• 06/18/2019 11:56 AM | Apra Carolinas (Administrator)

    We are so proud of our Immediate Past President and longtime Apra Carolinas member Beth Inman for her recent accolade as Apra's 2019 Distinguished Service Award recipient. Merissa Lawson, current President of Apra Carolinas, interviewed Beth to learn more about her career and the hard work that went into earning this award. 

    ML: Congratulations on receiving Apra’s 2019 Distinguished Service Award – what an honor! How did you feel when you were told you were being recognized?

    BI: Thank you! I am extremely honored and flattered, I honestly couldn’t believe it when I got the email. I kept re-reading the email to make sure it was my name in the award info! To be recognized in this way for something I have truly enjoyed is amazing and I am so grateful for the professional opportunities and Apra opportunities I’ve had so far in my career. Apra Carolinas is such a great chapter and we have so much potential to engage even more of our colleagues and that’s what has been motivating for me in being involved at the Board level. The Board members I’ve worked with are also remarkable; we do this work outside of our day jobs and still get a lot done for the chapter! I look forward to our Board calls and that says a lot!

    ML: So for any of our Apra Carolinas members that don’t know you, let’s chat about your career and what led you to this point. How did you enter the world of prospect research? We all know that it’s generally not a linear path…

    BI: My bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in art history and I went to graduate school with the goal of being a curator in an art museum. For the first part of my career, I worked as a curator for a history museum and then as the associate curator of American and decorative art at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC. They were both great experiences and I loved my work, but life led me to Charleston, SC and continuing in the museum world wasn’t an option. I landed at The Citadel Foundation in 2007 as the new Chief Development Officer’s executive assistant. That was such a great way to learn the ins and outs of development! I scheduled donor visits for him, accompanied him to meetings with Deans, sat in on meetings with the major gift officers, etc. About a year after I started, I was promoted into the new Director of Development Services position and over the next 3+ years, I created a prospect management program there. In 2011, I moved back to Columbia, SC to be the new Senior Director of Prospect Management & Research Analysis at the University of South Carolina. South Carolina was in the quiet phase of the state’s first $1B capital campaign and didn’t have a formal prospect management program, so I had my work cut out for me!  In 2017, after almost 6 ½ years at SC, I accepted the opportunity to be JDRF’s first National Director, Prospect Management. I saw it as a great way to utilize my experience in building higher-ed prospect management programs for a national cause-based organization. My first 18 months have been a whirlwind of learning a new database (Salesforce), learning how development works in such a large organization, learning how to work remotely and it has been amazing!

    ML: What do you see as the major differences in the Research field between when you started your career and now?

    BI: I know it probably sounds cliché now, but I have seen how data and how to analyze it, how to visualize it, etc. has become more and more important. Development shops no longer can just have researchers churning out profiles when they’re requested. Don’t get me wrong, creating profiles is still very important, but in that work on the teams I’ve managed, I’ve empowered them to ask questions about the request and become a partner in that request; we aren’t just order takers. We can help prioritize all the leads we’ve identified, identify if there are connections between new leads and volunteers, and help with creating strategies. The best development leaders and fundraisers know our value and use it to make the organization more successful.

    ML: You’ve been in the profession for over a decade – what keeps you engaged in the work?

    BI: In my development career, I have had the fortune of working for 3 fantastic organizations and each one has presented me with unique challenges that keep me engaged in the work. I really enjoy figuring out ways to make the fundraiser’s jobs easier whether that means a new report to help summarize their activities, identifying new prospects, or helping them “tidy up” their portfolios so they can focus on their most important prospects.

    ML: Along the way, everyone is encouraged or inspired by a mentor or colleague. Who has helped you become successful and how?

    BI: My first boss in development, Terry Mularkey, has been a fantastic mentor and colleague. He helped me learn the ropes of development and was very supportive while I learned prospect development after I was promoted at The Citadel Foundation. Grace Vigilante, Kristin Richardson, Vicki O’Brien, and Lindsay Rogillio are colleagues from whom I have learned a tremendous amount. They have helped me learn more about our profession, how to look at things from a different perspective, and how to be a better leader.

    ML: What do you think is your biggest contribution to the profession?

    BI: This is a hard one! I had to think about this one a lot and what I came up with are more like nuggets of advice or things to ponder that I’ve learned along the way and told my teams at some point. Things like if you’re struggling with how to address something like a conflict, sleep on it. If getting older has taught me one thing, it’s to think things through before acting. (This helps me at home, too!) In our field, it is really easy to get frustrated with fundraisers or the development leaders in our orgs and most of these are likely really valid frustrations, but a wise manager at some point in my career pointed out to me that the fundraisers don’t get up every morning thinking about the same things I do. To accomplish what I needed to for prospect development, I needed to a) be mindful of all the things they do get up in the mornings thinking about and b) partner with them on how we can help with those things. Our profession is all about the proverbial 2 way street, we need each other to be successful and sometimes prospect development needs to be the driver of that partnership.

    ML: How has being a member of Apra International (and Apra Carolinas) helped enrich your career?

    BI: Apra, at both the national and chapter level, has played a significant role in my professional journey; I have learned so much about leadership, organization, delegating, conference planning, and even unexpected skills like updating our chapter’s website! I am confident Apra will help me continue to add to this list as I progress in my career!

    ML: For someone just starting out in Research, what advice would you give? Is there anything you wish you had known or would do differently?

    BI: Well, you know my first answer is to get involved with Apra at the chapter and/or the national level! Seriously, though, it really is a great way to meet colleagues and learn about our profession. Just reading the emails from PRSPCT-L makes you realize how different all of our organizations are but there is always someone out there who is facing the same challenge you are and it is likely you can learn from each other! Something I still have to be mindful of is to be confident in what I ask the fundraisers to do.  My first boss at JDRF, Patrick Reedy, called me out on how I approached something I was asking the fundraisers to do when I first started at JDRF. He said I came across like what I was asking them to do was a bother and I was almost apologetic and that wasn’t OK; the work I was doing and what I was asking the fundraisers to do was just as important as everything else they’re doing and I needed to approach as such.

