Apra Carolinas Untitled page

Publishing Prospect Management: Ruthie Giles talks about writing her new book

Robert Lyles — Tue, 12 May 2026 14:02:03 GMT

A thought leader in prospect development with over two decades of experience in the field, Ruthie Giles is currently the Director of Advancement Operations at Springfield Technical Community College and Partner, Prospect Development at Staupell Analytics Group. Ruthie added "published author" to her resume this year with the release of Prospect Management: The Essential Guide for a High Functioning Nonprofit Prospect Management System. We sat down to discuss how she transitioned from a prospect development practitioner to an industry expert, and what it takes to "ship" your expertise to the wider world:

Was there a specific moment when you realized the skills you use every day in prospect development could translate into something you could offer to others—a book or training? What did that look like?

I don't think there was a moment where I was sitting around and it dawned on me suddenly. It was more of other people asking me things: I had put together a prospect management system, and my supervisor said “You should present this at NEDRA,” the New England chapter. So I did that, and people started calling—back when you called people more often than you do now—to ask me questions about it.

And the more questions I got, the more I thought, well, I should just package this information up because I kept getting asked for it anyway. In our industry a rising tide lifts all ships, so If I know something other people don't, let’s just share it. I remember struggling with certain things early on myself and not having anyone to go to, because I was just sort of blindly blazing my own trail—so if I can help someone not have to go through that particular pain point, then absolutely I’ll help them.

Making the leap from "I'm good at my job" to "I'm an expert people should hire" is a big mental shift. Did you wrestle with that at all, and what helped you get past it?

Oh, yeah—I always have imposter syndrome. I don't think I'll ever outgrow that, and I think that's okay because it keeps you from getting too much of an inflated sense of self.

It was more other people telling me that I was their “person,” their expert to go to. There was one woman at a conference several years ago who gave me what I consider the highest compliment ever, she said: "You are to prospect management what Elizabeth Crabtree is to prospect research." And I thought, Oh, probably not, but that's a really nice thing to say—I wasn't going to say no, but I was like, I don’t know that I am, even though apparently to her I was! In that moment I certainly felt like an imposter—like, Elizabeth Crabtree? That’s where the heavens open up and the light shines down, and I didn't feel like that. But apparently, to her, I was.

You wrote a book on prospect management and are a partner at Staupell while still working full-time. How do you actually make that work day-to-day?

The good thing about me in this instance is that I'm a workaholic. I'm always doing something related to work, volunteering on a board, freelancing, so for me it wasn't hard to juggle things around, because I already knew how to parse out my time doing multiple things at once.

When the pandemic hit, that's when I really started writing the book, because we weren't getting as many consulting clients in my specific niche. So writing the book actually made sense during that time. But it was also chaos—I was working full-time, doing small projects with Marianne [Pelletier, Managing Director, Staupell Analytics], and my mom was dying while all of this was happening. I was her primary person.

And sometimes just sitting down to write the book was the calm I needed in the day. I'd focus on it for an hour, and that's all I had. It was a nice escape, and it was productive, which is in line with exactly who I am.

When you sit down to write, what does that actually look like? Are you a meticulous outliner, or more of a "figure it out along the way" person?

It's funny because sometimes I get super laser-focused, and I'll get lost in something for four hours. And then other times my ADHD kicks in and it’s like, nope, squirrel, something shiny—

I was hoping you were going to talk about ADHD!

Some days it's my superpower and some days it's my downfall. Some days I'd stare at the same three sentences for twenty minutes and nothing was happening, then I would sit down on a Saturday and just write for six hours.

I started with an outline that sat on a virtual shelf, as it were, on a USB drive, for a couple of years. I'd first drafted it around 2018, and then it sat around for a while. When I started working with Marianne Pelletier at Staupell in 2021, I said, “I’m thinking of writing this book I started,” and she said, "You should finish that." And it wasn't really a question. So we started talking about how we would get to that finish line of having it done, and set up timelines and everything. […] She just said “It's going to be successful.”

So I dug out the old draft, took a look, and realized “Oh, this is terrible,” because my thinking had changed in the years since. So I grabbed it, pulled it apart, and made a big outline. Marianne and I went through it virtually—she was my partner in crime, she'd say, "What about this? You should probably talk about this." So we bounced ideas back and forth, and then I just picked a spot and started writing.

I didn’t set out to write a book, because I was writing the way I talk—I was used to teaching a webinar or a workshop and saying the same thing four different ways, because I know one of those will resonate with someone. And she kept writing "too hammery" in the margins—I’m like, "What does hammery mean?" And she'd say, "You're pounding the same point home too many ways, just pick one and go with it & they can reread it."

I joke that I probably wrote at least twice as much as made it into the book, because once I realized it I started editing myself as I was writing before I gave it to Marianne—because I didn't want to keep seeing "too hammery" in the margins!

For prospect development, there's the weeds and then there's the rabbit holes: there's always one more source to check, one more angle to explore. How did you finally draw the line and say, "This thing is ready to ship"?

So trying to figure out how much or how little to include was challenging because to me, it's all interesting; any one chapter in that book could have gone on for a whole book unto itself. I talk about things like lead management and total quality management—there are entire books just about those things, and I have them as a sliver of a chapter. But someone who just needs to build a prospect management system at their job doesn't really need the entire history of prospect management, since they may not find it as fascinating as I do.

Some sections were just harder to write because they weren't interesting to me, and those were the painful ones because I'd start thinking, “Maybe I need to go clean a closet.” And sometimes you just have to let it happen!

Did you set out with a specific need in mind from the start, or did your target audience find you as you started putting things out there?

I was definitely writing for someone who was trying to do prospect management—whether they were moving into it, or already doing it and needed help. And I made sure to include areas where, if you aren't yet doing prospect management but want to, there's a whole section that helps you make the case to your leadership.

In a big shop, it's easier to justify the time and effort, but in a small shop, it's harder because you have to make choices about what you're working on, and I leaned in that direction because they need the strongest tools.

How do you pitch the value of prospect development to organizations that may not fully appreciate what we're doing before they've seen the results?

I think first you have to get a feel for the culture: you can't go in like a bull in a china shop and say, "You need this, everyone else is doing it," because you sound like a lunatic when you do that.

You have to assess who’s going to be the hardest to convince: “Why should we implement one more thing, one more system, one more process?” And then make the case for how it’s going to benefit them—if it's not helpful to people, they're not going to adopt it.

For the people higher up on the org chart, you have to answer how is this going to help them bring in more gifts and engage more of their constituency; for the folks at the hands-on level, they want to know how this is going to help them manage their data, pull better reports, have fewer meetings and better meetings.

