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2010 -2011 Yearbook

Best Practices in Action

Arts & CultureAmerican Association of Museums

Decreases their Fundraising Cost to Raise a Dollar ............................................................................................6Center theatre Group

Builds a Prospect Pipeline with a “Fringe” Group of Young Professionals ..........................................................8Colorado symphony

Increases Individual Giving and Brings Donors Back into their Seats with Music ........................................... 10Greater los Angeles Zoo Association

Moves to a Data Rich Research Environment .................................................................................................. 12Houston Grand Opera

Increases Contributions by 82% in Three Years Using Prospect Research as the Foundation of Fundraising ... 14signature theatre

Thinks Outside the Box to Identify, Engage and Solicit Donors ....................................................................... 16

eduCAtiOnduke university, the Fuqua school of Business

Creates a Routine Screening Process to Feed Monthly Prospect Pipeline ........................................................ 20le Moyne College’s research department

Yields High Campaign Returns Using Close Relationship with Development Officers .................................... 22northwestern university

Propels Prospect Pool and Parents’ Fund with Five-year Screening Strategy .................................................. 24roanoke College

Streamlines Workflow by Integrating WealthEngine Screening Data into Colleague Advancement .............. 26saint Mary’s College

Segments and Identifies New Prospects Using Wealth Screening ................................................................... 28st. John’s College High school

Engages Alumni & Prospects to Drive Fundraising .......................................................................................... 30Washington & lee university

Uses Peer Screening to Identify Major Gift Prospects ....................................................................................... 32

HOsPitAls & HeAltHCAreCleveland Clinic

Applies Prospect Research and Management Strategy to Drive Growth ........................................................ 36eastern Connecticut Health network

Compares Prospect Research Solutions Head to Head .................................................................................... 38loyola university Health system

Feeds Growing Grateful Patient Program with Proactive Research ................................................................ 40st. Vincent’s Foundation

Gets Dramatic Results with Structured Approach ........................................................................................... 42Yale-new Haven Hospital

Supports 300% Growth in Major Gifts with Regular Screening and Validation .....................................................44

TAble of ConTenTs

Arts & Culture

American Association of Museums ........................................6Center theatre Group .................................................................8Colorado symphony ................................................................ 10Greater los Angeles Zoo Association .................................. 12Houston Grand Opera ............................................................. 14signature theatre ..................................................................... 16

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American Association of MuseumsDecreases their Fundraising Cost to Raise a Dollar

When Kate Goodall, Assistant Director of Institutional Advancement at the American Association of Museums (AAM) was asked what one of their biggest challenges has been with fundraising she said, “We’ve struggled in the past to move members to donors and with determining ask amounts with new donors. No one wants to leave money on the table or offend a donor by asking them for either too large or too small a donation.” So in 2008, AAM turned to WealthEngine for their prospect research tools and conducted a 30,000 record screening with age overlay to research their members and increase their ask amounts. As part of their realignment efforts to turn current members into donors, screening helped segment their membership base which is made up of both individual and institutional members. “Our current membership consists of 20,000 members; 17,000 make up AAM individual members and 3,000 are institutional members. So you can see that our largest membership base is that of individuals representing the museum industry,” says Goodall.

AAM has been bringing museums and museum professionals together since 1906 as the only professional membership association representing the entire scope of the museum industry. Today there are an estimated 17,500 American museums. The Association represents a broad range of these museums including art, history, science, military and maritime, youth museums, as well as aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, arboretums, historic sites, and science and technology centers. According to Goodall, “The association acts as an umbrella for all museums and provides support and benefits for these organizations by offering two levels of membership at both the individual and institutional level.”

“When we sent our data to be screened, we marked our Inner Circle to identify any relationships with our Board Members with which we weren’t aware; so that WealthEngine could help us determine which current donors had the highest inclination to give.”

—Kate Goodall, Assistant Director of Institutional Advancement, American Association of Museums

Individual Membership Makeup: Individual Membership Benefits:• Registrars• Educators• Development Officers• Museum Curators• Security Managers

• Trustees• Volunteers• Exhibit Designers• PR Officers

• Networking Opportunities• Professional Development and Education• Up-to-date Job Postings• Access to Peer Groups• Publication Subscriptions

Institutional Membership is open to museums or organizations that operate a museum related nonprofit organization. Benefits include:• Accreditation Program, recognizing museums operating under the highest caliber of standards and best practices• Operations assessments • Information Center (extensive library and help desk)• Publication Subscriptions• Member Discounts

Client Case studyClient Case Study

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screening MembershipTo set up for their initial 30,000 record screening, AAM launched an Individual Membership Acquisition, internally screening recipients based on known wealth information. WealthEngine then identified possible donors and potential upgrades for donors with higher capacity. AAM currently has about 1,000 donors, but their database of 100,000 contacts includes non-members who have attended annual meetings or purchased books from the AAM website. To ensure they were aware of all possible leverage points, the museum sent a robust file to WealthEngine. Fifty-six percent showed the greatest potential for Major Gifts and Annual Fund donations.

segmenting results“We used the P2G™ scores from WealthEngine to find new donors, within our own database and upgrade existing ones. If someone received a score of a 2-5 or higher they were asked to give twice as much as their last gift, and 1-0’s were asked for triple,” said Goodall. This segmentation strategy paid off, as they were able to enlarge the size of their average donations by increasing their ask amounts. Their average gift amount was roughly identified as $98 dollars and $1,000 is considered a major gift by their standards.

Segmentation has greatly impacted their direct mail targets as well. Using the screening data, AAM has seen an increase in the amount of donations and a decrease in the costs associated with direct mail. In 2008 their “Cost to Raise a Dollar” (CRD) was $.39 and now in 2010 after doing a screening and targeting their direct mail initiatives they have lowered their CRD to $.10 per dollar raised. These results have greatly impacted their overall fundraising budget by lowering costs and increasing revenue.

Forecasting Fundraising GoalsArmed with their screening information, AAM set a fundraising goal that was double their 2009 goals. In August 2010, they were on track to reach this goal. With Goodall’s direction, AAM has started tracking multiple elements of their membership, donors, and prospect research efforts and now is able to provide further results to show their fundraising success. Recording the number of gifts, number of donors, net revenue, cost per dollar raised, and number of renewing donors— and whether they’ve increased or decreased their giving amounts— are all important facets of their tracking process. “We’re beginning to track our return on investment (ROI) by monitoring the change in number and size of donations received from our prospect research and screening efforts,” said Goodall. Since they opened their doors in the early 20th century, AAM’s goal has been to lead by example, developing best practice standards for museums to follow. AAM now knows the importance of prospect research in your development efforts. Additionally, it increases your staff ’s efficiency by easily identifying new gift prospects, and reducing your overall fundraising costs over a period of time.

With their continued improvements in increasing membership and donors to its Annual Fund, the American Association of Museums has its highest number of members.

Screening Segmentation Results

Member Total P2G™ Rating Prospect Type5.8% 1’s Major Gift

6% 2’s Major Gift

43% 3’s Annual Fund

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Center Theatre GroupBuilds a Prospect Pipeline with a “Fringe” Group of Young Professionals

According to Liz Lin, Director of Donor Communications at Center Theatre Group (CTG) in Los Angeles, one of the theatre company’s main challenges when it comes to prospect research is finding new donors. CTG is a unique nonprofit organization that supports three different theatres - the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre all under the artistic leadership of Michael Ritchie. These three theaters share an average annual audience size of 500,000. Each theatre presents distinctive programming, and donors enjoy benefits and access to all three performance venues. About a third of CTG’s donors attend all three theatres during a given season.

CTG’s overall operating budget is approximately $50 million, with 28 percent of their annual income coming from contributed income and the remaining 72 percent coming from ticket sales. Of the total amount raised, approximately 70 percent is from individual donations and the remaining 30 percent comes from Corporations, Foundations, and Government. CTG’s Major Gifts program started in 2005 and was later enhanced with a WeathEngine screening of 8,000 donors to identify major gift prospects. Since their screening, CTG has utilized the Circle of Friends feature of FindWealth Online to identify connections between donors and members of their board. Armed with this information, the development team leveraged board members’ relationships to build their pipeline of donors - a practice they continue today.

involving the Board“As we assessed our donor base, we knew there was a need to increase our pipeline of younger donors,” said Lin.

About two years ago CTG decided to hold an individual giving retreat with their Development staff to analyze their donor groups and explore ideas for new areas of growth.

“We realized rather quickly that we needed to cultivate younger donors,” said Lin. “Some asked our key donors and Board members to leverage their connections and find young professionals who would be interested in developing a membership program targeted to a younger generation (or audience). We then hosted focus groups with these young individuals and used their feedback to implement a new membership group targeted at young professionals.”

“We segmented by the Propensity to Give (P2G™)score which helped us target our major gift prospects. Then we integrated our WealthEngine results into our Tessitura database which allowed us to track ticket sales and organize any other data more clearly.”

—Jennifer Ryen, Major Gifts Coordinator, Center Theatre Group


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Fostering Philanthropy in the next GenerationIn July 2009, CTG launched The Fringe at CTG led by Ryen and Ana Rose O’Halloran, Communications Coordinator. The Fringe is a group of young professionals who love theatre and understand its importance in the community. Members of The Fringe at CTG have the opportunity to explore theatre with their peers in an engaging atmosphere while raising awareness and funds for CTG’s New Play Production initiative. The goal is to foster future subscribers, donors and community leaders at CTG.