    ML: What’s next for you? Do you have any big professional or personal goals you’d like to achieve moving forward?

    BI: A very near term goal is to finish the first prospect management policies and procedures document for JDRF, so check back with me at the end of the summer and see how that’s going! A long term goal is to have the opportunity to lead a team that includes prospect development, data analytics, reporting, and records (database updates, uploads, etc.). Prospect development has evolved to need all of these components to truly operate at a high level and to lead a team that incorporates all of these would be incredible.

    ML: Congratulations again, Beth! It's fantastic that you're being recognized. We'll be cheering for you at the awards ceremony in Phoenix.

  • 04/08/2019 10:52 AM | Apra Carolinas (Administrator)

    It's time to meet your 2019 Apra Carolinas Board! We have a mix of new and returning members this year, and wanted to give everyone a chance to get to know a little more about the team and why we volunteer. We hope to see you all in person at an upcoming Apra Carolinas event!

    PRESIDENT


    Merissa Lawson, Director of Development Research at Elon University

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: 15 years – I can’t believe how fast it’s flown by!
    • Briefly summarize your background: I have an undergraduate degree in English and an MLS; I learned about prospect research during my library science program and after I graduated, immediately landed a job doing research. I’ve since worked at Middlebury College and Elon University, and have completed a certificate program in editing from UC Berkeley. I can’t stop learning!
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: I joined the board in 2016. I really wanted to find a way to give back to the profession and make connections outside my normal role.
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: I’m proud of the value I add to my fundraising team. I know it’s not always easy to see how our work impacts the bottom line, but I know there are students receiving scholarships and enjoying life-changing experiences right now because of prospective donors I identified.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: Is it weird to say how much I love Foundation Center? There’s just something very satisfying about reviewing 990s and having years of giving laid out so you can identify patterns in gift size, frequency, type…
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: My bucket list vacation is a hike to Machu Picchu via the Inca Trail. The combination of the rugged mountains and the ruins is breathtaking.

    PRESIDENT-ELECT


    Jennifer Vincent, Prospect Development Manager at UNC-Wilmington

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: 11 years
    • Briefly summarize your background: When I applied for my first job in prospect research I had no clue what it was – only that it sounded really interesting. I loved it instantly. I couldn’t believe the university was paying me to spy on people! I used to describe my job as “Legal Professional Stalker” to friends and family. Slowly we phased out the long profiles, which led to a shift in responsibilities. We changed from Prospect Management & Research to Prospect Development and my position was promoted to Prospect Development Analyst. In this position, I focused my attention on a meta-analysis of our donors and seeking out proactive leads, rather than reactively researching. From there, then became the head of Prospect Development, where I primarily focus on strategizing development efforts and maintaining development proposals and portfolios.
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: I joined the Apra Carolinas board in 2017 after Beth Inman reached out looking for a Membership chair. This group has been so much fun to work with and it has created a built-in brain trust of knowledgeable Prospect Development colleagues that I can turn to with questions.
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: I have been very fortunate to have supervisors who believe in Prospect Development and in me, personally. This has afforded amazing opportunities to follow the trends toward more strategic approaches in fundraising. I am most proud of being able to try new things and watch the fundraising dollars increase due, in part, to that work.  
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: Privately owned planes are often associated with wealth. You can search for plane owners by name at registry.faa.gov and use the make/model information on the plane to find a value online. If the plane is in a county with good searchable property tax records, you can often find the taxable value of the aircraft in the county records. You can also download data for the entire county to get a list of people/companies that own aircraft in your county. This can then serve as a good proactive research tool for finding wealth nearby.
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: Antarctica. I love traveling anywhere that feels like a completely different planet, and I think Antarctica fits that perfectly. Plus, I love the cold. That said, my next big achievable vacation destination is Iceland. Lava fields, geothermal springs, aurora borealis, and renewable energy? I may not leave once I’m there.

    PAST PRESIDENT

    Beth Inman, National Director, Prospect Management at JDRF

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research? 11 years
    • Briefly summarize your background: I am currently the National Director, Prospect Management for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), a position I’ve held since November 2017 and am I based in Charleston, SC. Prior to joining JDRF, I was the Senior Director of Prospect Management & Research Analysis at the University of South Carolina and Director of Development Services at The Citadel Foundation. At all three of these organizations, I was hired into new positions created to introduce prospect management systems to drive the work of the major gifts enterprises.  Before my development career, I was the associate curator of American and decorative art at the Columbia Museum of Art. I am currently on the Ethics & Compliance Committee for Apra International and serves as Immediate Past President of Apra Carolinas. I am a native of Charlotte, NC and hold a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in art history from the University of South Carolina
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: I have been on the board since 2013 and was inspired to join because in the short time I’d been involved with the chapter at the time, I knew I wanted to be more involved and knew our chapter had a lot of potential.
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: I am most proud of my ability to create an awesome pivot table complete with charts to summarize data! Seriously, though, I am proud of being able to advocate for my teams and the work they do – the profile of the prospect development field is changing and in a good way! We have a lot to bring to the table for fundraising success and I’ve worked hard at the organizations I’ve been a part of to communicate the value we bring to the team.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: If you are able, get 2 monitors. Not having to toggle back and forth when working on a report or a profile makes life so much easier!
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: Cuba and I will be able to check it off my list in Feb 2020 when I travel there! I’ve always been intrigued by Cuba – the history, the culture, the food!