That sounds like a pretty good selling point. For other potential entrepreneurs out there in prospect development with a great idea, what's the very first thing they can do to start making it real?

Talk to other people who work in our industry, and find out what people actually need, and how they want it presented. If you’re writing a blog, writing a book, building a service, or building some kind of vendor solution, anytime you can solve a problem, someone's going to be happy, right?

Can’t argue with that! What's the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started building something outside of your 9-to-5?

Cite your sources as you go! When I was writing the book, I had to go back more than once trying to remember where I heard things and then trace them back. I've been doing this work for 25 years, so trying to remember “What was that webinar that I went to?” or “What was that presentation?” or “Who was the woman who said that stuff?”—that was probably the hardest piece.

There was one person I emailed and asked, "Do you remember a presentation you did in, like, 2012?" And he said, "That's over ten years ago!" Fortunately he still had a copy, but those moments of trying to get back to the origin so you're not accidentally stealing material were a real challenge. So cite your sources.

Ruthie's book, Prospect Management: The Essential Guide for a High Functioning Nonprofit Prospect Management System, is available now.

Join Apra Carolinas as we host Ruthie on her virtual book tour on June 9, 2026! Register here.

Meet the 2026 Board

Robert Lyles — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:03:37 GMT

Meet the Board

As we head on through the winter, take a moment to meet the individuals leading this year’s Apra Carolinas Board. Our group of new and returning volunteers is currently mapping out 2026 chapter programming, and we want to introduce the people dedicated to strengthening our regional network.

We asked the board what keeps them engaged in prospect development and why they chose to take on a chapter leadership role: whether it’s the satisfaction of digging into complex data or the collaborative drive behind campaign planning, each brings a distinct perspective to the work.

Rachael Walker

Donor Strategy Manager, St. Luke's Health System

President

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I'm now in year 16.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I was asked by a previous education chair to join the then-extant education committee! I had a grand old time, then moved up to NC Regional Rep. My natural bossiness (sorry, I meant “organizational skills”) was well-suited to being Education Chair and now I get to really flex those muscles as President.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The community. Absolutely my favorite thing about this field is the willingness my fellow professionals have to share what they’ve learned with each other. As I talked about in a blog post last year, I try to pay it forward at every opportunity – which is why Education Chair was such a great place for me for so long!

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

Other than the aforementioned contacts with other prospect development professionals, I truly love our Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter affiliation. We've come together to put on a conference every year showcasing amazing professionals from each of our chapters. After many years, we are finally achieving the goal set all the way back in 2019 to bring back MARC as an in-person conference. Registration is open now - join us in Richmond on April 16th and 17th!

Chris Copsey

Assistant Vice President of Prospect Development, UNC Health Foundation

President-Elect

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

A desire to be locally involved with our industry's professional group.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The detective work of finding new potential donors!

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

Meeting and talking with new people at conferences always gets my mind racing with new ideas, especially lately with how people are using AI in fundraising.

Jennifer Vincent

Founder & Principal Consultant, JenVin Consulting

Immediate Past President

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

Overall, I’ve spent over 15 years in the field.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

Beth Inman made it seem like a great idea … and she was totally right! I was a few years into the field and wanted to make deeper connections with others and become more involved with the profession. I love this community and it's been such an honor to serve on this board.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

It used to be prospect research and falling down a rabbit hole on a prospect profile, but then it morphed into prospect management and partnering with fundraisers. I love looking at portfolios and devising strategy to help them meet their/our goals.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

Without a doubt, the most impactful activity was joining the Apra Carolinas board. Through board membership I met and engaged with other professionals in the field within the Carolinas - and across the world! Those connections not only helped me professionally, but I made close friends throughout the network of chapters. Most of us in the field tend to be a bit (or a lot) introverted, but stepping outside of that comfort zone to attend in-person events where you can connect (and nerd out) with others has continued to drive my career forward in the field.

Jennifer Kehoe

Director of Prospect Research, Clemson University

Secretary

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

24 years. First 4 years of my career were as a CFR Development Officer before moving into the Prospect Development side of things. I’ve always known my calling to be in the PD realm rather than as a front-line Gift Officer.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

The desire to be more involved with my fellow Prospect Development folk (in all of our different organizations) and to feel like I’m giving back. The Board is the perfect place to work with great people and meet other great people in our industry.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I enjoy the challenge of the work and the everyday “puzzles” we face. I have always found a great deal of satisfaction working in philanthropy and the idea that we can work for a greater good. I’ve also been blessed to meet and work with some truly talented colleagues.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

Hands down, the most impactful professional development experiences for me have been the conferences I’ve attended — from Apra Carolinas to the big Apra events. I always leave energized, full of new ideas, and excited to bring fresh strategies back to my work. But what I love most is the chance to connect with so many amazing people who truly understand the world of prospect development. The conversations, shared experiences, and relationships built at these conferences are just as valuable as the sessions themselves. Every time I attend, I’m reminded how supportive, inspiring, and fun this professional community really is.

Michele Cheek

Prospect Development Analyst, UNC Greensboro

Treasurer

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have been in prospect development for 3 ½ years at UNC Greensboro. I’m an alum of UNCG, receiving my BS in Social Work and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management. I am currently enrolled in the Master’s in Liberal and Interdisciplinary Studies.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What inspires me is actually the “who”- the people, past and current, Apra Carolinas Board Members, inspire me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my interactions with several board members over the past 3 ½ years. I am inspired by their enthusiasm and heart for the work we do, their desire to elevate and advocate for our field, and the goal of demonstrating the value of prospect research and development.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The variety of tasks, projects, and opportunities to support teams across our division and campus is what I like most about the work. No two days are the same!

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

Most impactful professional development activities have been Apra Carolinas and Apra, especially the learning I gain from the conferences and webinars.

Rachael Daniels

Prospect Management Analyst, Clemson University

Education Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in fundraising for about 12 years, the last 5 of those in prospect development.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I wanted to be more involved with the prospect development community and get to know more people in the field. I also owe a lot of my success in my first prospect development role to what I learned through Apra Carolinas. I hope to help others do the same in my role on the board.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The best thing about working in prospect development is being able to help team members be successful. Finding that major donor hidden in the database or even just a tiny piece of information about a prospect that can move the relationship one step closer, whatever it is that can help a fundraiser get past a roadblock or get one step closer to meeting their goals.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

It is hard to pick just one activity that has had the most impact on my professional development. I love to learn new things and see what others are doing in our field, so I attend all the webinars, read all the books, blogs, and articles I can. But if I had to pick I think attending conferences has been the most impactful. You get the benefits of formal presentations from experts in the field and the value of networking.

