White Paper: Prospecting 101
BY JIM ESKIN
The Six Degrees of Separation rule reminds us that everyone on the planet is separated by no more than six personal relationships. In communities like San Antonio, this seems more like two degrees of separation.
This phenomenon of interconnectedness is the first link in the fundraising cycle — prospect identification. Non-profits can and should look to their inner circles of employees, board members, volunteers and donors to identify prospects, especially prospects for major gifts. Who do they know? Who can they connect to our organizations?
The collective reach of our inner circles can be awesome. We just need to know how to unleash their power. A good first step is asking members of our inner circles to methodically think about their personal, professional and community networks. Questions like the following will provide important clues:
• Who do I serve on boards with?
• Who am I a member of an organization with?
• Who do I work with?
• Who do I do business with?
• Who have I influenced in my career?
• Who do I know from my neighborhood?
• Who did I go to school with?
• Who do I worship with?
• Who does my family know?
The process typically takes time. At first, people will tell you that they don’t know anyone of great wealth. No one comes to mind. But when they stay focused on the subject, they come up with names of people of affluence and influence who represent leads for major gifts.
When people say they know a prospect, it should meet this sniff test: Will the person they claim to know return their phone call? If so, we’re in business.
Often our board members and friends tell us that they are uncomfortable asking for a gift. That’s okay. The truth is that most people feel the same way. Asking for a gift doesn’t come until later. For a major gift, it might be six to 18 months before the time is right for a solicitation. First, the challenge is to forge a personal and emotional bond to our mission. So our supporters play a huge role simply by introducing us to people they know. This is known as cultivation and it is a make-or-break part of the fundraising process. Many experts say that getting the initial meeting is about 85 percent of the task in obtaining a major gift.
Keep in mind that just being wealthy doesn’t make someone a good prospect. They have to care about the cause or, at a minimum, we have to have some reason to think they could be cultivated to care about the cause.
Kim Klein, publisher emerita, Grassroots Fundraising Journal, likes referring to The ABCs of Prospects:
• A is for Ability, meaning the financial capacity to make a significant gift.
• B is for Belief, meaning there is a genuine passion for the cause and inclination to respond favorably when asked for support.
• C is for Contact, meaning an insider from our organization is personally connected to the prospect and can arrange an introduction.
Passion counts more than capacity. People who are passionate about something will push their giving to the maximum. If passion isn’t there, it often doesn’t matter how wealthy they are. On the other hand, while inclination can be grown and nurtured, capacity cannot.
Gifts of time, talent and treasure come in bundles. Money follows time. People who give their time to a cause are prime prospects. So volunteers comprise a promising part of the prospect pool. To wit:
• People donate 10 times more money if they have volunteered in the past year.
• Two-thirds of volunteers said they give money to the same groups to which they donate time.
A comment on the prospect pool: Fundraising research indicates that for each gift to be realized, eight prospects must be identified and qualified. Five of those should be cultivated and three should be solicited.
Staff can bring prospect research -- including wealth screening -- to the table. But don’t underestimate the power of peer analysis, inviting board members and key volunteers to share what they know about someone’s interests, priorities and giving potential.
Prospecting can and should be pursued with the spirit of an adventure. It’s like working on a jigsaw puzzle. As you put the pieces together, you get increasingly excited about the end result. Good hunting!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jim Eskin's leadership roles span more than 30 years in fundraising, public affairs and communications in the San Antonio area. Fundraising benchmarks include establishing records for gifts from individuals at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) and Alamo Colleges Foundation. In 2009, he began current responsibilities as Executive Director of the Alamo Colleges Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the community college system with an enrollment of more than 60,000 credit students per semester, more than all the other colleges and universities in Bexar County combined. Since then, foundation assets and scholarship dollars awarded have tripled. He has authored more than 100 guest columns that have appeared in daily newspapers and business journals across the country. He also publishes Stratagems, a monthly e-newsletter exploring timely issues and trends in philanthropy, advocacy, and image. He can be reached at jeskin@aol.com and cell: 210.415.3748.
© Copyright 2015 by Jim Eskin. All rights reserved.