    TREASURER


    Kathy Mills, Senior Donor Identification Analyst at Wake Forest University

    • Briefly summarize your background: For 14 years, I ran my own one-person research business, providing research to ad agencies and other clients. It was a lot of fun but crazy at times since I was everything from the CEO to the accountant to the IT staff. When I was ready for a change, I looked for a prospect research position because I knew it would be a good fit for me. I have a MLIS degree but never intended to work in a library. I only wanted to do research.
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: I have served as treasurer for six years and was inspired to join by a co-worker, who was treasurer at the time. He had been treasurer for several years and was ready to pass the torch, and I saw it as a good networking opportunity.
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: I am most proud of the way I get along well with our gift officers. They are very appreciative of the work I provide, and that gives me a lot of satisfaction.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: I really like Alumnifinder for tracking down cell phone numbers and email addresses.
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: When I retire (many years from now), the first thing I’m going to do is go to Australia. I’ve been saving airline miles for years for this trip.

    SECRETARY

    Mimi Slade, Prospect Research Analyst at the University of South Carolina 

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: I have worked in prospect research for two years.
    • Briefly summarize your background: My current position is Prospect Research Analyst at the University of South Carolina, and I have been with the University for two years. Previously, I worked in a law office and real estate office. I graduated from Clemson University in 2017 with a B.S. in Business Management.
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: I just joined the Apra Carolinas board and am very excited to be a part of the team! I was inspired to join the board because I have gained so much from the three Apra Carolinas conferences that I have attended from rating prospects to managing the pipeline. Additionally, previous blog postings and webinars provided by Apra Carolinas really helped me get oriented with the prospect research and management field when I first started at USC. 
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: I am most proud of my work when I can see a donor who started as a proactive lead or on a travel list move through the pipeline to a major gift, especially when it is a donor who was previously underrated.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: My favorite research tool is iWave. iWave is such a comprehensive tool set with so many useful capabilities. I especially like to use it when I need to get a brief overview of a person.
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: Mykonos

    EDUCATION CHAIR


    Rachael Walker, Director of Prospect Research and Reporting at Western Carolina University

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: 9 years in prospect research.
    • Briefly summarize your background: I have a BA in Classical Civilization and Ancient Greek and a MLIS, so clearly I have an information/trivia brain. Like a lot of people I stumbled into prospect research by sheer chance, and I'm so happy I did!
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: This is my second year on the board; I joined because I believe strongly in the power of our professional community and want to do everything I can to encourage people to make connections. 
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: I'm most proud of becoming the "validating wealth screenings" guru. Just like my prospect research career, it sort of happened accidentally; I never set out to be an expert! But several presentations and a couple of articles later, it looks to be my legacy.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: Never underestimate the tools available at your academic or public library. You may have more resources available to you than you realized - the kind of things you might otherwise have to pay a lot for!
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: I really want to do a cross-country train trip in luxury. My plan is to do a little bit of that this summer - just not quite as fancy accommodations as I might like. 

    COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR

    Vacant


    MEMBERSHIP CHAIR


    Christa Newkirk, Director, Prospect Research & Alumni Relations at Central Piedmont Community College

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: I have over 3 years in fundraising but am still new to prospect research.
    • Briefly summarize your background: Over the last 10 years I’ve worked with data in some capacity across a few industries and sectors. In my early years I managed the donor database and that experience has carried me well into my current role of conducting research for the Central Piedmont Community College Foundation development team.
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: This is my first year/term on the board. I was inspired by my predecessor who touted the support and community of Apra Carolinas. I enjoy jumping in to serve and helping where I can.
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: Knowing that I’m not alone. Though I’m a one-person team, there is a community of people in the prospect research world and beyond that get me.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: Ask the right questions. And then ask google or your software of choice. I love a good puzzle but any clues in advance go a long way.
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: I’d like to visit El Salvador, Brazil to soak up the culture and make use of my active visa (I went to Iguassu Falls a few years back). I also want to visit Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe. Or Zanzibar. So many places to see and go.

    NC REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE


    Sarah Crotts, Prospect Research Analyst at UNC General Administration

    • How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: Four years
    • Briefly summarize your background: I stumbled into prospect research after graduating with a writing and history degree and no plan for what to do next. Prospect research turned out to be a great fit! I’ve spent my career thus far as part of the UNC System’s shared services program, providing prospect research to ten constituent campuses.
    • How long have you served on the Apra Carolinas board? What inspired you to join the board?: This is my first term on the Apra Carolinas board. I jumped at the chance to serve, because Apra has been my go-to resource for professional development and networking. I’ve met so many talented researchers at regional Apra conferences and I never fail to come away with new ideas after attending.
    • What are you most proud of in your work?: Being able to provide support for campuses that don’t have the budget for a full-time researcher has been hugely fulfilling to me. I’m proud to be part of shared services, and it’s been great to see my client campuses succeed over the years.
    • Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: This might be old news for everyone, but just in case: http://www.digitalnc.org/collections/yearbooks/ is a collection of digitized yearbooks from most NC universities (public and private) as well as quite a few high schools.
    • What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: Iceland. Viking ships, active volcanoes, elves – what’s not to love?

    SC REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

    Vacant


    **Post updated 4/19/19**

  • 02/13/2019 8:45 PM | Anonymous

    Liz Rejman and Jason Shim are a part of Pathways to Education, the first Canadian charity to accept Bitcoin gifts. Apra-Carolinas Blog Editor Christopher Resh recently spoke to them about their experience with cryptocurrency.

    How long have you been accepting Bitcoin? Can you share your any of your results?

    Liz Rejman, Associate Director of Fundraising Operations: For about five years. It’s still a small part of our overall efforts - five cryptocurrency donors is a successful year for us. Bitcoin hitting peak value last year presented a strong argument for giving, though, and we benefited from Bitcoin holders looking for a place to make an impact with their newfound wealth.