Jenny Alstad

Senior Director, Prospect Development & Strategy, College of Charleston

Membership Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I’ve worked in fundraising for 17 years and have been in prospect development for the past three years.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

Since joining Apra and Apra Carolinas in 2022, I’ve been so impressed by the community. After three years of attending conferences and webinars I’m ready to get involved and start making an impact! In 2024 I was awarded the Apra Carolinas Professional Development Scholarship and used the funds to attend Apra PD in Seattle. The opportunity to attend this conference allowed me the opportunity to meet and connect with my peers - such an invaluable resource! On the Apra Carolina board I hope to help facilitate connections amongst our members in the Carolinas.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

For me, prospect development is the perfect combination of data, relationship management, and strategy. I love having days where I’m head down digging into data projects that are then balanced with days where I’m collaborating with our fundraisers on strategies and next steps.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

One of the most impactful professional development experiences for me has been attending APRA PD in person. Being part of a conference of that scale helped level up my skills while also broadening my perspective on what’s possible within our field. It pushed me beyond maintaining the status quo and inspired me to bring back new techniques and strategies to my work, something that’s especially valuable in our highly specialized roles. While attending APRA PD every year isn’t always feasible due to cost (which makes the APRA Carolinas’ Professional Development Scholarship such an important resource), I’ve also found tremendous value in the free webinars offered by APRA Carolinas and other APRA chapters.

Jenny Bunn

Prospect Research Manager, UNC Asheville

Communications Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in Prospect Development for two years, but have worked in non-profit fundraising in various capacities for decades.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

Apra Carolinas has been an excellent professional resource for me. I have been so impressed with how welcoming and helpful everyone has been to a newcomer like me, and I am eager to give back to this organization that has already given so much to me.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

I am a huge fan of David Lively's book Managing Major Gift Fundraisers: A Contrarian's Guide for more of a philosophical approach to portfolio management. His arguments make so much sense to me, though we have not fully adopted the recommendations he shares for our shop. I also love the podcast Prospect Research #Chatbytes for quick conversations about specific topics. Each episode is less than 20 minutes, so it's a super digestible listen!

Tayler Lee

Director of Pipeline & Prospect Strategy, NC State University

NC Regional Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have been in the field for nearly 10 years.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I wanted to get to know and contribute to my local network of peers and colleagues.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I love that fundraising connects resources and needs! I am proud that I get to contribute to that goal. With regard to prospect development, I really enjoy taking data points and turning them into insight and actionable strategy.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to be mentored by several phenomenal leaders and professionals who have helped me grow in many different ways. It's been such a gift, and I am grateful to all of them!

Kristen Reagan

Prospect Research Coordinator, Georgia Southern University

SC Regional Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

Will be 1 year on April 1st (not an April Fools' joke!)

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

As someone newer to the field, I was really interested in volunteering in some capacity. When I saw there was an opening for the South Carolina representative, I thought that was a great way to plug in and get my feet wet. In addition, I found my current job through the Apra Carolinas job board, so this is a way I can pay it forward.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I love researching in general, but finding that "needle in the haystack" is always gratifying. Perhaps there is that one little piece of information that can help paint a better picture of a prospect of their ability and/or desire to potentially become a major donor.

What has been your most impactful professional development activity? Books, trainings, conferences, etc.

I attended my first Apra PD conference last August, and it was wonderful to network, learn from other shops, and really see first-hand how supportive the prospect development career field is!

Reflections on the Apra PD 2025 Conference

Jenny Bunn — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 17:34:54 GMT

Written by Michelle Mast, Prospect Research Analyst, Clemson University

Hi, Apra Carolinas members! My name is Michelle Mast, and I am a Prospect Research Analyst at Clemson University. I have been with Clemson University for two wonderful years so far and have been fortunate to attend the Apra PD 2023 Conference in Indianapolis and this year’s Apra PD Conference in Baltimore.

I am deeply grateful to Apra Carolinas for awarding me the Apra Carolinas Professional Development Grant. Thanks to this generous support, I was able to attend the Apra PD 2025 Conference in Baltimore, MD. With the current funding challenges facing higher education, many universities have struggled to provide opportunities for employees to participate in professional development at this scale. Being awarded this grant gave me the chance to attend in person, and I feel truly blessed for the opportunity. The conference sessions covered a wide variety of topics, each offering valuable insights that I have already begun sharing with my coworkers.

The conference opened with an inspiring keynote by Leah Marone titled “The Recovery Blueprint” which covered a topic that strongly resonated with me. She explained how people-pleasing behaviors often lead to stress, anxiety, and burnout, and shared practical self-regulation techniques to break that cycle. I have already started implementing some of her strategies and found them to be incredibly helpful. Beyond the keynote, every speaker offered something meaningful, and I was able to take away knowledge from each session I attended. In between sessions, I connected with dozens of researchers and began building professional relationships that I hope will continue to grow.

Attending the Apra PD 2025 Conference solidified my belief in the value of professional development opportunities. I left Baltimore renewed, motivated, and eager to sharpen my skills even more. Thank you again to Apra Carolinas and to the entire awarding committee for selecting me as this year’s recipient—I am sincerely appreciative of your support. I want to encourage everyone to apply for the Apra Carolinas Professional Development Grant each year and attend the Apra PD Conferences in person. It is so important to be able to learn from colleagues in the field and make connections with others who work in your field.

What We Learned from You: 2025 Membership Survey Highlights

Jenny Bunn — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:07:02 GMT

Written by Jennifer Kehoe, Apra Carolinas Membership Chair; Director of Prospect Research at Clemson University

Every so often, it’s important to pause and ask ourselves: what does our Apra Carolinas community really want and need? Thanks to those of you who took the time to respond to our recent membership survey, we now have a clearer picture—and the results are both energizing and inspiring!

A Strong and Growing Membership

We’re thrilled to see that the vast majority of respondents—32 out of 37—are current members. Even better, most of you have been with us for several years, showing that Apra Carolinas continues to be a home base for prospect development professionals. On average, members bring about 10 years of experience in the field, which means we’re learning and growing together with a wealth of expertise across our region.

Community Spirit: Networking and Engagement

If there’s one word that sums up how members see Apra Carolinas, it’s community. Respondents described our chapter as “networking,” “collegial,” “educational,” “helpful,” and “friendly.” That sense of belonging came through strongly in your requests for more in-person networking opportunities. From Charleston to Winston Salem to Charlotte, members want to gather closer to home in addition to our signature fall conference.

Speaking of conferences, many of you plan (or are considering) attending our October gathering at UNC Chapel Hill—and we couldn’t be more excited to see you there.

Ready to Pitch In

We were delighted to see that many members expressed interest in volunteering, with enthusiasm for event support, committee work, writing for the blog, speaking at webinars, mentoring, and even helping with the 2026 MARC Conference. This is wonderful news—our chapter thrives when members step forward to share their time and talents.

