask board members and current donors for information on potential donors;
- Invest in fee-based products;
- Conduct a prospect screening of your database; and
- Locate community members who have donated major gifts to nonprofits with similar causes.
- Create your list with detailed information for each prospect.
- Contact information;
- Giving history—when donations were given and for what project/area of interest;
- Business affiliations, club memberships, relevant hobbies, donations to other organizations;
- Relationships with current staff members or volunteers;
- Prospect’s business/occupation and industry; and
- Wealth and donor capacity provided through a prospect screening.
Interested in learning more about growing your pipeline of prospective donors? Inquire today to have the Prospect Research workshop conducted for your board, staff and volunteers.