    Jason Shim, Director of Digital Strategy: After the initial adoption, we expanded the list to Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Zcash, and Monero, and have a form that allows donors to request the ability to donate other cryptocurrency as well.

    What drove the decision to start processing Bitcoin gifts? Was anyone at the organization particularly familiar with cryptocurrency when you began the process?

    JS: For us, the decision to accept cryptocurrency was about future-proofing our fundraising. When we entered this space, Bitcoin looked like the Internet had a couple decades prior - not widely adopted, carrying significant stigma, but clearly not going away any time soon. Even the Canadian government has explored the possibility of digital currency in recent years.

    LR: Jason was our main source of Bitcoin knowledge as we entered the adoption effort, but our organization has always been innovation-friendly. The culture was compatible with the idea.

    JS: It was also important to us that the process of adopting cryptocurrency took into consideration the possible rewards for doing so. We entered this realm relatively early in Bitcoin history and have been well-positioned to benefit from valuation increases. When Bitcoin prices were high last winter, for example, we received a donation from someone after they Googled “charities accepting Bitcoin”.

    JS: There are people in the cryptocurrency community with an interest in education, just as there are in so many other communities, so there’s certainly a broader precedent for this. Cryptocurrency startup Ripple donated $29 million to fulfill every request for classroom supplies on the website DonorsChoose.org. Another donor anonymously gave away more than $50 million in Bitcoin to various nonprofits through a campaign called the Pineapple Fund in late 2017.

    Pathways to Education focuses on helping youth, members of a stereotypically tech-savvy generation. Do you think your work with Bitcoin has helped your reputation with this community?

    JS: Yes, we’ve seen some student interest. The culture is different now! Digital payment is the new paradigm - PayPal and Venmo are near-ubiquitous, especially among the youngest generation.

    CR: PayPal has a long history of success, but it was Venmo that truly seemed to make that technology universal. Will we see the “Venmo of cryptocurrency” in the years to come?

    JS: The right ingredients are slowly coming together for a more universal transaction. There’s a technology called Metamask that allows Ethereum to be used almost seamlessly within traditional browsers, for instance, and there’s every reason to expect this type of technology to expand.

    I’ve read in the past that Pathways to Education treats Bitcoin like stock, so you had a model to work from once funds were received. Prior to that step, though, how much of a logistical challenge was it to accept cryptocurrency funds in the first place?

    JS: It depends on what you’re looking for in the workflow. Pathways to Education’s process is relatively straightforward: the payments processor we use converts Bitcoin to Canadian Dollars immediately at the time of the gift. We never have to touch the Bitcoin itself. This route compartmentalizes issues of wallet security and the more technical side of Bitcoin to the third-party processor, simplifying the adoption process.

    Bitcoin has often made the news for the volatility of its value. Has this presented any issues for you? Have you ever had to pause donations during times of extra volatility?

    JS: For reference, a volatile tech stock might fluctuate 8-10% in a day; a wild day of cryptocurrency might see change of 30-40%. With that said, this hasn’t been a material problem for us because we convert Bitcoin gifts to cash immediately. Plus, our donors are protected against rapid change by the multiple options on our invoice screen. Donors can declare their Bitcoin gifts either (1) in dollars, with the equivalent amount of Bitcoin then calculated and donated or (2) in a set amount of Bitcoin independent of the current conversion rate.

    Have any loyal donors switched their donations to Bitcoin, or are you primarily reaching new audiences?

    LR: Our Bitcoin donor base is entirely new donors and they find us because we accept Bitcoin. That said, we haven’t marketed cryptocurrency heavily to existing donors at this point - it’s not like our mailers now say, “Accepting Visa, Mastercard, and Bitcoin”.

    JS: I will add that the new donors haven’t found us because of our Bitcoin policy alone. We’ve also run some search engine optimization campaigns that have contributed to our success there.

    Have any other organizations reached out to you for your advice? Do you have a sense of whether Bitcoin gift acceptance has spread?

    JS: Absolutely. I would say someone reaches out every month or two. People are curious about the logistics of accepting Bitcoin, but also about how to pitch the idea internally and how to account for it in organizational policy. Liz’s work on our gift acceptance policy has been very useful here.

    LR: The key is to integrate Bitcoin donations into your organization’s framework - don’t isolate it. Soon, it’ll be just another donation.

    Is there anything else you want to share with organizations who are thinking about integrating Bitcoin?

    JS: Think about accepting cryptocurrency as the beginning of a new conversation. Now that Pathways to Education has been doing this for years, we’ve addressed the initial concerns. We’re now able to focus on networking with other organizations in the cryptocurrency community and continue building for the future.

    LR: Bitcoin is fascinating as a prospect development tool. Every organization wants new donors, but everyone also has similar lists of the same great philanthropists. Who hasn’t been asked a million times already? Accepting Bitcoin opens the door to a new pool of prospects that you would not have thought about, much less been able to reach, otherwise.

    Comments have been disabled on the Apra-Carolinas blog. Please visit Christopher's post on LinkedIn and share your thoughts there!

  • 02/01/2019 3:58 PM | Anonymous

    Missy Garner, Former Director of Prospect Research
    Rick Loveday, Prospect Research Analyst

    Part 4: Using the Model

    This post is the fourth in a four-part series that will outline how Clemson University’s Prospect Research Team developed a philanthropic model score.

    Over the past few months we have looked at how to develop the concept of the project, in this case the model score (Part 1). Next we looked at how to build the model (Part 2). Nothing is ever perfect out of the box, so we then detailed how our team refined and tweaked the model (Part 3). Now that the easy parts were over, the hardest challenge loomed in front of us. We had to figure out how to introduce the score to our Development Officers.