What You Value Most

When it comes to benefits, members emphasized how important virtual webinars, networking with local professionals, and relationship-building opportunities are to their experience. Several of you also suggested a membership salary survey.

Training Priorities: What’s on Your Radar

Your responses also highlighted clear areas of professional development interest:

Data analytics and dashboards topped the list.
Pipeline development and prospect identification are hot topics.
Many of you are curious about artificial intelligence and how it fits into our work.
And don’t worry—we hear you on the need for career development, campaign planning, and even diving into stocks and securities.

Satisfaction Across the Board

The best news? Overall satisfaction with Apra Carolinas is very high. Members are especially pleased with email communications, social media, and the website—and programming and networking events also scored well. That’s a testament to the hard work of our committees and volunteers who make these resources possible.

Looking Ahead

It’s clear that Apra Carolinas is more than just a membership—it’s a community of learners, sharers, and doers. Your feedback will directly shape our programming, volunteer opportunities, and networking plans for the coming year.

Thank you for lending your voice to the survey, and for helping us continue to grow as a chapter. Together, we’ll make 2025–26 our strongest year yet!

Planned Giving Prospects: Where Data Meets the Road

Jenny Bunn — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 20:31:57 GMT

Written by Jenny Alstad and Andi Judt

Jenny Alstad (L) is the Senior Director of Prospect Development at the College of Charleston. Andi Judt (R)is a Gift Planning Officer at the College of Charleston. Together, we’re exploring how to combine quantitative and qualitative data to surface transformational planned giving prospects.

What makes someone a great prospect for planned giving? It sounds like a simple question, until you start digging into the details. A quick Google search turns up countless articles on the topic, each offering a slightly different take on the standard segments.

At the College of Charleston, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing this question together. When Andi stepped into her new role as a gift planning officer in 2024, her first instinct was to get out of the office and meet with prospects.

Together with our team, we crafted a portfolio that included a mix of current planned giving donors, what we would call traditional planned giving prospects, and a healthy mix of pure discovery work. What we found was both fascinating and transformative to our pipeline.

What the Data Tells Us

When it comes to identifying strong planned giving prospects, the data in your database can be your most powerful guide, if you know where to look. We’ve certainly found that there is no one-size-fits-all formula, but certain patterns consistently emerge among those most likely to include an institution in their estate plans.

Our starting point is always loyalty. Planned gifts are often (but not always!) rooted in long-standing relationships, so it’s important to identify individuals who have demonstrated consistent engagement over time. A few of our favorite segments include:

Recent gifts - Particularly within the last three years
Lifetime giving - Consistent giving over time, regardless of size.
Event attendance - Those loyal event-goers who show up for everything. You may need to do some digging here if your organization doesn’t track event attendance in your database!
Volunteer service - Who are those volunteers that have served in every role ever created at your organization?
Family relationships - Individuals without direct heirs often think differently about their legacy and are more open to talking about their lasting impact.

Real Stories from the Field

Analyzing data is always a smart first step in growing your planned giving program, but one of the most valuable prospect pools is right in front of you: your current planned giving donors. Your team likely already understands the importance of strong stewardship for these donors, whether through special recognition events, impact newsletters, milestone acknowledgments, or behind-the-scenes updates. But one essential stewardship opportunity often gets overlooked: regularly checking in with planned giving donors to review their gift documentation.

These reviews are more than just administrative—they’re moments to strengthen relationships and gain valuable insight. Has the donor updated their estate plans? Increased their commitment? Changed the designation of their gift? Perhaps they’re now considering additional assets to include in their legacy. A one-on-one conversation every five years or so is a meaningful touchpoint that can lead to welcome surprises. In fact, we recently met with a planned giving donor who shared that he had increased his estate commitment to the College from six figures to seven. What a transformational gift we might not have known about otherwise!

While quantitative data from prospect research is critical, qualitative insights from conversations can be just as impactful. Reviewing visit notes and looking for common themes among current planned giving donors can reveal helpful patterns. At the College, we’ve found that many donors choose to include us in their estate plans between the ages of 50 and 70, so we plan our marketing and outreach accordingly. We’ve seen strong engagement from undergraduate alumni working in academia, several of whom have established scholarships through their estate plans. Our peers in the advancement profession have also been remarkably generous, often just waiting for the opportunity to talk with someone about their philanthropic goals. Another trend we’ve noticed is donors choosing to direct their planned gifts to existing honor or memorial funds - cementing their legacy and highlighting the deep connection to the College community.

Bringing It All Together

For us, the most exciting part of this work is seeing how strategy and curiosity intersect. We’ve found that when we combine the analytical lens of prospect development with relational insights, we uncover opportunities we might have otherwise missed. As our work together continues, we’re excited to keep refining our approach and learning from the unexpected connections, thoughtful conversations, and generous individuals who make this work so rewarding.

How Prospect Development Can Help Power Your Giving Day

Jenny Bunn — Mon, 19 May 2025 23:31:35 GMT

Written By Jenny Alstad – Senior Director, Prospect Development & Strategy, College of Charleston

Over the past decade, Giving Days have established themselves as a key cornerstone to fundraising programs of all shapes, sizes, and sectors. Prior to transitioning to Prospect Development, I spent eight years in Annual Giving and am now a proud lifelong annual giving enthusiast. This past March, I experienced my 11th Giving Day. Along the way, I’ve seen just how impactful these campaigns can be. Here are a few ways Prospect Development teams can leverage Giving Days to support gift officers and drive year-round success.

Before the Big Day: Spotting Challenge Donors Early

Before your Giving Day even begins, Prospect Development teams can play a major role in helping officers identify prospects who may have an interest in setting up a Giving Day challenge – but aren’t yet on their radar. Look for indicators like board service, consistent annual giving history, strong history of unrestricted giving, participation in past Giving Days or broad-based annual campaigns, and of course, capacity to make a larger commitment. We’ve found particular success engaging prospects who have already voiced an interest in rallying others, have shown their support for leadership’s vision, and have championed unrestricted giving. Beyond the data, review contact reports for prospects who’ve expressed a desire to help grow your base. These are your potential challenge champions.

Game Day: Real-Time Supports That Drives Results

When the big day arrives, Prospect Development teams have the opportunity to shift into high gear, though our teams are often overlooked in the Giving Day execution plans. If your Giving Day platform integrates in real-time with your CRM, Prospect Development can be a huge asset to gift officers by helping them pull up-to-the-minute donor lists or track specific priority segments. If your platform doesn’t sync directly, there’s critical behind-the-scenes support to officers like monitoring the donor lists and alerting officers when their top prospects have made a gift. Additionally, keep a close eye out for surprise gifts from high-capacity or priority prospects. These may signal opportunities for a real-time stewardship text or video message from leadership or senior staff, helping deepen engagement while the moment is still fresh.