CTG’s Board of Directors saw an opportunity to attract younger donors to the theatre and introduce them to the concept of philanthropic giving by having them serve on a Board. With this concept, a volunteer leadership Board for The Fringe at CTG was implemented. Today, it consists of 11 members.

“We’ve leveraged our Directors’ relationships and WealthEngine’s Circle of Friends feature to identify and reach out to promising young executives in Los Angeles,” explained Lin. “This network strategy is helping us to grow our future donor base.”

Most members of the Fringe leadership board are in their mid-20s to early 40s. Eventually CTG hopes members will self-identify and transition from The Fringe at CTG to the next donor giving level. So far they have received a gift of $1,000 from a Fringe member who had previously never given. The expectation is that by engaging members at a younger age, they will continue to support CTG as their careers evolve and their giving capacities increase. CTG uses FindWealth OnlineSM to research members and prospects of the group. When new members join, the staff tries to learn as much as possible about them such as where they work and what they do.

“A lot of the information we gather is through internal conversations. Pertinent information, and the member’s associations with other CTG donors is then entered into our Tessitura database,” said Ryen.

The Fringe membership costs $300 and includes a $100 tax deductible donation which makes each member a Guild Donor at the theatre. The donation serves as a way to introduce members to the idea of charitable giving. The Theatre has realized a 36% increase in donations from the The Fringe as membership grew from 15 to 42 in one year.

With the creation of The Fringe, Center Theatre Group has increased their visibility with younger community leaders while also educating them about supporting the arts. In a short period of time, The Fringe at CTG has increased younger patrons’ involvement in the arts and encouraged CTG’s board members to support and network with the future donors of CTG. The Fringe at CTG can serve as a unique and creative model that connects the arts, philanthropic giving, leadership and social networking.

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Colorado SymphonyIncreases Individual Giving and Brings Donors Back into their Seats with Music

When Tracy Tajbl took on her new role as Vice President of Development at the Colorado Symphony, she knew the Development Department needed a re-design. Tajbl only had nine months to improve and reach their fundraising goals for the year. “In looking at the previous year’s fundraising goals I knew we needed to refocus and increase individual giving. The Board of Trustees was suffering from donor fatigue and we were at risk of losing quality board members. I noticed right off the bat that we weren’t retaining donors. I knew we’d have to work hard to change the processes by engaging our donor base directly with the symphony,” says Tajbl. She determined that a public campaign would be the most efficient way to achieve this goal.

CollaborationTo begin the launch of their campaign they worked in conjunction with Colorado Public Radio, the local NPR station. They kicked off the beginning of their campaign with a three day on-air fundraising drive. “The campaign launch with Colorado Public Radio proved to be a great springboard for publicizing our individual giving campaign. It generated interest and donations from many lapsed donors and increased their engagement with the symphony. As we received donations over the air, members of our individual giving team used FindWealth Online to look up new donors and strike while the iron was hot by connecting with them through invitations to special cultivation events.”

Under Tajbl’s leadership their methodology worked well. They decided to focus their time and energy on an area that would return immediate results with the limited resources and time they had available. Over a nine month period they increased their active donor pool by 101%. Their public goal was to raise $1.2 million from individuals, but they set an internal goal to raise $1.5 million. The ultimate outcome was $2.1 million total dollars raised, a significant increase over both the public and internal goals set.

strategy • Historically, the Colorado Symphony has under performed in individual giving resulting in an over-

reliance on board gifts at end of year.• Broaden the pool of donors by focusing on untapped potential from lapsed donors, current

subscribers and ticket buyers.• Implement high-impact donor cultivation and stewardship events to ensure donor retention and

position the symphony as a top philanthropic priority.• Create donor cultivation and recognition programs that will connect contributors to the Symphony

and musicians to build loyalty.

“I believe the magical formula for arts organizations is peer to peer solicitation; you’ve got to connect with the community and your donors by providing them with social activities to engage and connect them with others who are interested in the Arts.”

—Tracy Tajbl, Vice President of Development, Colorado symphony


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Tajbl explains, “I had previously used WealthEngine at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore. I knew the first step to reaching our goals in such a short timeframe would be to conduct a wealth screening of our database. We sent a total of 5,000 records comprised of our long-term subscribers and multi-single ticket buyers to be screened.”

resultsScreening subscribers and multi-single ticket buyers has yielded some of the best prospects based on their affinity and relationship with the symphony. “Our screening identified our first tier of 358 major gift prospects which we broke down into individual portfolios for the CEO, our two individual giving team members and me. The second tier of our screening identified prospects who are either not currently donors or who are giving very modest gifts to the Symphony, but who have the capacity and purchased tickets in the past. We decided to create a sense of community at the Symphony for these individuals to reengage them and jumpstart the cultivation process.” In order to create a community, they evaluated their donor benefits program and redesigned it to create more educational events like lectures around the Arts and music, cocktail receptions, and invitations to rehearsals. The overall conceit was this group comprised of arts and music lovers would appreciate more opportunities to engage on an exclusive level with members of the symphony. In the past, the Symphony had never raised more than $1.2 million in a year from its individual donors. By conducting a wealth screening and implementing new strategies in 2010 they realized a 103% increase in total individual giving over 2009. Based on this drastic increase in a short period of time and confidence in new development strategies, the Symphony increased its individual giving goal to $2.3 million. “Our early results show that purchasing WealthEngine as a prospect research tool has been the best money we’ve spent all year. My CEO and key board members know WealthEngine by name and now have an idea of the methodologies used,” says Tajbl.

The chart below shows the Symphony’s total individual giving levels over the last five years and the drastic increases in giving as a result of their 2009 wealth screening. By implementing new practices, the Symphony has grown their donor base by 101% in one year.

Fiscal Year Total Individual Giving Total Donors

2010 $2,194,866 +103% 5,927 +101%

2009 $1,081,655 -13% 2,957 -13%

2008 $1,232,446 +8% 3,102 +8%

2007 $1,141,629 +6% 2,704 -22%

2006 $1,073,297 3,454

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Greater Los Angeles Zoo AssociationMoves to a Data Rich Research Environment

“WealthEngine has given us so much to work with,” explains Keith Niles, senior database analyst for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), the fundraising arm of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. “Basically, we now have a wealth of quality, actionable data, thanks to the screening we performed through WealthEngine.”

GLAZA has traditionally had a sizable number of prospects and names; in fact, the membership database alone holds 64,000 households and about 300,000 records. Meanwhile, the Zoo staff includes only one prospect researcher, Michelle Mesrobian. And, while Mesrobian handles the Zoo’s prospect research, she is also responsible for donor relations and, most recently, was named project manager for the Zoo’s feasibility study in preparation for an upcoming capital campaign.

This past spring, management began to consider research approaches with two goals in mind: 1) save time and 2) deliver increased return on investment. In May 2009, management selected WealthEngine and engaged its screening services.

The Zoo now uses the results of this screening in three ways:

• To increase gift amounts from direct-mail respondents. The Zoo conducts four direct mail appeals each year: the President’s appeal, a General Conservation appeal, a June appeal and a December appeal. Mesrobian says, “To date, the giving has gone well and gift amounts have increased. The latest appeal included a match challenge, and results were up.” Niles reports the Zoo mailed to 1,340 households and achieved an average gift response of $338—more than double the norm. Niles adds, “Our average gift amount has typically been $150.”

• To identify interviewees for the upcoming campaign feasibility study. The Zoo used the WealthEngine screening results to help identify 600 potential donors that have been invited to participate in personal interviews. The information collected from those participating in the interviews will be used to help determine the fundraising potential and goal for the campaign.

• To help launch a planned giving program. The Zoo had begun its planned giving program early this year with the first mailing of a quarterly planned giving newsletter to 7,400 households. Niles says, “The WealthEngine screening helped us refine and better focus our mailing efforts. The age overlay alone was huge for us because it allowed us to add new prospects that are more financially mature and have high P2G (Propensity to Give) scores. It also allowed us to save money by helping us clean and streamline our list, removing prospects not likely to give to the Zoo.”

“The screening results were amazing. For example, we were immediately able to identify one-time small donors of under $100, but who had great capacity to give larger gifts.”

—Michelle Mesrobian, Prospect Researcher, Greater los Angeles Zoo Association


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More data for Better and Faster Fundraising resultsNiles finds the WealthEngine data invaluable in analyzing past donor attributes and compiling profiles for new prospects. He says, “I look at past donors and their attributes and then analyze the prospect profiles we receive from WealthEngine for similar attributes.” For annual appeals, Niles looks at charitable giving history, stock holdings and pensions, real estate holdings, political campaign donations, and gift capacity ranges. Again, his goal is to identify direct-mail respondents who will make increasingly larger gifts.

WealthEngine data also played a significant role in helping Niles analyze planned giving prospects. He says, “For our planned giving prospects, I look at data from WealthEngine such as P2G scores, political donations, and age. Also, gift capacity amounts are very important for me when putting together this prospect list. WealthEngine is able to give me all this information and more.”

