Do-It-Yourself Prospect Research

 

For the Fundraiser who has no $$$ or Staff, but has a Computer Access, Internet Access, & sometimes a Library

By Mandy Valentine

 

No one ever "taught" me how to do Prospect Research.  Sure, there are training courses, professional associations, expensive books, and these things are all good, but they do cost money, and not every nonprofit has a budget for paid development staff, much less paid prospect research staff.  I started developing my tricks and tips while I was in grad school.  I was getting a Masters in Philanthropic Studies and doing an unpaid Internsip for a tiny rhino conservation organization.  The staff was the President, the Vice-President, and me.  The only technology we had was a 56k dial up connection on a desktop pc running an E-Tapistry donor database.  So I had to start finding creative ways of finding new prospects.  What kind of people would give to rhinos?  How much could they afford to give?  Are they already giving to other rhino organizations?  Questions like these started me on my research journey.  On this page you will find links to places on the web to find out stuff about your donors, links to other cool prospect research websites & resources, and some tricks and tips to helps you gets started in your quest to learn all you can about those people we love, the people who love our causes enough to support them, our donors.

 

What is Prospect Research and Why Should I Make Time For It?

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How Do I Do Prospect Research?

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General Prospect Reseach Webpages

 

• David Lamb's Prospect Reseach Page

            Excellent prospect reseach page has sections devoted to various types of research including: Corporations and their executives, Public records, Professionals,                               Foundations, Directories, Search Engines, News, Blogs,  and Reference Materials.  He also provides links to presentations he has made to professional organizations.

 

• Prospect Research Resources - Michigan State University Libraries

            A page put together by the folks at MSU has sections devoted to General Prospecting, People Prospecting, Company Prospecting, Professional Organization Directories,                 and Professional Research Organization Directories.

 

 

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