Post-Giving Day: Turning Insights into Action

Once the dust settles, Prospect Development can help translate Giving Day activity into long-term opportunity. Start by looking for shifts in donor behavior. Did someone give to a new fund, area, or initiative? That might signal a developing passion or interest for officers to explore. It’s also a great time to surface previously unassigned or lower-engaged donors who gave unexpectedly or increased their giving. If you have access to run a wealth screening, you can quickly cross reference these triggers to further prioritize. Use this momentum to flag potential new assignments and update portfolios quickly.

The Lasting Impact: Giving Day as a Prospect Development Launchpad

Giving Days are much more than a 24-hour sprint. They’re a high-visibility touchpoint that can unlock valuable insights and engagement for months to come. With thoughtful planning and real-time support, our teams can turn Giving Days into catalysts for deeper relationships, stronger portfolios, and smarter strategies. Whether it’s identifying challenge donors, enabling day-of stewardship, or uncovering new prospects, our teams play an essential role in making the most of the momentum. Let’s keep building on it.

Searching Smarter

Jenny Bunn — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 12:25:55 GMT

Written By Lucy Pastier – Director of Prospect Management & Research with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Treasurer of Apra Pennsylvania

Being able to effectively search the web is an essential skill for individuals in Prospect Development. Investigating a prospect often starts and ends with what information we can find about them online. However, search engine functionality, results display, and search results have all changed massively in the 30+ years since I first started using search engines.¹ Periodically revisiting our use of web search engines and reassessing search techniques are things any professional researcher should strive for. Here are some tips on how you can search smarter – and not just within Google’s ecosystem.

Banish AI Summaries

In 2024, Google rolled out AI summaries at the top of most google results. The results have not been stellar. As someone who uses Google’s search engine dozens of times a day for work and personal use, I was desperate for a way to opt out of summaries at the top of the search results. After a few months, I learned about the magic of “udm=14”. Adding that string of text brings you to Google’s “web filter,” showing you results only from websites – no AI generated summaries, no map results, no shopping links. There are a few ways you can use this method without adding the string into your search. You can bookmark https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14 to use as your default search page or use one of the many extensions and plug-in for your preferred browser.

Advanced Search Operators

When Ask Jeeves first launched, their hook was being able to ask a question in natural language to Jeeves, your faithful digital butler, who would do his best to bring you websites that answered your query. At a time when optimum Google search results required Boolean logic and carefully selected terms, this was petty revolutionary. Now, Jeeves has long since retired and most search engines have embraced the natural language searches. While this approach is more user friendly, it often leads to broad results that may not answer your question. Search operators are still an incredibly powerful tool for getting more targeted results – and they’re often underutilized!

If you’ve ever used the “Advanced Search” option in Google, you probably know the basics of search operations (such as quotation marks to get the exact phrase you’re looking for, plus or minus symbols to include or omit words from your search results) but do you know how to limit your search results to a specific website, in order to see mentions of your donor only on their alma mater’s website? Or how to limit your results to PDFs only, which can be extremely helpful in finding event programs and annual reports? Or how to limit your searches to instances before or after a specific date? Dan Russel, a research scientist and the former Principal UX Researcher at Google, has put together the ultimate guide for Advanced Search Operators at bit.ly/AllTheOperators.²

Search Tweaks

If you want a masterclass in internet searching, you need to follow Tara Calishain’s work. Tara is an app builder, has been writing about internet search engines for almost 30 years, and is a North Carolinian to boot. Her site Search Tweaks offers a wide array of tools that can assist you with news searches, time-bound searches, and even searching for a name with multiple variations across a variety of sources. See her local news search in action here.

The Internet Archive and Wayback Machine

Using archived versions of websites can be a real treasure trove of information on otherwise hard to research prospects. How many times have you tried to research someone, only to find the board service listed in their corporate bio does not correspond with the nonprofit’s current board listing? Or tried to research someone who held a leadership position at a company but retired a few years ago? Or found what appeared to be a great biography of a prospect in the search preview, only to find the page has been 404’d? I’ve used the Wayback Machine to check older versions of sites of interest – board of trustee listings, leadership listings on corporate websites, etc. – to find information that has been removed from websites more times than I can count. It often gives me access to information that is otherwise unavailable and has given me a better idea of timelines for board transitions.

Beyond the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive also has an impressive array of genealogy reference tools; tens of thousands of yearbooks from US High schools, colleges and universities; and over 4 million items in library collections, which give you access to a mind-boggling amount of newspapers. Even just using their search function to research a person allows you to search for mentions on them in TV news captions, radio transcripts, and text across their vast collections.³

Try Other Search Engines

Which brings me to my point: Google is not the only game in town. It’s worth checking other search engines, not only to get out of your own Google algorithm bubble, but to protect your browsing data and online privacy as well. If you’re stuck on where to start, PC magazine had a good review of 15 search engines which compared results, privacy options, and security of the services. However, echoing my warning from before, please stay away from the AI-driven options.⁴

1-Let’s have a moment of silence for AOL keywords.

2-He also runs a fascinating blog about searches and published the book “Joy of Search: A Google Insider’s Guide to Going Beyond the Basics.”

3-PS, the Internet Archive is doing important work which is being threatened by legal battles. Consider supporting them to help maintain this resource!

4-Hat tip to Andy McMahon, who is always thinking about AI and large language models in a very thoughtful way.

The Importance of Paying it Forward

Jenny Bunn — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 14:09:33 GMT

Written by: Rachael Walker

In honor of Research Pride Month, I want to share my professional journey, from a new kid to what I still have trouble seeing myself as: an industry veteran. My story is one of generosity from others that has inspired me to be generous in turn.

If you’ve ever encountered me in a professional context, you’ve probably heard me say that my favorite thing about this industry and the people in it is how willing people are to share their time and knowledge with others in the field. I’ve said it in one-on-one conversations, in small networking sessions, and in the Apra Talks panel on the PD main stage last year: we are an incredibly generous group of people by our very nature.

This generosity has had a huge impact on me in the fifteen years I have been in prospect development. Because of the impact the volunteerism of others has had on me, I always leap at any opportunity to pay it forward. It feels wonderful to share my time and knowledge because so many people shared their knowledge with me. If I can give someone foundational knowledge to build upon, if I can contribute in any way to advancing our field, that’s worth every bit of time and effort I invest.