Wealthengine: “Always Quick and easy to use”Mesrobian uses another WealthEngine tool, FindWealth OnlineSM, when she needs to research new prospects. She says, “FindWealth Online is the first place I go, when I’m given a new name. It has a great interface and is always quick and easy to use.” Typically, she will use FindWealth Online to pull a profile on a first-time donor, a new Zoo member, or an individual that a board member or the Director of Development plans to meet with or solicit. Both speed and ease of use are requirements for Mesrobian in her busy work day—she has found that WealthEngine delivers both.

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Houston Grand OperaIncreases Contributions by 82% in Three Years Using Prospect Research as the Foundation of Fundraising

When the Houston Grand Opera’s season commences this fall with a new production of Madame Butterfly, Larissa Potiomkin will have her prospect pipeline stocked and ready for its own debut. As Manager of Development Information at the Houston Grand Opera, she is a jack of all development trades; performing prospect research, managing the prospect pipeline and soliciting annual gifts. For Potiomkin, it all comes down to the basics, “prospect research data provides direction on whom to target and at what gift level. It’s as simple as that.”

investing in ChangeHouston Grand Opera brought in a new General Director and Senior Development Director in 2006 after several years of declining membership. This change in leadership also led to a renewed focus on boosting membership and using prospect research for the foundation of a major gift solicitation program. Development staff identified donors and subscribers from the previous two years and screened 16,000 records through WealthEngine. The results were promising: 1,000 individuals from the screening were identified as having a gift capacity of $100,000 or higher.

Benefits of a strong BoardThe Opera then went to work, first using the data to restructure their board while leveraging wealth attributes to create a strong center of influence and giving capacity. The strategy paid off.• After implementation of the WealthEngine screening and board level cultivation, giving increased

by 44.2% in FY 2008 over giving in FY 2007

• The trend continues, in FY 2009, giving at the board level rose 44.3% over FY 2008

targeting subscribersThe Opera also instituted annual screenings to ensure a well-stocked pipeline at the start of each season. In July, Potiomkin screens 400-600 new subscribers so development staff can begin cultivation. Potiomkin explains, “Through the screenings, we can strategize on whom to target before the October season begins. It’s our starting point, allowing us to take advantage of critical timing. We’re really fortunate to have major gift donors and prospects in our ‘home’ regularly for performances so we capitalize on the timing to steward them more efficiently and effectively.”

“When you look at the growth in the total dollars raised, increase in the size of major gifts from donors and steady rise in renewal rates from donors over the past three years since we implemented prospect research, there is an obvious positive return on investment. We’ve realized a 30-fold return on investment from prospect research, which may sound like a staggering number, but so is our 82% increase in overall contributions. Both are great achievements.”

—larissa Potiomkin, Manager of Development Information, Houston Grand opera


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The cultivation involves special touches such as backstage tours and dinners, access to the green room, and other targeted non-donor and donor events before performances. Potiomkin uses the screening results to identify gift capacity ratings for current donors and to pinpoint prospects worthy of added research. As well, Potiomkin also uses WealthEngine’s FindWealth Online to research key prospects to uncover multiple property ownership, community involvement and the Opera’s trustees’ “Circle of Friends” so they can expand and leverage known connections.

resultsSince the Opera began wealth screening three years ago, major gift donors have given at higher levels and overall contributions have grown by 82%. As well, their database has doubled in size to over 200,000 records through various methods of prospecting. Potiomkin estimated 2009 prospect research costs (excluding salaries) at 1% of 2009 contributions and said the Opera’s costs had been consistent since 2007 when they first implemented prospect research and screening. Using this cost estimate, the below table demonstrates Houston Grand Opera’s ROI from prospect research after their implementation in FY 2007.

Year Annual Contributions

increase in Contributions

estimated Annual Prospect research

Costs*

increase from Prospect

research**

Annual rOi from Prospect

research***

FY 2006 $8,418,127 Prior to use of prospect research and screening

Unknown—prior to use of coordinated strategy

– –

FY 2007 $7,846,305

7% decrease—screening program initiated and prospect research begins to be applied

$142,000 Implementation period –

FY 2008 $13,637,273 74% increase $142,000 $5,788,968 1,938%

FY 2009 $14,270,1205% increase—a real success given the economic climate

$142,000 $6,421,815 4,422%

3 Year Total $35,753,698 82% $426,000 $12,210,783 2,766%

Note: Working with Houston Grand Opera, WealthEngine calculated their approximate return on investment from prospect research, starting with 2007 contribution levels as a baseline and assuming non-prospect research costs remained constant.

* 2009 prospect research costs based on Houston Grand Opera’s estimate of 1% of 2009 contributions. 2007 and 2008 costs are also based on this estimate as cost has remained relatively consistent over the FY2007–2009 period. Actual costs for FY2007–2009 are not available.

** Annual contributions – baseline of FY 2007 annual contributions, when prospect research was first implemented.

*** Increase from prospect research – prospect research costs (FY 2008 accounts for 2 years of costs as program gained momentum)/prospect research costs.

“When you compare that to direct mail, web maintenance and design, special events and other fundraising costs, prospect research is a small investment that yields greater returns and one that we’ve seen contribute to our fundraising growth,” adds Potiomkin. “Overall, our ROI from prospect research these past three years is 2,766%. It may seem like an incredible number, but it’s one that shows the power of prospect research and the true potential that exists when coupled with a well-functioning, aggressive fundraising program.”

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Signature TheatreThinks Outside the Box to Identify, Engage and Solicit Donors

Breaking the Mold to Find new donorsSignature Theatre is a Tony Award®-winning, nonprofit professional theater company with a mission to produce contemporary musicals and plays, reinvent classic musicals, develop new work, and reach its community through engaging educational and outreach opportunities. Beginning in a garage space in 1993, Signature has swiftly become a landmark theater in the DC Region’s theatre scene, as well as a recognized player among the nation’s regional theatres.

Signature’s Director of Development, Sara Jaffe indicates that they have had to “think outside the box for fundraising, breaking away from the traditional moves-management model of turning single ticket buyers into subscribers and then donors. A frequent single ticket buyer likely feels like a Signature ‘insider’ without becoming a subscriber. We work to find a way to harness that feeling and give them that sense of partnership that leads to support for the theatre.” At Signature they have developed a new, less traditional model for cultivation:• Identify frequent single ticket purchasers (have interest and affinity to Signature)• Assess giving potential (research individuals in FindWealth Online)• Begin cultivation process (invitations to talk back sessions, personal notes on seats, greeting at

performances etc.)• Make the ask

Keeping development PersonalThe development and marketing departments work closely to ensure that donors are not overwhelmed by e-contact with solicitations, offers, and news. The development team has created a strategy to encourage individuals to donate online, by offering incentives such as discounts at the theatre bar. This helps cut down on costs associated with direct mailing, and also makes the donations readily available. Development Manager, Emily Hill emphasizes, “There are always people who just want to write a check. They want to own the transaction from start to finish, and know that 100% of the donation is going directly to Signature and our programming.” Hill is referencing the fact that the quickest route of online donation through Network for Good, takes a percentage of the donation towards their own operational costs. While this operational cost, 3% of the total donation to Signature through the site is minimal, there can be donor resistance to relinquishing a portion of their donation to another organization. Emily and Sara both echo, “The old adage is true – every dollar helps. If you want to send us a check for $25, or make that donation online, we want to make sure you feel good about helping continue the mission of Signature Theatre.”

“Development is so personal, and there is a level of care that needs to shine through with each donor, whether that is a personal hand-written note of thanks, or a specific and targeted ask letter. Moving toward the online arena for donations is a tricky balance.”

—sara Jaffe, Director of Development, signature Theatre


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developing and implementing strategiesSo, how does Signature leverage community for their development strategy? “We have struggled with finding the resources to utilize the data we collect at events like the open house, and during our shows, but we are getting there and have a plan,” says Jaffe. “We utilize FindWealth Online in our day-to-day efforts, screening prospects who may be connected to our Board of Directors and other friends of Signature, and committed single ticket purchasers.” Hill adds, “I always screen anyone who has made an unexpected change in their giving level or a new gift to see what their giving potential is, and if we can increase the size and frequency of future gifts.” FindWealth Online played a large role in Signature’s capital campaign and in the growth of their donor pool from 200 individuals to 1,000 between years 2001-2003.

Now, with several thousand donors, and a rocky economy, the Signature team is once again thinking outside the box for major gift acquisition. “Instead of asking people to make a substantial one-time gift, we are approaching individuals for multi-year gifts. This allows us to project our contributions year-to-year, and relieves some of the stress on the donors.” Ms. Jaffe indicates that this new process for Major Donor solicitation has worked so far, and FindWealth Online’s capacity and Propensity to Give (P2G) scores help give the development team a better sense of what is an appropriate ask amount.

At the time of publication, Signature has just completed a 1,000 individual screening with WealthEngine and is working to incorporate the results into their donor management system (DMS) and begin analyzing the data. In this screening they included all new donors from last two years, subscribers, and frequent single ticket buyers, but narrowed their list by targeting only individuals from wealthy zip codes. “We see the value of maximizing the screening data to help us focus on building the right relationships and make targeted asks throughout the year. We have created a development strategy to make that happen and are eager to get started,” says Jaffe.