    Our Development Officers live in a world of hard assets. They are accustomed to focusing on wealth data like property values, salary, stock ownership, and in some cases personal property such as planes and boats. This model score asks our Development Officers to abandon most of that line of thinking. A full break from asset-based wealth would have been an impossible sell. That was part of our reason for keeping property ownership of $2 million or more in the model. It kept something that was familiar to the Development Officers, while still introducing some new logic.

    One of the perks we discovered while doing research in preparation for the project was the analysis that DonorSearch had done on their own philanthropic database. They found some key levels of real estate ownership and how those levels tied into philanthropy.

    • An individual that owns $750K – 1 million worth of real estate is 2 times more likely to give philanthropically than the average person.
    • An individual that owns $1-2 million worth of real estate is 4 times more likely to give philanthropically than the average person.
    • An individual that owns $2+ million worth of real estate is 17 times more likely to give philanthropically than the average person.

    *https://www.donorsearch.net/how-to-identify-a-high-quality-fundraising-prospect

    Using this information, we were able to show our Development Officers how real estate ownership is more than a wealth marker. It is also a philanthropic marker.

    We rolled out the concept at the group, or team, level. We started with the Principal Gift Committee. This served the dual purpose of introducing it to a team and to our Vice President and Associate Vice Presidents, since they were all on the Committee. Simply showing up with a list of prospects would not be enough. We had to explain what they were looking at and why they should care. We included key points such as the real estate ownership stats (listed above) and the political giving stats (from Part 2).

    We also created two cheat sheets to help make the score easily understandable. The first was a color-coding system that prioritized what we felt were the important groups. We added the minimum values for each of the scores to give a dollar range minimum for each color.


    The second cheat sheet explained the dollar value associated with each of the decimal places.


    While the Principal Gift team digested the cheat sheets, we saved the best example for last. In the course of building the model, we identified the perfect prospect to highlight the validity of using philanthropic data over asset-based data. This prospect had a history of over $700,000 in political giving. When we looked the prospect up in our database, we found the estimated wealth rating of just over $500,000. That rating labeled the prospect as a fringe Major Gift Level prospect who would likely never make it on a Development Officer’s radar. We saw shocked looks on the faces around the table as we relayed that information.

    We also developed a report that tracked the potential principal gift prospects. It showed the attempted appointments and meetings for each prospect. At the request of the Principal Gift Committee, we agreed to review this report at the future monthly meetings.

    As with any good project, our effort is never officially completed. It can always be tweaked or updated. With the success of the initial test batch screening of 5,000, we made plans to screen and apply the model to a larger group of our constituents. We recently screened an additional 25,000 people.

    If you have any questions about this project or you want to know more details about building the model, feel free to email me at rloveda@clemson.edu.

    Comments have been disabled on the Apra-Carolinas blog. Please visit Rick's post on LinkedIn and share your thoughts there!

  • 11/01/2018 10:55 PM | Anonymous

    Missy Garner, Former Director of Prospect Research
    Rick Loveday, Prospect Research Analyst

    Part 3: Refining the Model

    This post is the third in a four-part series that will outline how Clemson University’s Prospect Research Team developed a philanthropic model score.

    Part 1: How to Develop an Analytics Project: Building a Model Score

    Part 2: Building the Model

    We built our model score using a whole number scale of 0-5, with 5 being the best. As we applied this model score, we realized it did not differentiate between the different levels of giving; it merely stated whether an individual hit the minimum requirements. We had no idea if an individual gave $15,000 or $100,000 to political causes. We also could not distinguish between a person who gave a $5,000 philanthropic gift with one who gave a $500,000 gift. We quickly came to the realization that we had to develop the model further to account for the wide range of gifts. In order to solve this, we decided to incorporate a decimal-based scoring system.

    The concept behind the whole number score worked well to highlight which groups a constituent fell into. Could that same concept be used on the decimal side to highlight which giving ranges that same constituent met? We decided to use the numbers 3, 6, and 9 for our giving breakdown. The number 3 meant that the constituent gave enough to meet the minimum threshold, which was $15,000 in lifetime political giving or a $5,000 single philanthropic gift. The 6 was applied to those with over $50,000 in giving, whether in lifetime political giving or in a single philanthropic gift. The 9 represented over $100,000 in giving. Since there were two types of giving, we decided to use two decimal places. The first place would represent the philanthropic giving while the second decimal would represent political giving.

    When we applied this tweak to the score, it proved, almost immediately, to be a significant upgrade over the first model. We quickly realized some of the major deficiencies in the original model. Using the whole number score, we thought that the more categories a constituent was in, the better that person was as a prospect. The tweaked score immediately proved that to be false.

    With the whole number method, a constituent that appeared in all five categories had a score of 5. Another constituent that only met the philanthropic and political giving categories but missed the non-profit/foundation association, the real estate ownership and the SEC insider/business executive aspects had a score of 2. So, according to the whole number score, 5 is always better than 2.


    When we applied the decimal score to those same constituents, the constituent with the 5 only met the minimum giving levels and had a new score of 5.33. The constituent that had the score of 2 had a largest single philanthropic gift of $50,000 and a lifetime political giving total over $100,000. This updated that constituent’s score from a 2 to a 2.69.

    In looking at the updated scores, we could make the argument that a score of 2.69 is better than a score of 5.33. While both constituents are acting in a philanthropic manner, the constituent with the 2.69 is giving at a significantly higher level and thus is potentially a higher priority.


    As a result of this change, the decimal places became the primary focus and the whole numbers became a minor piece of extra information. We found a whole new crop of potential prospects to focus on. Our next task was figuring out how to introduce the model score to our Development Officers and explain how it would be useful. We expected this to be a more daunting challenge than actually creating the model score since our fundraisers lived in a world where hard assets, such as real estate values and salaries, were the basis for determining which constituents they would pursue. We were about to ask them to potentially ignore a constituent who is the president of a company and lives in a $4M home - but had given nothing philanthropically or politically - and instead focus on a constituent who owns a small business and lives in a $200,000 home, but who has donated a significant amount of money to various organizations.