For me, volunteering means more than just serving on boards or committees. It’s about giving of my time wherever it’s needed. Whether it’s a Zoom call for someone to pick my brain on a topic or presenting at a big conference, I am here for it!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Fifteen years ago, PRSPCT-L, then still a listserv, was a vital resource for a newbie prospect researcher just starting out in the field. I devoured every email digest, absorbing every crumb of information shared by people who took the time out of their days to answer questions sent in to the listserv. With time, I felt comfortable asking some of my own questions - and with even more time, answering some, too!

A few years into my time in prospect development, I was recruited to serve on the Apra Carolinas Education Committee by then-chair Katie Fulcher. My first exposure to volunteering in a professional capacity was so inspiring - working to develop content to educate the others in our chapter was my first taste of how it felt to pay forward everything I had learned from others willing to share their knowledge.

A Volunteer Develops

As a result of a post I shared on PRSPCT-L about the parent screening validation process developed at my first research job at Wake Forest University, I was asked by Apra Greater New York to contribute an article summarizing the process for their newsletter. This was the first time I truly felt as if I had a level of expertise to share, and I leapt at the opportunity. Again, how could I turn up the chance to pay it forward?

I presented for the first time in 2015 as part of the UNC Advancement Symposium, as I then worked at the UNC System Office, on a needs assessment process I had performed at Wake Forest as part of my capstone project for my MLIS degree. The following year, I turned my validating wealth screening article into a presentation for Apra Chapters Share the Knowledge - my first time presenting a webinar! This ultimately became a half-day pre-conference workshop for Apra’s PD conference in 2017 and 2018. I didn’t submit it as a workshop, but the content was apparently of enough interest that the committee wanted it expanded. How was I developing into an industry veteran whose knowledge was respected? I sure didn’t know (and still don’t, to be honest).

At the same time, I moved up from the Education Committee to the NC Regional Representative for Apra Carolinas, then began a four-year tenure as Education Chair. I also began serving on Apra International committees, simultaneously as a member of the Curriculum Planning Committee for PD, and on the Advocacy Committee. And all along, I was making myself available for anyone who ever had any questions about things I knew about - and reaching out to others who had information I needed.

The Now

Somehow, I have made my way to serve as President of Apra Carolinas, where I am incredibly proud to head up an extraordinary board that works hard to provide benefits and professional development for our members. I served on the Apra Nominating Committee last year. For years, I’ve been a member of the committee for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapters group, a collaboration between the Apra chapters representing Pennsylvania, Maryland, Metro DC, Virginia, and the Carolinas that works together to provide excellent professional development content at an accessible cost to members of our chapters.

I may not be Education Chair anymore, but I haven’t stopped working to provide professional development to peers, either. I was a member of the Apra Fundamentals faculty this year, and will be on a panel for Apra Plug In to Small Shops this summer. I was a panelist for “We Are All Data Scientists” at Apra Talks at PD last year, a main stage event in front of all live and virtual attendees. I have several presentations in rotation that I am still asked to present as webinars for chapters. All of these opportunities allow me to share my hard-won knowledge and give advice - sometimes unasked for, as anyone who's been to a networking session with me can attest.

It feels sometimes like I blinked and became one of the admired industry veterans whose names I learned in those very early days of PRSPCT-L. People know my name. They reach out to me without ever having met me to ask my advice or input on things that they’re working on. They attend my webinars and thank me for what I share. All it ever took was putting up my hand, saying “yes,” and leaning into the desire to give back what this field has given me.

Volunteering in any capacity, sharing knowledge, and making professional development accessible are all ways I contribute to our community - and they’re ways anyone can contribute, whether you’re comfortable in front of a crowd or would rather answer questions on PRSPCT-L. I encourage everyone to get involved, share their expertise, and help build a supportive and thriving professional environment. You will get back everything you put in, and then some. I’m living proof.

Steps to Advance Your Prospect Research Career

Jenny Bunn — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:47:16 GMT

Steps to Advance Your Prospect Research Career

Written by: Chris Copsey

“Hey, you- yes, You! C’mon over here and let’s talk shop for a little bit away from the crowds. I heard that you are looking for ways to advance your career in the Prospect Research area. Well, the good news for you is that is something that I would love to help you out with.”

If you are anything like me - and you must be since you are reading this! - you have probably been working in the Prospect Research and philanthropic field long enough to wonder if that above conversation would ever happen to you. Well, consider this article a version of that conversation. You see, although I have only been in the field of prospect research for 8 years, I have gone from performing basic, individual prospect research, to healthcare philanthropy data analytics, to now leading a whole Prospect Development team for a major healthcare philanthropy organization. And the good news is that with some experience, nerve, and a lot of confidence, you too can give yourself the background and experience necessary for advancing in your career.

Hi, my name is Chris Copsey, and I am the Assistant Vice President of Prospect Development for the UNC Health Foundation, based out of UNC Chapel Hill. I have spent my entire fundraising career at UNC and have loved every minute of it. Aside from my professional work, I am also the incoming President-elect of Apra Carolinas.

Here are some things to consider when you are ready to advance in your career in this field. And no, these won’t be any of those that you heard in the 1990s, like “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have”, or always laughing at your boss’s unfunny jokes.

Make sure your fundamentals are sharp: whatever your current role is, you want to make sure that you are already performing at a high level. How can you expect to move up to a new position if there are weaknesses in your current position? Take stock of what you do, and especially those times where you either took on tasks outside of your job’s scope, or successes where you went above and beyond. If you take stock and find yourself deficient in any area, consider the resources that Apra has, reach out to your network, or even utilize LinkedIn learning- I myself used a LinkedIn learning class to learn the basics of Tableau and then reached out to a thought leader for more advice- how is this Dashboard? What can I do to make it better? You’d be surprised how happy people in our field are to help each other!
Working horizontally is equally important as working vertically: while we all want to impress those in positions above us, it is equally important to ingratiate yourself with those at your current level. Make yourself indispensable to those you encounter on an everyday basis for run-of-the-mill projects. If you are worried about being too good at this and potentially depriving your office of your current skills, I would counter and say that taking on a new role is about expanding your talents, not depriving anyone of them, so this should not stop you from advancing.
Become familiar with all the jobs in your office: you might excel at research but having knowledge of what a Development Officer does will make you better at providing them with help. If you don’t, ask to shadow them at a donor meeting.
Know who to lobby: we all equate lobbying with the political and corporate world, but lobbying for yourself is essentially advocating for yourself. But you wouldn’t just advocate to anyone - you should know who to advocate to. Knowing who in your office has sway or soft-power can be crucial as you make plans to step up in your office. Is an office shakeup happening? Ok, great - lean into it, and figure out who is going to be calling the shots at a future date, even if they are not right now. Org charts and budget allocations are gold when trying to figure this out, so ask around to see if this kind of information is handy.
Raise your hand: most importantly, and it is probably the thing that can get you where you want the most, is to raise your hand; for all you know, no one else has raised theirs!