As Signature continues to expand its audience and open doors to the community they will continue to think of strategic ways to engage their ticket buyers and donors and build relationships. Their development model will continue to evolve with changes in the economic landscape and they will continue to grow their community with prospect research.

eduCAtiOn

duke university, the Fuqua school of Business .............20le Moyne College’s research department ......................22northwestern university ...................................................24roanoke College ................................................................26saint Mary’s College...........................................................28st. John’s College High school ..........................................30Washington & lee university ............................................32

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Duke University, The Fuqua School of BusinessCreates a Routine Screening Process to Feed Monthly Prospect Pipeline

Duke University’s The Fuqua School of Business needed a new approach to screening their database of 13,000 alumni records during the silent phase of their campaign. Rather than screen all at once and risk using outdated data and ratings during validation and cultivation, they opted to categorize the alumni by state and screen smaller groups on a monthly basis.

Creating a ‘Hot list’The process is “very helpful to maintain fresh data, provide new prospects and keep us on track,” says Tracey Martin, Prospect & Research Coordinator. “We take the screened data and prioritize the list by giving capacity, starting from the $1M level down to $100,000, briefly scanning the bottom of the list for anyone we know to have a higher capacity. Once we have segmented the list, we look at key features including the P2G (Propensity to Give) score, stock holdings and quality of match data. We overlay inclination ratings and deem those with a capacity over $500,000 as our ‘hot list’.” Anyone with a giving capacity under $100,000 is forwarded to the Central office for annual fund and reunion year development.

A sustainable return on investmentMartin has realized an impressive return from the first five states screened:

Screening Results Number of Alumni Records

Data from five states 2,647

number of records returned from screening 1,441

number of records previously never rated 1,182 = new prospects

number of records with an increased rating 125

number of records with a decreased rating 134

number of records with a rating over $100K 937=65%

“In just a few months of routine screening, we have identified 1,182 new prospects. Our major gift officers are thrilled that we continue to replenish the pipelines with such strong constituents.”

—Tracey Martin, Prospect & Research Coordinator, Duke University’s The fuqua school of business


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“Comments from gift officers are positive; they say that the routine screenings help them identify whom they should target first, meanwhile I can cut or lower codes on others,” notes Martin. The ongoing influx of data leads to:

• Swift delivery of records

• Data that is current and divided into “manageable chunks”

• Accurate information gathered from overlays such as NCOA (National Change of Address) that find “lost” alumni

• Valuable updates including employment, home and business addresses, stock and other biographical information

Duke University’s The Fuqua School of Business has taken a proactive approach to wealth screening and uses monthly batch screenings to quickly validate top prospects and create routine workflows that feed development officers a fresh pipeline of new prospects on an ongoing basis. Each month, an average of 187 prospects with a major gift rating over $100,000 are pushed to development officers—making cultivation a routine, actionable and manageable part of the advancement workflow.

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Le Moyne College’s Research DepartmentYields High Campaign Returns Using Close Relationship with Development Officers

Having worked at Le Moyne College for over 20 years, Deborah Reinhardt Youmans has learned how to build value into a prospect research management program. When she first started as Director for Advancement Research, the school was spending significantly on prospect research and screening tools but wasn’t applying the information in a strategic and team-oriented approach to realize strong returns on investment. Today, her strategy involves routine donor and prospect screenings, ongoing prospect tracking, and more importantly, prospect management meetings in close coordination and communication with development officers. “The bottom line is that everyone involved in fundraising has to work as a team and that requires each individual to take responsibility for what he or she is here to do. You hold yourself accountable for the role you play on the team, as should those around you,” says Reinhardt Youmans.

At Le Moyne, prior to any solicitation visit, the staff assigned (including the President and Vice President) meet with the Research Department and agree on the amount that will be asked. “Yes, our profiles have the suggested ask and all the data and analysis to back it up,” says Reinhardt Youmans, “But, I have found that this simple process of meeting prior to a solicitation helps to build the team atmosphere, boost the confidence of those going out, and forces a meeting of the minds. You may need to role play Scenario A and Scenario B with the staff assigned, while at the same time trust their ability to make the right judgment call during the visit.”

routine screenings Keep Campaign on target from the startLe Moyne screens their donor database every two years and freshman parents on an annual basis. Reinhardt Youmans sets her own internal gift capacity rating and then applies WealthEngine’s capacity and inclination ratings to validate matches and flag variances for further investigation. She is a firm believer that “screenings should be used to confirm top level prospects and identify those up and comers for the next campaign. If you are using a screening now to identify new major donors for your current campaign, you’ve missed the mark from a timing perspective.”

“We use routine screenings to identify new prospects and confirm targets. Screening results for our prospects are usually in line with our own gift capacity codes. In reality, there should be no surprises because those at the top of the gift pyramid are monitored closely. On the other hand, screening plays a vital role in the identification of those up and coming.

I would rather have my heart rate accelerate because a development officer on the road contacts me to let me know that the visit resulted in a gift coming in on target with our solicitation strategy, than the alternative. It is an affirmation that our process of calculating gift capacity ratings is right on the money.”

—Deborah Reinhardt Youmans, Director for Advancement Research,

le Moyne College


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tracking is Key “I expect Research to continuously identify, screen and qualify prospects,” adds Reinhardt Youmans. “But that is only one piece of the puzzle, as the most important step is moving those potentials into the pipeline to build relationships. We have regularly scheduled meetings where those identified are added to portfolios based on the region assignments of our development staff. Portfolios are also built based on the level of giving, the specific passions of the prospect and in truth, the personality and skill level of the development staff. We include all relevant development staff in the meeting, as that heightens not only the team atmosphere, but forces open and honest communication.”

Le Moyne uses two different approaches when reviewing high-level prospects. For Major Gift prospects ($50,000-$249,000), they focus on the specific ask amount derived from screening details and other research data. For higher level Pacesetters ($250,000+), they identify cultivation and solicitation strategies to better determine “what makes them tick.”

Tracking helps Research evaluate how close their original capacity ratings were to the final ask, which the research team reviews and approves before it’s made. Tracking the ask amount ensures that future requests are well planned and executed. “Close to 90% of the solicitations we make are returned with a gift,” shares Reinhardt Youmans, “because our donors have such strong loyalty to the school and we’ve experienced such a high return from our prospect tracking process, I want to make sure that our expectations are clearly on target with every gift received.”

Le Moyne’s success is also due to the donor relationships nurtured by development officers. “We measure a development officer not by the number of donations they generate but by the number of visits they make to a prospect, because we have found a strong correlation between the frequency of visits and resulting gift,” says Reinhardt Youmans. The industry standard is generally one donor for every three prospects. Prior to May 2009, development officers at Le Moyne had a one to one result-oriented success ratio and their strategy is currently generating a one gift per two visit response among prospects.

Le Moyne’s current prospect tracking process is based on several closely monitored factors:• Length of the average cultivation cycle• Length from initial visit to the ask• Proximity of the suggested ask to the final close and any variables• Common occurrences among prospects, at varying gift levels

“In the short term, it allows us a snapshot of where we are and where we are headed. In the long term, it is an invaluable tool for strategic planning towards the next campaign,” explains Reinhardt Youmans. “Our research and screening approach has given us more than 2,500 prospects with a gift capacity over $100,000. We are fortunate to have more prospects than can be assigned and since we’re in the last year of our campaign we aren’t wasting time—these are the people to visit now,” says Reinhardt Youmans. “Research should always be ahead of the curve, preferably two years out, and we need to start building the relationships now in preparation for the next campaign.”

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Northwestern UniversityPropels Prospect Pool and Parents’ Fund with Five-year Screening Strategy NORTHWESTERN

UNIVERSITY

In 2003, Northwestern University laid the groundwork for a systematic prospect identification and management program. At the time, the development office struggled to define and segment the university’s prospect pool—only 2,200 individuals carried any sort of qualification rating, and many of the ratings were arbitrary and had not been validated by the research department. As Northwestern prepared for their first major screening of 112,000 alumni records, they carefully defined two types of qualification ratings for prospects:

1. An officer rating applied by a development officer takes into account the officer’s knowledge of the prospect’s inclination and readiness to give, as well as capacity

2. A research capacity evaluation determined by the research department is based on wealth and asset screening results and other prospect data sources, and is then validated by the researcher

Following the screening, more than 10,000 prospects were identified, defined and deemed actionable. Within three months, research had identified and validated the top 1,000 to target. Today, they have more than 27,000 in their prospect pool, the result of a routine screening schedule and a well-planned system of prospect identification and portfolio management.

Five-Year screening strategyWhen Northwestern conducted the alumni wealth and asset screening in 2003, they set in motion a schedule to screen reunion class alumni every year (approximately 17,000-20,000 records annually) to ensure that all alumni records are refreshed on a five-year basis. Rather than conduct large screenings every five years, this strategy ensures a live feed of fresh data, as well as a proactive and manageable workflow for the research team. Jennifer Fry, Director of Development Research and Prospect Management at Northwestern, supervises a team of 17 prospect research and information management specialists who find these annual screenings “completely essential to our prospect identification strategy.”

“We started by screening all living alumni with accurate addresses in 2003,” explains Fry. “We had some issues with the results, so we decided to switch screening vendors, moving to WealthEngine in 2004 to re-screen the 14,360 unvalidated records remaining from the larger screening. That year, we also conducted a “found” alumni screening of 31,000 alumni with newly located addresses, to strengthen our alumni data. As we progressed, we began to venture beyond our alumni screenings to special projects that support the requests and needs of university initiatives, such as a grateful patient screening with the medical school.”