    The next, and final, blog post will detail how we introduced our model score to our Development Officers.

    Comments have been disabled on the Apra-Carolinas blog. Please visit Rick's post on LinkedIn and share your thoughts there!


  • 10/22/2018 6:43 PM | Anonymous

    Dana Green, Prospect Researcher at Lenoir-Rhyne University, received the Apra-Carolinas Professional Development Scholarship for 2018. This $1,500 scholarship can be applied to any professional development activities offered by Apra Carolinas or Apra International. Dana used her scholarship to attend the annual Prospect Development conference hosted by Apra International.


    Christopher Resh, Apra-Carolinas Secretary and Blog Editor, spoke to Dana about her experience.


    Christopher: Hi Dana! How was Pittsburgh? Any tourist highlights stick out at you?

    Dana: I’ve been to Pittsburgh many times before - I have family there - so I’m already familiar with most of the tourist attractions. I did find an awesome taco restaurant across the street from the conference venue, though.


    CR: Have you attended Apra PD prior to this year?

    DG: No, this was my first time!


    CR: I’m glad Apra-Carolinas was able to facilitate it, then. What made you choose this conference in particular?
    DG: The fact that it’s strictly for prospect researchers. I’ve spent a lot of time on the Apra forums learning from my peers, so I knew this would be a good fit for me. I even recognized some people from the forums at the conference.



    CR: There are so many opportunities for education in our growing field - does anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

    DG: I’ve attended a CASE conference in the past and Apra PD was a very different experience. There were some researchers there, but also many frontline fundraisers and administrators. Everyone at Apra PD, on the other hand, shared a passion for research. This made it much easier to meet and relate to other attendees - everyone was entering conversations with more of a common understanding.


    CR: Did you a have a favorite session?
    DG: I especially enjoyed a presentation on using LinkedIn for research. I was familiar with some of the more basic functions before the conference, but there is much more depth to it than I realized. Advanced search, in particular, seems very useful. There are also ways to find connections to boards and other groups for your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree connections, which is a great source of information.


    CR: Were there any “audience participation” opportunities that stuck out to you?

    DG: Yes, there was a “New Researchers Symposium” featuring an exercise in which groups of attendees would collaboratively create a research profile. I especially liked that this activity gave us a chance to talk process instead of just resources - not just where to look, but where to look first and how to move from there.  


    CR: Did you notice any common themes throughout the sessions? Anything that was new to you?

    DG: The common themes I noticed were shared by my office, actually. One that stuck out was the shift from reactive to proactive research, and the benefits of taking the time to find the best prospects rather than jumping from event to event.


    CR: Do you plan to commit to any specific projects or changes in light of what you learned at the conference?

    DG: I’ll definitely stay committed to data cleanup. The importance of good data was mentioned many times at the conference. I’m also walking away committed to putting time into data analytics. It’s slower work, but finding the patterns and hidden gems in our database is rewarding.


    CR: Thanks for your time, Dana! One last question - would you recommend that the next recipient of this scholarship use their funding on this conference?
    DG: Absolutely! It was a great way to make like-minded friends and to network with researchers facing similar challenges.


    This interview has been edited for clarity.


    Comments have been disabled on the Apra-Carolinas blog. Please visit Dana's post on LinkedIn and share your thoughts there! 

  • 08/29/2018 12:07 PM | Anonymous

    Missy Garner, Former Director of Prospect Research
    Rick Loveday, Prospect Research Analyst

    Part 2: Building the Model

    This post is the second in a four-part series that will outline how Clemson University’s Prospect Research Team developed a philanthropic model score.

    We sent the data off using DonorSearch’s secure server and received our results within 24 hours. The file contained over 120 data points for us to digest. We wanted to verify our list of philanthropic indicators (see Part 1: Concept Development) fit with the data that was returned. In order to do this, we would need to pore through each and every data point.

    The dataset was made up of our principal gift level donors, along with alumni and current parents who had estimated wealth of $1 million or greater based on our ResearchPoint wealth screenings. We reviewed the DonorSearch data for just our group of known principal level donors. This was the group that had the elements we wanted to identify as key traits. We focused on the following five key traits: a one-time gift of $5,000 or more to Clemson or other philanthropic organization; board membership, trusteeship, or other association with a foundation or non-profit; lifetime political giving totaling more than $15,000; $2 million or more in real estate ownership; and listed as an SEC insider or business executive.

    Political giving quickly became the dominant trait among the principal level donors. When trying to determine who is a likely major gift prospect, looking at those who have been large political donors is one of the best places to start. Not only is political giving at high levels a knock-out indicator for wealth, but at the higher levels it is an incredibly predictive marker for philanthropy.

    When charitable and political giving were combined, those that had given over $2,500 total in lifetime political giving were responsible for over 54% of all philanthropy. An individual whose life-time FEC giving is $10,000 or larger is almost undeniably wealthy. An individual whose life-time FEC giving is $15,000 or larger has almost undeniably made a five, six, or seven figure charitable donation. Out of the principal level donors, over 50% had a lifetime political giving total over $15,000.

    As we filled out the model, we decided to assign one point to each of the above listed five key traits. That gave us a scoring system where an individual could be rated between 0 and 5, with 5 being the best. As we applied the whole number score, we realized that this model score did not differentiate between the different levels of giving – it merely stated whether an individual hit the minimum requirements. We had no idea if an individual gave $15,000 or $100,000 politically. We also could not distinguish between a person who gave a $5,000 philanthropic gift or a $500,000 gift. We quickly came to the realization that we had to further develop the model to account for the different range of gifts. In order to solve this, we needed to figure out a decimal-based scoring system.