These are only a few things that could help you advance your career in prospect research. Of course, getting involved in a professional development space like Apra Carolinas doesn’t hurt either!

Meet Our 2025 Board

Jenny Bunn — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 13:31:02 GMT

Meet the Board

We are ushering in the New Year with an opportunity for you to get to know the Apra Carolinas Board. This year, we are welcoming new and returning members, all of whom are dedicated to providing professional development and networking opportunities to our members in the Carolinas (and beyond)!

Engaging our community, providing resources, the thrill of detective work and working with a team to support impactful work and missions are a few shared sentiments among our board members about their interest in leading the chapter and continuing their prospect development careers - which of these resonates with you?

Rachael Walker

Donor Strategy Manager, St. Luke's Health System

President

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The community. Absolutely my favorite thing about this field is the willingness my fellow professionals have to share what they’ve learned with each other. I try to pay it forward all the time – which is why Education Chair was such a great place for me for so long!

What's your favorite snack?

It’s unfair to make me choose just one. I’ll go with what I always pick up on road trips - Cool Ranch Doritos!

Chris Copsey

Assistant Vice President of Prospect Development, UNC Health Foundation

President-Elect

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

A desire to be locally involved with our industry's professional group.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The detective work of finding new potential donors!

What's your favorite snack?

Popcorn!

Megan Crenshaw

Research & Database Manager, Cone Health Philanthropic Foundation

Treasurer

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in prospect development for 5 of the 13 years that I have been in fundraising.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

After joining the Research team at Elon in 2019, I was continually amazed by, and grateful for, all that Apra Carolinas offered me. The professionals I met are not only incredibly knowledgeable and skilled, they are also genuinely warm, engaging, and encouraging. It felt very fulfilling to give back to an organization that provides so much to those of us who work in this niche field. When I received the invitation to join, it was a no brainer for me. My hope is to inspire others to plug in as much as I did so that you can meet an incredible group of individuals and acquire invaluable insight into the field!

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

My favorite part of prospect development is the “detective” skills it takes to do my job well. I love those moments when a prospect has been a bit elusive to research, but I suddenly search for the right term or pull on the right string that reveals valuable information I had been searching for. Several people in my hallway can attest to the times they’ve heard an excited “Aha! Found you!” coming from my office.

What's your favorite snack?

Hands down, I could eat apples and peanut butter any day of the week!

Vicki O'Brien

Prospect and Database Manager, Purpose Built Communities

Secretary

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

Over ten years

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

Being involved in the leadership of a community of prospect development professionals.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The thrill I still get when I uncover a hidden prospect with staggering potential to support my organization's mission, followed by strategy discussions to make an introduction and invite them to support our impactful work.

What's your favorite snack?

Movie Candy!

Rachael Daniels

Prospect Management Analyst, Clemson University

Education Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in fundraising for about 12 years, the last 5 of those in prospect development.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Cheese!

Jennifer Kehoe

Director of Prospect Research, Clemson University

Membership Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

23 years. First 4 years of my career were as a CFR Development Officer before moving into the Prospect Development side of things. I’ve always known my calling to be in the PD realm rather than as a front-line Gift Officer.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Wow, I feel like this changes, but right now…Dot’s Pretzels (Original and Honey Mustard flavor).

Jenny Bunn

Prospect Research Manager, UNC Asheville

Communications Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in Prospect Development for two years, but have worked in non-profit fundraising in various capacities for decades.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

It’s such a great job. I love the research. I love the strategy meetings. I love the camaraderie with gift officers and other members of our advancement team - it’s really wonderful to be part of a team that is so collaborative.

What's your favorite snack?

Salty chips with really fresh guacamole

Merissa Lawson

Prospect Development Manager, National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)

NC Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I’m coming up on 21 years in prospect development.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I first joined the board in 2015, after attending chapter events for several years; I really just wanted to help. After a stretch of board membership that included multiple roles (including President), I took a short break, but am rejoining now to jump back into the fray. I enjoy giving back to the community and can’t seem to stay away.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I love all of the different aspects of the work. The combination of critical thinking, investigative work, communication skills, strategy – and the satisfaction of knowing my work is the foundation for future gifts. What’s not to love?

What's your favorite snack?

Popcorn, always and forever!

Jenny Alstad

Senior Director, Prospect Development & Strategy, College of Charleston

SC Regional Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I’ve worked in fundraising for 17 years and have been in prospect development for the past three years.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Anything chocolate!

Apra Carolinas 2024 Fall Conference in Review

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 15:52:17 GMT

Apra Carolinas 2024 Fall Conference in Review

Written By: Jenny Bunn

This October, prospect research, development, and nonprofit professionals from across the Carolinas met at Clemson University for a one day conference. Held at the Madren Center on Clemson’s campus, the conference was chock-full of compelling speakers balanced with time for fellowship and networking.

I appreciate that the Apra Carolinas conference features sessions led by both nationally known speakers and local colleagues. It is a way to hear both big picture ideas and creative, practical applications on an institutional level. After a warm welcome from Brian O’Rourke, VP of Advancement at Clemson, the conference kicked off with a session from Jim Langley. In his session - It’s About Meaningful Interactions, not Moves Management - Jim spoke about maintaining consistent elements in a donor’s biography or record so that a relationship could be managed by anyone. It was an a-ha moment for me - my VC has encouraged our team to know the answers to a list of 10 questions for our donors - but we don’t actually record those answers into a shared action, note, or bio. So what if we did? How might that impact the way we are able to interact with our donors over a length of time, even if individual staff members don’t remain with our institution? I was furiously scribbling notes - arrows pointing to new thoughts, words with boxes drawn around them - whatever I could do to attempt to solidify my thoughts so that I could effectively communicate them later to my team.

Chris Copsey’s session made it seem easy - or at least attainable! - to create a custom AI chatbot. Katalina Williams and Kayla Ly discussed remote onboarding strategies, which I need to revisit as I work on updating some elements of our training guide. During Cecelia Poplin and Marianne Pelletier’s sessions, both of which focused on the potential benefits of AI in prospect research, my takeaways included using AI to automate alerts and to summarize family relationships from obituaries, marriage announcements and company bios.

I very much enjoyed the built-in networking activities. Not only was I able to meet new people in our shared field, I was able to learn about the work of other non-profit organizations in the region, including one dedicated to conservation in the area where I grew up. Over breakfast and lunch, I learned who was an EMT, who was a Weird Al fan (surprisingly - or not! - there were more than a few of us), and who was baking with apples for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Since I mainly see my Apra colleagues over Zoom, it was really quite wonderful to be together in-person and to be surrounded by people who are working hard to make the world a better place.