“Our return on investment is clear when you consider how we used screenings to double our Parents’ Fund within a year and more than triple it within four years. My advice is to focus on specific groups, rather than overwhelming numbers of records, and plan accordingly. Make sure the data doesn’t sit—allocate an adequate ‘quiet period’ to evaluate results and carefully record your findings. You’ll find that the strategy really works.”

—Jennifer fry, Director of Development Research & Prospect Management, northwestern University


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northwestern’s screening strategy timeline

Adds Fry, “We use screening as our first point of reference when identifying new prospects. We access current information using WealthEngine’s FindWealth Online tool, and then apply our own formulas for the research capacity evaluation rating.”

Parent screening resultsIn addition to alumni, parent screenings are a critical element to the prospect identification program; they have shown a dramatic return on investment over the past five years. Northwestern only screens non-alumni parents (alumni parents are picked up in the routine alumni screening), averaging approximately 1,600-2,000 per year. Prior to the first parent screening in 2004, the Parents’ Fund raised approximately $500,000 annually. Within the first year of screening, the Fund doubled. By 2008, the Fund had grown to $1.75M and, despite tight economic times in 2009, the Fund has held steady, closing within 1.2% of last year’s total.

“The ability to identify new parents who are capable of major gifts has been a huge benefit for Northwestern. Prior to beginning the parent screening program, it took much longer to determine which parents were major gift prospects. This meant that sometimes we didn’t start cultivating parents until their children had been at Northwestern for a year or two, or were even about to graduate. By screening new parents of enrolled students annually, we can target those who are major gift prospects and connect with them immediately through high-level parent welcome events, rather than play catch-up with current and past parents,” explains Fry.

next stepsSpecial project screenings have supported other areas within Northwestern, including the Feinberg School of Medicine. Fry and the medical school development office saw a need for access to hard asset data on grateful patients and began screening in 2007. “Grateful patient screenings have helped the medical school become more self-sufficient in their prospecting efforts, and my team’s research support points them in the right direction,” explains Fry.

Now that Northwestern has an efficient and effective program of prospect identification and portfolio management, they have turned to analytics to broaden their scope of work. “We’ve been screening since 2003 and have a solid base for our prospect research, as well as a turnkey process,” says Fry. “Our next step is to apply analytics to further segment and clarify the prospect pipeline, as well as target our most likely prospective donors.”

2004-Present1,600-2,000 newparents of students

2005-PresentReunion year alumni

2007-Present18,000 grateful patients initially screened for the medicalschool has led to monthly screenings of new grateful patients as they come through the school’s partner medical group

2003112,000livingalumni

200431,000 “found”alumni with newlylocated addresses

200414,400 unvalidated prospects from the 2003 screening rescreened through new vendor

20097,000 unquali� ed prospects who had previously been assigned to development o� cers without a research capacity evaluation rating

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Roanoke CollegeStreamlines Workflow by Integrating WealthEngine Screening Data into Colleague Advancement

Roanoke College has been a client of Datatel for more than 11 years; first using the Benefactor donor management system then upgrading to Colleague Advancement in 2008. At that time, Datatel and WealthEngine partnered to integrate WealthEngine screening data into Colleague Advancement which has since created a seamless integration and batch screening process that Roanoke can employ completely within their donor management system.

“The integration was very easy to implement,” says Robert Sebesta, Database Analyst at Roanoke College. “We screened our complete database of 20,000 donor and prospect records; including alumni, parents and former parents who have given within the past three years,” adds Carolyn Walter, Director of Development Research. Walter manages the integrated upload/download process between Colleague Advancement and WealthEngine that has streamlined Roanoke’s data management and created new, proactive research opportunities for development staff. The main advantage of the integration is to routinely refresh donor records to reflect current information (business and real estate changes, stock values, etc.) right in the donor database.

Fresh data leads to new WorkflowWalter uses the screening results to target major gift donors. She first identifies those individuals who WealthEngine found to have promising P2G (Propensity to Give) and giving capacity scores. She then compares these scores to her own, pulls the matched list for immediate action and then begins researching any with a variance between the two scores. From Colleague Advancement, she can directly access live updates from WealthEngine’s online service.

Access to fresh data has built new workflows for:

• Special Events—When an alumni chapter plans an event, Walter creates an expected attendee list for the development officers who review and plan cultivation strategies.

• Freshman Targeting—Parent screenings of incoming freshman are now performed every spring. Walter shares the results with development officers prior to freshman arrival and they connect and cultivate during freshman “move in” and while parents are on campus.

“The P2G and other ratings gave me a good comparison and were pretty much on target with my own. WealthEngine identified new prospects who turned out to be really great prospects; as well, I found some on my own. Using the two in tandem made my job easier to recognize top prospects, quickly validate and execute an action plan for cultivation, rather than research each one by one.”

—Carolyn Walter, Director of Development Research, Roanoke College


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• Quick Updates—For freshmen who registered after the spring parent screening, Walter conducts individual, online research for quick, current information. She also uses the online tool when she believes that a parent’s wealth may have changed.

• New Campaigns—Using the P2G score from the screening results, Walter identified the top freshman parent prospects and segmented them into groups for a direct mail campaign, sending personal invitations to major gift prospects to join a special parent council. Walter also sees the possibility of using the results for a planned giving appeal.

• Reporting—A valued feature to Walter, she can immediately refresh and apply live screening data to any report she prepares within Colleague Advancement. The reports feature combines the detail of the screening results with key internal data such as graduation year, school, etc., so all relevant data is concise and current.

shared Access Makes Cultivation timelyUnder the new system, every development officer has access to the screening data and can instantly view a prospect’s hard asset information, including analytics scores. Whether at their desk or on the road, the development officer can research, target, and track their best prospects from one secure database with reliability. Says Walter, “I have trained the development officers on how to interpret the data, giving them a base to get started—we particularly like to see board affiliation, political donations and other identifiers of connections and disposable wealth. The WealthEngine-Colleague Advancement integration is very helpful, very robust and makes the development officer’s research, as well as my own, more timely and effective.”

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Saint Mary’s CollegeSegments and Identifies New Prospects Using Wealth Screening

Saint Mary’s College had done a wealth screening, but it had been years before and no one was involved in the process, Joni Warner explained. So, Warner, Director of Research for Development at the college, had a lot of decisions to make as she began to investigate the possibilities of a screening. She knew questions like these would need to be answered: What is our plan? What will we find most helpful in the results?

Ultimately, Warner (with help from Sally Boucher from WealthEngine’s client service team) put in place a three-step process.

Step One: Interview WealthEngine clients who have recently completed screenings to find out what data they used and how they used the results.

Step Two: Set goals. Warner’s goals included:

• Eliminate those prospects from our pool who were not (or did not) qualify

• Better qualify cultivated prospects

• Update the database

• Identify new prospects for an upcoming campaign.

Step Three: Determine the data and outcomes that the college wanted to see as a result of a wealth screening.

Then, time for using the results—and for success! They began with a focus on major gifts followed by the college’s annual fund and, finally, planned giving.

“A big part of our need was to identify new prospects,” explained Warner. “We identified 124 new prospects through the WealthEngine screening. Then, we ran a report to determine where these prospects lived. We distributed this data to our gift officers based on the regions to which they were traveling. This turned out to be a huge asset for our gift officers.”

Next, Warner ran a report to identify ability ratings of these new prospects as well as the giving officers’ existing prospects. This proved even more beneficial to the officers. With only three gift officers at Saint Mary’s College, each has a portfolio of 300-400 prospects.

Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic, residential, women’s college in the liberal arts tradition. Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1844, Saint Mary’s promotes a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic appreciation, religious sensibility, and social responsibility.


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Warner continued, “We are also looking at planned giving prospects. Using the WealthEngine planned giving model, we have been able to identify more prospects in our database.” Just over a month ago, the Planned Giving Officer sent a mailing out to those prospects.

As with any new application, Warner acknowledged experiencing a learning curve. Hers was “getting it into our daily routine. It’s really important that you touch the WealthEngine tool every day. Also, if you take training, you need to start working with your data right away so you can immediately try out what you learned.”

Warner offers this advice to others getting ready to do a screening (whether for the first or tenth time):

• There’s never going to be a “good” time. Just do it!

• It’s in your best interest to think about the outcomes you want. How do you plan to use the data?

• Ask WealthEngine for references similar to your organization. Contact them and ask why they screened particular people and how they used their data.

• Determine your goals. Then, develop your plan. And, remember that your plan is a “living document” and can be modified as you go along.

• Determine what data will be imported into your system.

• Identify additional customized reports needed, beyond the standard ones.

When asked “Why WealthEngine?” Warner explained, “Since we were ‘first timers,’ we wanted a simple product that would offer us a basic screening. We knew we didn’t need—and wouldn’t use—all the bells and whistles of some of the other products.”

She said she would definitely use WealthEngine again. “The beauty of WealthEngine is that it streamlines what we do in our development department and ultimately saves the college money,” she said.

Prospect research helped support the construction and endowment of the new Spes Unica Hall, which was completely funded by gifts and pledges totaling $19.4 million from nearly 1,000 donors.

Saint Mary’s fundraising programs touch alumnae, current and past parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends; building strong support for their mission—educating women to make a difference in the world.