    The next blog post will detail how we tweaked our model score using two decimal places to highlight differences in giving.

  • 07/18/2018 12:49 PM | Anonymous

    From Charlotte to Charleston: A Day at the Citadel

    Emily Hinz, Prospect Research Analyst, UNC Charlotte

    I often explain how I ended up in UNC Charlotte’s Prospect Strategy and Research (PSR) department as a “happy little accident,” as the great Bob Ross would say, and it’s true. Two years ago, I didn’t even know this field existed. I began exploring the non-profit sector in college as, having majored in an English major but feeling rather unsure of what I wanted to do post-graduation. After spending time with the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, I landed a Research Assistant position at the UNC Charlotte Foundation in May of 2017.

    We have a rather small shop here in Charlotte, but my boss set me up for success by immediately activating memberships for me in both Apra and Apra-Carolinas. That fall, I received the Apra-Carolinas Road Trip Scholarship – a very exciting endeavor for someone with only six months of experience in the field. I wanted to pick a shop similar to our own, but with enough differences for me to find some achievable new ideas and projects for my team.

    At UNC Charlotte, PSR is composed of me (the only prospect researcher on staff), my director, and a temporary employee who assists with data entry. We are in the public phase of a $200 million campaign, a figure we hope to reach by the end of fiscal year 2020. Due to our small size, I’ve been required to learn a great deal in a short amount of time, which I’ve really enjoyed. My experience, however, is still restricted to one phase of a campaign. How can PSR help reach our Foundation’s goals with so little time left for discovery work? What happens to a PSR team after a campaign closes? How does the team prepare for a new campaign? I sought to use the Road Trip Scholarship to answer these questions.

    After looking into several schools in the Carolinas, I decided that The Citadel would be the best fit for what I hoped to learn. They recently exceeded a $175 million campaign goal, closing in May of 2018 at $225 million. Wow! This put them in the perfect phase for the focus of my curiosity: post-campaign no man’s land. In addition, their PSR shop consists of only two employees and supports about 15 Gift Officers, a setup that closely mirrors UNC Charlotte. 

    After a few weeks of email correspondence, I set out in early May to meet Libby Davis and Lisa Ukuku of The Citadel’s Prospect Management and Research department. This dynamic duo was incredibly welcoming and friendly. We spent much of the day sharing stories of triumph and struggle within this business, and I took away some great advice throughout.

    One of my favorite additions that Libby and Lisa have implemented at The Citadel Foundation (TCF) is the research request form. Fields on the form include requestor, purpose of request, format, and other criteria depending on the data being sought. The form can be completed either electronically or by hard copy. I think this would be a great idea for my shop because, even though we use a spreadsheet to document research requests and their completion dates, we do not do a very good job of tracking why someone requests research. If I receive a request for research I’ve already completed, I usually rely on my archived emails – or my memory – to assess why a new profile would be needed. If it was completed before my time, however, I’m plain out of luck. I have started to keep track of requests myself in hopes that we will soon have a form like The Citadel’s.

    We also talked about several fundraising methods used at TCF. One I found particularly interesting was their utilization of fundraising challenges based on class. There is a huge emphasis on class at The Citadel; when Citadel alum run into each other, their first question is, “What’s your class and company?” To optimize this, the Foundation created “Class Campaigns.” These are mini-campaigns run each year that challenge a specific class to raise a certain amount of money during milestone reunion years – their 10th, 25th, 40th, and 50th anniversaries of graduation. TCF even has class reunion gift officers to focus on these efforts. They are currently challenging the class of 1978 to raise $1.75 million by the end of this year for their 40th reunion celebration at Homecoming 2018. When researching new prospects for discovery, I typically pull alumni based on their school and have never really worried about class. UNC Charlotte is a much younger institution and there isn’t much importance placed on class year or class reunion. I think building a sense of class camaraderie would be a great practice for our Annual Giving team to implement with our younger alumni. Libby and Lisa explained how effective researching annual donors can be, especially when heading towards the end of a big campaign.

    Annual Giving was also Lisa and Libby’s answer to my questions about how to direct research work between campaigns. Alumni who have given gifts consecutively over the years are the prospects that become major giving donors. Maintaining a healthy pool of dedicated supporters in anticipation of the launch of a new campaign can have a huge impact in the long term. TCF buckets their constituents in this pool of supporters based on giving level – annual, lead, and major giving capacity. Collaboration with the Annual Giving team and our lead gift officers will definitely be one of my main priorities for the next few years at UNC Charlotte.

    Overall, I was very impressed by the way TCF and their Prospect Management and Research team operate. When an institution has exceeded their campaign goal by $50 million, one can’t deny they must be doing something right! Not only were Libby and Lisa brilliant prospect managers and researchers, they were warm and welcoming hosts – even giving me a tour of the Citadel’s beautiful campus despite the Charleston heat. I truly enjoyed the day I spent at The Citadel Foundation, and am forever grateful to Libby and Lisa for their fantastic advice, tips, and tricks for me as I continue to grow in this field.

  • 05/24/2018 5:40 PM | Anonymous

    How to Develop an Analytics Project: Building a Model Score

    Missy Garner, Director of Prospect Research
    Rick Loveday, Prospect Research Analyst

    Part 1: Concept Development

    This post is the first in a four-part series that will outline how Clemson University’s Prospect Research Team developed a philanthropic model score.

    This project began as a way to identify key philanthropic characteristics in our constituent base.  We wanted to know what types of attributes drive people to be philanthropic. This brought us to a specific group of our constituents who had donated at the principal gift level. We wanted to see if this subset exhibited any shared characteristics beyond the standard information contained in our CRM such as event participation, board membership, demographic data, etc. No matter how strong our data is, it only provides information about a constituents’ relationship with our institution. Our data won’t tell us how our constituents are interacting with other organizations or institutions. This drove us to look for outside resources that would fill this gap in our data.

