Prospect research is an essential step for any fundraising action plan, providing clear insight and identification of who is a potential donor, analysing the financial potential to give and motivation to support the cause. It involves using a combination of knowledge sources, including the charity’s existing database, connections of trustees or the fundraising team, and publications such as the Rich List.

How does prospect research support your fundraising goals?

Prospect research is a key part of your fundraising planning across income streams, including:

  • Philanthropy programmes

  • Trusts and foundations

  • Legacy giving programmes

  • Corporate support

What are the key benefits of prospect research?

  • Identifies new prospective donors with genuine motivation and capacity to give significant financial support to your cause.
  • Gains in depth and honest insight into why a donor may or may not give a gift.
  • Improves success when engaging with donors and asking for a gift.
  • Provides a clear action plan for cultivating donors.
  • Guides you in strengthening your case for support.

What is Gifted Philanthropy’s approach to prospect research?

Any fundraising plan will involve an amount of prospect research. Prospects, or potential givers, are very different from the ‘suspects’ that often crop up during the prospect-listing process. All too often, charities begin by scouring the Rich List and other such publications and simply make a list of the wealthiest people in their region or target area. What the majority fail to realise is that simply contacting these individuals or organisations out of the blue will not result in major gifts success, no matter how worthy your cause.

It's common sense that prospective donors need time and cultivation before they will be ready to give. At Gifted Philanthropy, we believe in taking the time that’s needed to properly identify your prospective givers, before the process of further engaging them in your vision takes place. The first step of prospect identification usually begins during a Fundraising Feasibility Study and is an important part of any fundraising action plan. To learn more about this process, please visit our Services Page or get in touch with any specific queries.

Gifted Philanthropy’s team of consultants are also skilled in surveying prospect databases and undertaking external research to uncover the potential support from grant-making trusts and foundations. Our prospect researchers are clearly briefed on the nature and scope of your project before the process begins. We use our decades of experience to develop strong prospect lists, which in the long-term can lead to major gifts and successful grant applications to regional and national trusts and foundations.

Further information

Services list

FAQs

What is prospect research?

Prospect research is an evaluation tool used by charities to find new major donors, including high net worth individuals and trusts and foundations. The research assesses a prospect’s financial capacity to give, their affinity to the charity, and their propensity to make a donation. By analysing these three pillars, charities can plan engagement and cultivation for those most likely to give impactful support.

How do you identify prospects?

Prospective donors are identified using a combination of internal and external research, using tools such as publicly available databases on wealth and postcode look ups, conducting interviews, and mapping out donor networks. Prospect research identifies new donors with both the highest capacity to give and the highest likelihood of supporting the charity.

What types of charities or organisations can benefit from prospect research?

Prospect research is beneficial for all types of charities and non-profit organisations, whether planning a new capital campaign or building a legacy giving programme. Organisations with access to large pools of potential supporters, such as educational institutions with alumni programmes, can use prospect research as a tool for focusing time and capacity into their engagement and cultivation plans by identifying key potential donors.

What are the benefits of working with fundraising consultants for prospect research?

Gifted Philanthropy consultants take a tailored approach to support charities with prospect research for feasibility studies or building a major donor fundraising programme, using decades of experience and skills in surveying databases and undertaking external research to support long term success for charities. If you’d like to explore how to identify potential givers to support your organisation and learn more about prospect classification and cultivation, get in touch for an informal chat with one of our Directors.