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St. John’s College High SchoolEngages Alumni & Prospects to Drive Fundraising

When Philip Brach, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at St. John’s College High School in Washington, DC, runs into a donor, he’s likely to unholster his handheld device. Why? To check their giving capacity, of course. Brach has downloaded giving history and gift capacity rating for all 19,000 of St. John’s donors into his PDA.

With a commitment to prospect research, St. John’s College High School raised over $15.5 million in their last capital campaign, boosting their average capital gift commitments by four times the number of their previous campaign and receiving a “huge” number of first-time major gifts. Brach himself has closed four $1M gifts from new donors, explaining, “These results are specifically due to better research on our part, and WealthEngine played a big role in that.”

data Analysis at the FoundationBrach believes in looking at metrics and analytics to identify trends and gift potential. “I’m very data driven,” he says, “I’ve done the math and know that prospect research and analytics pays off.” To determine an inclination to give and an ask amount, he researches each prospect in WealthEngine’s FindWealth Online and uses three figures; his own RFM score, the WealthEngine gift capacity rating and real estate valuation. Brach uses the RFM to code St. John’s donor database so each donor and prospect is clearly defined for fundraising efforts. RFM is a statistical formula that identifies:• Recency—how recently the last gift was given• Frequency—how frequently the donor gives • Monetary—how much the donor has given in total

Brach then uses WealthEngine’s gift capacity rating to determine ask amounts. When he first considered adding the gift capacity rating to his model, he tested WealthEngine’s gift capacity levels against his own data by reviewing the capital and annual gift histories for his top 30 donors. “I found the results to be unbelievably accurate, especially when you base it against the range of donor/prospect engagement with the school. The gift capacity rating was within 1%-5% of my top donors’ average annual gift and 5-10% within their capital campaign gift. The ratings are proven and I use them to ensure we are always on target.”

For example, WealthEngine identified one alumnus who had given $100,000 in the previous capital campaign and had verbally shared that he would give $150,000 in the current campaign. With the data on his side, Brach knew that the donor had a greater gift capacity and St. John’s made a higher ask securing a gift of $500,000.

St. John’s College High School’s leadership campaign phase (ask of $25,000 or more) has delivered strong results.Total leadership commitments: 150 giftsFirst time capital gifts: 97 gifts totaling $2.7MRepeat capital campaign donors: 53 gifts totaling $5.4M, nearly 60% of which are higher amounts.


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Brach’s third ingredient for evaluating donors and prospects is real estate. “For the Washington, DC area, I’ve found that anyone who has more than $400,000 in real estate, as well as strong RFM and gift capacity scores, is likely to have something more to offer and we can proceed with the assurance that the analytics are on target,” explains Brach. “For those under that threshold, we are careful not to underestimate their potential and will conduct more research.”

Cultivating Parents early and OftenBrach follows a multi-touch approach, using every opportunity to engage parents early and often. He notes, “We conduct freshman parent screenings through WealthEngine with our results posted online. The screenings help us to identify potential so we can start engaging parents during the summer.”

Brach capitalizes on every opportunity to collect prospect data, including open houses, special events, even family networks. Says Brach, “This is critical as we’ve found that the gift level of parents who are alumni and have children attending St. John’s are four times higher than alumni that do not send their children to the school.”

Cultivation after special events also yields a high return for St. John’s. “I’ve looked at donations from event attendees one year before the event and one year after. The average increase is 21%,” adds Brach.

tips for engaging donors, Prospects and AlumniSt. John’s success involves using prospect research as the foundation of their fundraising strategy. Some of Brach’s suggestions for staying updated on donors and prospects, as well as engaging alumni, include:

• Set up an email tracking system. Resources such as Google Alerts and Dialog NewsRoom can help track targets. Also keep your eye on local business journals which can provide timely information on donors and alumni, such as a prospect who may have recently sold their business or a donor who received a special recognition or award.

• Use social networking resources. Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites can help you research and confirm biographical information on prospects. Information and photographs on family, friends and interests can provide valuable insight and conversation starters.

• Look for unique opportunities to create affinity with a department or program. St. John’s sent a memorial solicitation letter to all 300 students who played football under a long-time, much loved coach.

• Use prospect research to determine the leadership of class reunions. Brach uses WealthEngine to determine the gift capacity of class alumni and invites the top 5-10 prospects to serve on a class reunion committee.

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&Washington & Lee UniversityUses Peer Screening to Identify Major Gift Prospects

For 22 years, Debra Darling has been conducting prospect research—full-time or on her own as a major gift officer. Currently Director of Prospect Development at Washington & Lee University, Darling has found that the ratio of proactive versus reactive research she chooses to use depends on the stage of a campaign, current fundraising priorities, or maturity of the fundraising program. While she believes that all research shops should be proactive at least 50% of the time, certain stages require a higher degree of activity to ensure campaign success. “We are at the beginning of a capital campaign and our greatest need is to screen our constituents and identify those most capable of major giving to begin strengthening those relationships now. Our proactive work today will help us determine what the final campaign goal, and ultimately the outcome, will be,” says Darling.

recruitment strategyThis proactive research method includes peer screening to identify new prospects with a high capacity to give who haven’t yet been approached for a major gift. “To hold true to a multi-pronged approach for prospect identification, peer screening is important. We feel that one-on-one sessions with peer screeners, rather than via groups, is the best way to get great information, especially given the size of our school which facilitates close relationships among classmates and alumni,” notes Darling.

To identify peer screening volunteers, Washington & Lee targets:

• Alumni from specific professions with affluence and strong social networks:

• Finance professionals—their profession is to know clients’ and associates’ net worth

• Corporate and philanthropic board members

• Attorneys who graduated from their law school

• Alumni or parents with gift histories and volunteer involvement:

• Class agents who have previously been solicited for the annual fund

• Reunion committee members

From these sources, staff identified 500 potential screeners, of which 160, approximately one-third, were interviewed within the first six months. Of those invited to participate, only two have declined and they continue to work through the remaining two thirds with success. Once screeners agree to

“Our first six months of peer screening resulted in the identification of 284 completely new prospects with validated gift capacity ratings over $100,000. We were also able to confirm and/or upgrade known prospects at equally high levels.”

—Debra Darling, Director of Prospect Development,

Washington & lee University


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be interviewed, she begins a careful coding and tracking process in her donor management system as peer screeners hold tremendous potential both in identifying new donors and in increasing their own contributions to the school. The screener’s own name is included in their list of people to review and they are asked to rate their own gift capacity.

Darling says, “We see peer screening as a huge cultivation step in the campaign. It reconnects us with people in a way that allows them to be helpful to our school without having to make an outright donation and plants the seed for our campaign message.”

interview ApproachDevelopment officers conduct the peer screenings; each lasts approximately one hour and includes a maximum of 400 names. The goal is to get “very good” information on individuals on the list who are close associates of the screener thereby creating a circle of friends. In those cases, they are asked only to suggest gift capacity but often provide additional clues regarding inclination to give and attitude towards philanthropy. For acquaintances, general information is collected on current employment, home address, family relations, friends, etc. The peer review list is generated from:

• Fellow alumni

• Profession (i.e. fellow investment bankers)

• Undergraduate/graduate major

• Student activities and clubs (fraternity/sororities, athletics, etc.)

• Geography of friends and parents, including seasonal addresses

• Parents of current students

• Profession

• Geography of alumni, fellow parents and student’s friends, including seasonal addresses

• Fellow students from their child’s high school who have or are attending Washington & Lee

Post interview, Darling takes the data collected and reviews four separate gift capacity ratings to determine the best rating for each prospect. The ratings come from:

• Personal opinion of the peer screener

• Knowledge of the prospect by the participating development officer

• Validation from the prospect research department

• WealthEngine’s wealth and hard asset screening results

“Looking at all four ratings is a powerful tool—there is more confidence and immediacy for action when all are at the same level. I know to dig deeper when there is a variance,” says Darling. “While peer screening can be a labor intensive process, the results are impressive when you consider that we found 284 new major gift prospects and the opportunity to successfully cultivate screeners for future gifts.”

HOsPitAls & HeAltHCAre

Cleveland Clinic ..................................................................36eastern Connecticut Health network ..............................38loyola university Health system ......................................40st. Vincent’s Foundation ....................................................42Yale-new Haven Hospital ..................................................44

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Cleveland ClinicApplies Prospect Research and Management Strategy to Drive Growth

For Steve Fitch, Prospect Management Director at Cleveland Clinic, integrating the Research/Prospect Management group with the development staff has become a personal mission. “When I first joined Cleveland Clinic in 2002, we had three researchers who were hidden away, never to see or meet with development officers. Today, there are five of us and Research/Prospect Management has evolved into an essential part of the fundraising team. ” The results can be found in the total dollars raised—overall fundraising has grown by 54% since 2002.

Proactive research nets Major Gift ProspectsCleveland Clinic is in prospect research mode every day. For example, Research Supervisor Shaw Mumford uses prospect research to identify a prospect’s real estate, stock holdings, philanthropic donations, business ownership and foundation leadership positions to determine a donor and/or prospects propensity to give to the Clinic. From the research, the team assigns ratings and giving capacity to support cultivation approaches and ask amounts. Sometimes, success comes swiftly. For example, Development Researcher Lisa Tersigni recently had a string of big hits—in a three day period, she identified four $5M prospects who were already giving to the Clinic at modest levels. In another case, a first time, $250 donor was found to have a $5M capacity.