    We previewed several products and found that DonorSearch provided the largest breadth of philanthropic data. They have developed their own database to track specific philanthropic history. This allows them to identify key attributes such as donations to other organizations, political contributions, board or non-profit affiliations, and high-level business positions. While other companies such as Blackbaud and iWave track these data points as well, DonorSearch made these philanthropic indicators their main focus.

    We decided to send a test batch of constituents as a proof of concept. We also needed to determine whether the Development team would embrace the results, since our previous models for determining a prospect’s value were primarily based on hard asset screenings. This new model would focus on where a person donates their money - not on how much money they have.

    The original test group was made up of just our principal gift level donors. We wanted to work with a larger group, so we included alumni and current parents who, based on our Research Point wealth screenings, had estimated wealth of $1 million or greater. This provided us with an adequate sample size to hopefully apply some of these philanthropic indicators to our group. After signing a contract and a non-disclosure agreement, we determined what constituent information should be shared for this screening. In order to screen our group, DonorSearch, at minimum, needed constituent name and address, with the option to send other data points as we saw fit. We also included date of birth, spouse name, and employment information. Since this was our proof of concept we consciously chose not to send any specific giving information.

    We sent the data off using their secure server and received our results within 24 hours. The file contained over 120 data points for us to digest.  We wanted to verify these philanthropic indicators fit with the data that was returned. In order to do this, we would need to pore through each and every data point. 

    The next blog post will detail how we determined which data points we would use to build the model.

  • 02/06/2018 12:49 PM | Apra Carolinas (Administrator)

    Apra Carolinas: 2017 Year in Review and What’s Ahead for 2018
    Beth Inman, Immediate Past President
    February 2018

    Many of you have heard me describe Apra Carolinas as a “small but mighty chapter.” I like to describe our chapter in that way because it’s true, but also because bigger doesn’t always mean better. When I started my term as President in January of 2016, I had a goal to increase our membership to 100. I had no rationale for that goal; my thought process was probably that 100 sounded like a good number and a good goal to have. As many of us in the prospect development field know, goals are a serious business and should never be numbers you just pick out of thin air….but that is what I did. We tried some creative ways to recruit new members and they worked! We have new members! Some are new colleagues joining our field, adding to the depth and diversity of our knowledge and experience, and some are experienced colleagues who have relocated to the Carolinas. Somewhere along the way, I realized I shouldn’t be focusing on just getting to that magic number of 100 members. I, and the rest of the Chapter Board, needed to focus on providing quality programming that offered our members and non-members opportunities to learn, network, and teach.

    We are inherently a curious, analytical profession and our programming should point to that. As we move along into 2018, I challenge you to get involved with Apra. What that involvement looks like is different for everyone; you may choose to get involved at the National level, and/or you may choose to get involved with a chapter. Take advantage of what Apra offers at any level to learn more about prospect development, but also to take advantage of the opportunity to teach others. Our field is growing and, whether you are new or have been around for a while, we can learn from each other.

    The Chapter Board has compiled information for a chapter Year in Review to assist you as you consider how you want to get involved with Apra. Read on to learn more about what happened in 2017, including our programs, scholarship winners, Twitter posts, and sponsors!

    • Because Apra Regional Conference (ARC) was held in Atlanta, we didn’t host a spring conference; our 2018 President-Elect, Missy Garner, was the chair of the conference, and members Elizabeth Roma and Vicki O’Brien each presented sessions.
    • Amy Jackson, Director of Prospect Research at Wingate University, attended ARC as the recipient of our Professional Development Scholarship. Read a Q&A blog post about Amy’s experience at ARC and what she learned.
    • Our Fall conference was hosted by UNC-Wilmington. We had 40 attendees who heard presentations about ways to use Microsoft Excel, prospect management during a conversion, a different way to do contact reports, a planned giving loyalty program, and top markers that predict philanthropy.
    • Rick Loveday, Prospect Research Analyst at Clemson University, was the recipient of our Road Trip Scholarship. His blog post, Two Days in the Triangle, shares how he used the funds and what he learned.
    • We hosted 5 webinars, including one recording of a live webinar we offered, with a total of 387 registrants. Topics included donor advised funds, portfolio consultations, ranch and NYC real estate valuation, and how to find major gifts hiding in your database.
    • Our membership ranged from 70-80 depending on the time of the year.
    • Twitter – 659 tweets, 353 followers, average of 245 impressions a day.
    • Our generous sponsors: DonorSearch, iWave, Advizor Solutions, Inc., and Target Analytics.

     

    What’s in store for 2018?

    • Spring conference at Elon University on Friday, April 13
    • A ‘blogger in residence’ – stay tuned for more details!
    • Fall conference at University of South Carolina on Friday, October 19
    • Three webinars throughout the year - stay tuned for more details!

    We are a chapter of Apra International, focusing on professionals working in North and South Carolina. We are a thriving group of professionals taking this growing field to the next level. Whether you are new to the prospect development profession or moving up in your career, we have something to offer you. If you focus on prospect research, prospect management, data analytics, database management, or a mix of the above, we strive to publicize new trends and promote resources available to you. The best part is that, at just $35/year, membership to our chapter should easily fit into your professional development budget. Members get discounts on our spring and fall conferences and free registration to all of our webinars.


    Apra Carolinas: get involved to learn; get involved to teach.


    Apra's Mission

    Apra is the premier organization for professionals who strategically harness information and data to drive fundraising for philanthropic institutions.

    Apra's Vision

    Apra is a recognized leader in strategic practices for professionals utilizing analytical skills, data-driven insights, and collaborative relationships to advance the missions of philanthropic institutions.

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For any questions or corrections, please reach out to ApraCarolinas@gmail.com
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