One important component to the program is monthly grateful patient screenings. Staying well within HIPAA guidelines, the value of grateful patient screenings helps target those constituents at a time when they have the highest propensity to give—within 3 months of care. Due to the large number of patients visiting Cleveland Clinic, a screening can quickly identify prospects for various campaigns, allowing the development team to focus first on those with the greatest potential at each gift level.

Prior to the initiation of the monthly screenings, development officers cleansed their pipelines , tightening their donor and prospect lists. “We wanted to make the most of every opportunity, focusing first on those with the greatest potential. Now, we are really on track in knowing how many records will be returned at a major gift level from each monthly screening,” says Fitch. “It has become a predictable and critical business process—which is critical to our planning, especially as it pertains to broader fundraising goals. From this strategic approach, our new challenge is what we’ll do when each development officer hits their threshold of manageable prospect names. A full pipeline is a great problem to have.”

“Prospect research is a critical part of our fundraising process. It helps us to ascertain giving capacity among recent donors and identify our best prospects. We also use regular, monthly grateful patient screenings to prioritize and segment our prospect lists into manageable groups. The result is simple—our development officers’ pipelines are full and the ratings and analytics we apply to our ask amounts ensure that ask amounts are on target.”

—steve fitch, Prospect Management Director, Cleveland Clinic


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Adapting to the surge of new ProspectsOne side effect to the screenings and surge of higher level major gifts prospects is what to do with those prospects that are still promising candidates, but at lower gift levels. Suzanne Sopa, Director of Annual Giving, explains, “With the development officers’ plates full, we didn’t want to lose a chance to cultivate those who fell into our mid-level range. If we followed our traditional Annual Giving process, these prospects—still at fairly high gift levels—would be moved to telephone and direct mail campaigns. Instead, we created a new ‘Special Gifts’ category to offer a higher touch approach so that we don’t reduce gift levels from those we consider to be the ‘magic in the middle.”

looking AheadFitch is prepared for the continued growth in their prospect management program. “Monthly patient screenings are a big part of our ongoing fundraising efforts,” says Fitch, “As well, the team is focused on creating more structure and formalization to their prospect management process, especially through improved evaluation.” Overall, Cleveland Clinic has found success by unifying their prospect research and management platform, instituting a strategic grateful patient screening program, and adapting to the surge in prospects by creating new gift categories. Today, they’re poised to reap the rewards from a consistent screening program and a flexible, fully integrated development team. Explains Fitch, “Every day our team takes another step that will ultimately make each patient and donor’s experience better. Planning, research and adaptability have helped us achieve remarkable results over the past eight years—consistency and accountability for our work is what will take us to even new heights.”

“Because of our screening success, we’ve had to rethink where mid-level prospects fit within our gift programs. We are testing the theory that those in our mid-range will give at higher levels if they receive a high touch approach over traditional phone and direct mail campaigns. We believe that this strategy will result in a greater return on investment from those we deem to be the ‘magic in the middle.”

—suzanne sopa, Director of Annual Giving, Cleveland Clinic

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Eastern Connecticut Health NetworkCommunity HealthCare FoundationCompares Prospect Research Solutions Head to Head

Nina Kruse, Director of Development at the Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) Community HealthCare Foundation in Manchester, CT, gave her staff an assignment in early 2009. She wanted them to use two different prospect research products in a side by side comparison to inform their decision-making. Following the head to head evaluation, WealthEngine’s solution won the confidence of the ECHN staff.

In addition to the breadth and quality of data, some key features that made their research more efficient and detailed put WealthEngine over the top:

• Circle of Friends: Kruse explains, “This feature tells us who we know that a prospect knows. It’s particularly valuable in our corporate relations and special events fundraising.”

• Search: Ability to search for small businesses, corporations and foundations.

• Estimated gift capacity ranges: Kruse notes, “Staff found them both valuable and highly accurate.”

• Propensity to Give (P2G): P2G scores facilitate segmentation and targeting.

• Quality of Match (QOM): The QOM feature helps to ensure research accuracy.

Initially, Kruse herself selected WealthEngine because of the price; it was one-third of the cost of a competing product. However, she says that she’s renewed year after year with WealthEngine because of the high level of customer service.

She explains, “WealthEngine’s customer service staff members are passionate, confident and experienced fundraising professionals. They are all people I truly feel are dedicated to serving me, my staff and the foundation.”


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turning Challenges into solutionsWhen Kruse explained two challenges that she was having in acting on data found in FindWealth Online, WealthEngine’s client service team addressed these challenges and provided solutions:

Finally, even with 100% of ECHN development staff in support of WealthEngine, Kruse recognized the value of ongoing product training and professional development for her staff. Soon, staff will be participating in two 3-hour custom training sessions, presented by WealthEngine’s expert trainers.

the Bottom line: Wealthengine Professionalizes PhilanthropyKruse concludes, “WealthEngine empowers us. When working with our board members and volunteers, they now recognize the business side of philanthropy. WealthEngine’s detailed and accurate statistical data professionalizes ECHN and validates our work. Now, when building a relationship with a donor, we are able to put in place a ‘business plan,’ combining both peer review and statistical data. Ultimately, WealthEngine is a tool that helps us find that ‘sweet spot’ when approaching a donor.”

“WealthEngine’s customer service staff members are passionate, confident and experienced fundraising professionals. They are all people I truly feel are dedicated to serving me, my staff and the foundation.”

—nina Kruse, Director of Development, eastern Connecticut Health network (eCHn)

Community HealthCare foundation

Challenge 1 Kruse’s staff was manually entering P2G and 5-year gift capacity scores into their Raiser’s Edge fundraising database.

Solution This can be an arduous task. Instead, WealthEngine’s client service manager showed ECHN’s staff how to quickly and easily export WealthEngine data into Excel and then import it straight into ECHN’s Raiser’s Edge database. The process saves time and ensures data accuracy—problem solved.

Challenge 2 Designated development officers could not be noted in WealthEngine’s FindWealth Online results.

Solution WealthEngine’s client service team showed Kruse’s staff how to create individual folders in FindWealth Online, highlighting each DO’s prospects and giving them a streamlined method to approach their development process and the problem was solved.

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Loyola University Health SystemFeeds Growing Grateful Patient Program with Proactive Research

“We rely heavily on prospect research in all that we do,” says Tony Englert, vice president development & external affairs at Loyola University Health System. “We began applying prospect research to our fundraising efforts about 10 years ago and have been increasingly committed to a systematic strategy throughout the years. In fact, our proactive prospect research strategy feeds into all of our fundraising activities, delivering strong results dramatically increasing giving to Loyola.”

Explains Englert, “While we were in a campaign for some of those ‘boom’ years, our prospect research strategy was developed to support long-term major gift growth. For example, prior to the campaign, our board was more operational and had not necessarily focused on fundraising. However, we used prospect research to review our board for gift capacity and then created a subcommittee of strong donor candidates. As well, we created a President’s Council of non-board members focused on development. The first time the health system board was asked to give was in 2007 during the silent phase of the campaign.

Patient screening strategyAnother contributor to the proactive strategy is the active recruitment of grateful patients as donors. Loyola’s routine screening mix ensures that no opportunity is missed to connect with a major gift prospect while they are on public census (onsite) and patients are segmented and targeted for the right fundraising initiative within the best timeframe—30-60 days after receiving care. Loyola’s program follows:

• Daily inpatient review—40-50 patients are identified daily for immediate contact. On average, 52% of those screened with a capacity of $100,000 or higher are still on public census, creating opportunity for development staff to connect with potential donors.

• Monthly inpatient and outpatient review—approximately 7,000 individuals are screened each month. Staff follow-up is done via telephone or direct mail, depending on gift capacity. A shift in screening vendors and use of WealthEngine analytics for direct mail appeals has resulted in a 24% increase in the number of gifts and a 30% increase in average gift amounts in the first three quarters of 2010 compared to 2009 giving.

• Occasional groups—smaller groups, such as the school of medicine alumni, are screened for special events, annual fund and other targeted projects.

$0.0

$10.0

$20.0

$30.0

$40.0

$50.0

Total Contributions (in Millions)FY 2002-2010

$8.6$11.3

$8.4$11.4

$22.0

$43.3

$19.0

$42.8

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Silent

phase ofcampaign

SeniorMgmt

turnover

Push toincrease gift

capacity


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“Much of our excitement moving forward has to do with the potential ahead of us,” says Englert. Loyola has established the groundwork through regular screening and have enough metrics in place to forecast. All indicators show that they are on an upward path to attain higher levels of success with our grateful patient program.

donor Management system integrationLoyola uses BSR Advance as its donor management system (DMS). To ensure that key prospect data is captured and available to the development team, Loyola follows the following process:

• First, patient data is sent to WealthEngine daily. The results are returned to a research analyst prior to arrival for work. The analyst reviews and validates the findings, circulating the prospects to the development team by mid-morning.

• Validation involves identifying anyone with a $250,000 or higher gift capacity. The analyst compares real estate to tax assessor records, reviews WealthEngine’s data from MarketGuide, D&B and other key databases. “At first, we looked at anyone with a $100,000+ gift capacity, but found the volume too high for timely action so we adjusted the capacity level to better fit our workflow,” explains the analyst.

• The data is then de-duped with Loyola’s “match report;” a turnkey report that flags any new patient who is already a possible match in the database. If they are a match, the patient record is linked to the database. No patient records are kept in Loyola’s DMS BSR Advance database.

• A report for development officers is produced for the designated prospect manager.

Prospect CultivationA staff member may visit the patient if they are still onsite, and then follows up with a note or phone call. She qualifies each prospect and the prospect is transitioned to a major gift officer.

“Of the 172 that were visited within the last nine months, six have been transitioned to major gift officers as having a strong likelihood to give,” explains Englert. “Remember, these are brand new prospects with a capacity of $250,000 or higher— so the return on investment from just one gift is significant.”

Englert summarizes, “Giving from individuals represents roughly 65% of our overall fundraising (from both the medical school alumni and patients). Forty percent of the overall dollars raised ($16.7M in 2009) comes from our friends of the health system—patients, family members of patients and the community. It all boils down to the importance of screening in terms of expediency. Everyone knows that gratitude decreases with time; we have instituted a proactive strategy for moving on the data in a timely and integrated manner.

In Hospital Visit

Number Attempted 300

Number Accomplished (patient still on site) 172

% Ratio 57%

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St. Vincent’s FoundationGets Dramatic Results with Structured Approach

Scott Powell, Director of Development at St. Vincent’s Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama wishes he had a dedicated team of prospect researchers to support the Foundation’s development efforts. Instead, Powell explains, “everyone does prospect research to some degree” with success coming from a structured approach combining weekly grateful patient screenings, a comprehensive moves management program and careful examination of return on investment (ROI).

Following a $23M capital campaign, St. Vincent’s applied the structured approach to retain campaign donors and to reach out to new prospects through their grateful patient program. The result is remarkable; pre-campaign gift levels averaged $2M per year, post-campaign gift levels average 50-100% higher, per year. How did they do it?

“It comes down to two possibilities,” says Powell. “We’ve either done a good job at retaining donors or our prospect research and moves management programs are highly successful. The reality is that both are true.”

Further examining the success of St. Vincent’s efforts, Powell took the average number of gifts made at both the $1,000 and $10,000 level made during the three years prior to their capital campaign and compared them to the average number of gifts made in the three years following the campaign.

Gift size

Average Annual # in three Years Prior to Campaign

Average Annual # in three Years Following Campaign

Percent increase

$1000 147 184 25%

$10,000 37 60 62%

With a 62% increase in $10,000 gifts, the strategy is working. Says Powell, “Using prospect research to identify and target top prospects, employing open communication through moves management and applying aggressive retention tactics are now a way of life for us.”

Weekly Grateful Patients’ screeningsIn 2008, St. Vincent’s started screening approx. 3,500-4,000 patients on a weekly basis through WealthEngine’s WebExpress, a swift and systematic prospect screening tool for routine batches of donors and prospects. St. Vincent’s screened more than 182,000 individuals in 2009; predominately patients but also smaller groups of memorial gift donors, board members and donors to the capital campaign. The weekly screening combines patient lists from four care sites with a total of 800 beds. The lists are uploaded to WealthEngine every Friday, at midmorning, with the results returned by noon that same day. “Our strategy is to not waste any time—or opportunity. Today, almost all of our gifts come from our grateful patient program and every donor is screened before a gift is ever made.”

Powell takes the results and uses WealthEngine’s P2G™ score, a reliable metric that indicates a prospect’s Propensity to Give, to prioritize and segment the list for various development efforts. Each week, Powell takes the top 50 prospects as identified by WealthEngine and shares the list with development officers during their routine prospect meeting.


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direct Mail successThe weekly list is further segmented by the P2G score, all of those identified by WealthEngine as qualified prospects are sent to the annual fund. Any below that threshold are culled from the mailing list. St. Vincent’s first began mailing to the list after collecting two months of prospects. However, due to the success of the program, they have accelerated their program to mail to new lists every two weeks.

“After we started screening with WealthEngine, we looked at the acquisition rate of the mailing and the cost to raise a dollar,” says Powell. “The results show three important findings. First, that by mailing to those identified by WealthEngine to be our best prospects, we have seen a higher response rate. Second, our cost to raise a dollar has gone down significantly because we no longer waste expense in mailing to individuals who are unlikely to give. Finally, our spring mailings traditionally have a lower acquisition rate, however, they are now at levels consistent with our best rates from our more successful fall pre-screening mailings.”

Screening prior to a mailing helps to cut mailing costs and better target the appropriate audience. For example, two donors responded to a grateful patient mailing with a $100-150 first time gift. These gifts were high enough to raise attention and warrant more thorough research through FindWealth Online, where wealth and high gift capacity was confirmed in each case. Explains Powell, “In the first case, we noticed the individual had an affiliation to similar health-related organizations; critical information that helped with an ask that resulted in a $10,000 gift. In the second case, we identified the donor’s Circle of Friends and found a connection to one of our board members. We then secured a $15,000 gift.”

streamlined structure“The value of regular screening and proactive prospect research is the constant influx of new, qualified and actionable prospects into the pipeline,” says Powell. “WealthEngine identifies highly qualified prospects for us out of the mess of information that could potentially be a barrier to success. With 4,000 patients coming through our doors each week, we would never be able to rank and segment our best prospects for various initiatives, much less call them. Applying prospect research, particularly regular screening, to our grateful patient program provides structure, insight, convenience and action. It allows us to focus our limited staff resources on those with the highest potential and greatest gift capacity.”

An additional benefit to prospect research is the credibility that it brings to the development office. “Prior to our use of screening, we briefed key members of the board on the product,” notes Powell. “Today, not only does our hospital leadership know about prospect research, we’ve shown them the proof behind ask amounts for major gift donors and prospects. Often, we’ll discuss a prospect with a board member and immediately pull up their online profile. The data gives us instant credibility and there is collective agreement among staff and leadership that the ROI is obvious—it’s a valid use of time and expense.”

date Acquisition rate

Cost to raise a dollar

Fall 2007 (pre-WealthEngine screening) 0.8% $1.18

Spring 2008 (pre-WealthEngine screening) 0.65% $1.51

Fall 2008 (first use of screening) 1.5% $0.80

Spring 2009 0.8% $1.05

Fall 2009 0.9% $0.50

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Yale-New Haven HospitalSupports 300% Growth in Major Gifts with Regular Screening and Validation

Qaya Thompson, Development Researcher at Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH), doesn’t believe in creating any barriers to prospect research. “I support seven development officers (DOs),” says Thompson, “and I want them to have accurate wealth information when and where they need it, as timing is everything in fundraising. All of our development staff have access to FindWealth Online and use it as their primary prospect research tool.”

The development officers have been shown how to use and interpret the analytics, such as the WealthEngine gift capacity ratings and P2GTM (Propensity to Give) scores, which are also integrated into YNHH’s Raiser’s Edge database. Thompson adds, “If they need further information or justification of data, I do in-depth research and create a more comprehensive profile.”

This inclusive strategy has paid off. Conducted during a capital campaign, major gifts ($10,000+) to the hospital have grown by nearly 300% since 2005. Thompson also estimates that patient giving; although there is no current tracking process dedicated to patient giving exclusively; has grown ten-fold over that same time period.

A Work in Progress According to Thompson, YNHH’s data confirmation process is still a work in progress, “as we gain experience from routine screening, we continue to fine-tune the process to identify those individuals who are most capable of making a gift.” There are certain populations that are excluded from patient screenings. For example, maternity and psychiatric patients are omitted, as well as patients with certain insurance coverages.

After the initial data confirmation has been completed, the records are sent to WealthEngine on a routine basis. Most screenings are done on a daily and weekly basis. These numbers can total upwards of 425 records per week, including weekends.

“At first, we conducted only monthly and weekly screenings but we realized that we were missing potential prospects who were admitted through the emergency areas. This prompted us to initiate daily screenings,” says Thompson, “being able to connect with our patients during their stay is the most effective strategy when cultivating future major gifts.”


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Action PlanThe prime goal in the Development Office is to review the screened lists as early as possible in order to connect with patients before they are discharged.

The entire system is a work in progress and changes are made as needed to make sure that the process produces the best results.

The DOs offer complimentary guest parking and meal tickets as well as information on the New Haven area to try and make the hospital visit more comfortable for both the patient and their families. The Development Office has adopted a “Moves Management” process to track the progress of cultivation. All moves and actions, including phone calls and face to face visits, are entered into Raiser’s Edge by the DOs upon completion. This way members of the development staff can review all correspondence between the department and hospital donors or prospects.

“Those who do not meet the gift capacity levels for major gift solicitation are added to our acquisition appeal mailings,” says Thompson. By doing this they are not only identifying high major gift candidates, but also increasing their lists for appeal mailings.

The results show that major gifts now make up a greater percentage of the overall contribution total. In 2005, major gifts comprised 62% of overall contributions. With the increase in daily and weekly screenings by 2009, major gifts had grown to account for 77% of overall contributions. This development in giving coincided with the Campaign for the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. Frequency based screenings helped identify patients who should be visited during their hospital stays which resulted in an increase in major gifts to the campaign.

“When it comes to data confirmation and validation, you only get what you put in. Our experience with daily and weekly screening has allowed us to fine tune our procedure for the best cultivation strategy. We have an efficient workflow in place that ensures that our data is clean and that we are targeting the right prospects.”

—Qaya Thompson Development Researcher, Yale-new Haven Hospital

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