And speaking of making the world a better place, it was announced that a portion of the conference fees would be donated to non-profit organizations in the Carolinas working to mitigate the destruction in our region of Hurricane Helene. As we face a long recovery from this devastating storm, the board and membership of Apra Carolinas stepped forward with thoughtfulness and constructiveness to be a part of the solution.

Thank you to Apra Carolinas for a fabulous Fall Conference - already ready for the next one!

2024 Professional Development Scholarship: Apra PD Experience

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 16:10:30 GMT

2024 Professional Development Scholarship: Apra PD Experience

Written By: Rob Lyles

Rob Lyles, Prospect Research Analyst at Clemson University, was awarded the 2024 Professional Development Scholarship from Apra Carolinas. He chose to use the award to attend Apra PD in Seattle, Washington. Below is a recap from Rob regarding his experience.

This was my third year attending Apra PD, and it was absolutely the best, for me, so far. In 2022, I attended Apra PD in Atlanta just a few weeks after starting my current position—a fresh hire not just at Clemson, but in the field of higher ed and philanthropy as a whole. I was a middle school English teacher for ten years previously, so while getting to travel to Apra PD was very new and pretty exciting, I was drinking from the proverbial firehose for much of that first conference. I felt a bit better last summer in Indianapolis, but when I got to Seattle this year: wow! I actually knew what presenters were talking about, I knew what questions I wanted to ask, and I met tons of researchers from across the country and the planet—and all in one of the coolest cities I’ve been able to visit.

Our team chose to divide and conquer when it came to conference sessions; I went with mostly soft skills/psychology-centric options, including Inclusive Philanthropy, Giving Behavior, and Introverted Leadership—where I found out I’m not actually an introvert at all, but an ambivert (and where I immediately found out what an ambivert is!). Probably my favorite session was the pre-conference discussion on AI tools, specifically BoodleBox: we’ve all been hearing a lot about AI for what seems like a long time now (and it was certainly a theme at Apra PD overall), but here I got to see maybe the coolest actual development-focused use case for it I’ve encountered, which was great to be able to take back to Clemson with me.

If I’m being honest, what was different about this conference wasn’t the conference, it was the people. I met researchers and development professionals from universities, hospitals, museums, the Make A Wish Foundation—hearing their perspectives and experiences is always my favorite part of Apra PD, but this time I felt like I had enough experience of my own to really appreciate what’s happening elsewhere in the world of prospect research. So maybe what was different this year was me! And also the food—wow, the food was good. I didn’t think I even liked calamari but hey, realistically I ate two pounds of it.

Since it was my first-ever conference, I may be a bit biased, but Apra PD was my immediate pick for this year because it is hands-down my favorite. That week has consistently been such a rich source of networking, true professional development, and—honestly—inspiration: I was constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to be working in this field, with these people, helping to enact real positive change in the world. I got some great quality time in with my team members there and our leadership (over amazing meals, obviously), and I came back feeling ready to get it all done.

I would wholeheartedly recommend that you go to Apra PD in Baltimore next August, absolutely—and I am thoroughly grateful to Apra Carolinas for the opportunity to be there in Seattle this year. :) Thanks!

"We Are Experts at Becoming Experts": My Experience at Apra PD

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 13:53:54 GMT

“We are experts at becoming experts”:
My Experience at Apra PD

Written By: Jenny Alstad
Senior Director, Prospect Development & Strategy
College of Charleston

My goal in applying for the Apra Carolinas Professional Development Scholarship was to attend the Apra PD Conference in Seattle, WA. So, when I received the news that I was awarded the 2024 scholarship, it was an easy decision on how to use the funds. From making new friends at the airport (shoutout to my Richmond buddies!) to participating in thought-provoking and cathartic sessions, my experience at Apra PD was exceptional.

As I review my pages of scribbled notes from the conference, one quote keeps resonating with me and it comes from our own backyard. On the second day, our Apra Carolinas Chapter President, Rachael Walker, shared during a panel discussion, “We are experts at becoming experts.” That statement struck a chord with me.

While I’ve worked in development for over 15 years, I am relatively new to the world of Prospect Development. Self-doubt can be a tricky hurdle to overcome. Questions like, “Is my program where it should be?” “Are we working with the right vendors?” and “Am I in over my head?” creep into my mind. What Rachael and others at Apra PD helped me realize is that no one can be an expert in everything, but we as Prospect Development professionals have the unique tools in our mental toolkit to figure it out!

I left the conference excited about what to implement first. After attending a session hosted by Jack Pitfield from the University of Chicago on basic coding skills, I spent some time over the weekend setting up an Excel Macro to simplify a pipeline report I pull twice per week. I estimate that this Macro saves me about 10 minutes each time I generate the report. Over the course of a year, that’s at least 17 hours of mind-numbing data work saved!

Next on my list is formalizing our definition of a “meaningful contact” and creating templates for officers’ contact reports (shoutout to Prisca Zaccaria and Katalina Williams up the road at USC). After that, I plan to tackle a more robust training program modeled after Lauren Woodring’s approach at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I’m incredibly grateful to Apra Carolinas for granting me the opportunity to attend this conference. Thank you!

Apra Carolinas 2024 Membership Survey Results & Key Takeaways

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 13:02:48 GMT

Apra Carolinas 2024 Membership Survey Results & Key Takeaways
Written By: Jennifer Kehoe, Membership Chair

A warm and big THANK YOU to all the participants in this year’s membership survey! Your input is invaluable to our organization, providing crucial insights that help shape our future initiatives and programming. Your responses offer a window into the diverse needs and interests of our membership, allowing us to tailor our offerings and ensure we're delivering the most relevant and beneficial resources to support your professional growth.

Your feedback on potential topics for educational opportunities, conference attendance, and areas of interest helps us create more targeted and impactful events. We're especially grateful for those who expressed interest in volunteering, as your willingness to contribute your expertise strengthens our community. Your candid thoughts and suggestions are the driving force behind our continuous improvement, enabling us to better serve you and advance the field of prospect development.

Nearly half of you would like to see more in-person networking. A little over 33% of you had a positive response when asked if you would be attending our Fall Conference, with almost 50% unsure. Be sure to SAVE THE DATE FOR THE FALL CONFERENCE: October 24^th and 25^th at Clemson University in Clemson, SC. Please join us!

Our participants have quite a range of experience, which is fantastic for our membership:

Unsurprisingly, job titles are as varied as we would expect, including:

Assistant Vice-President, Advancement Operations & Annual Campaigns
Data Analyst
Deputy Director of Philanthropy
Director of Advancement Services
Director of Prospect Development
Director of Prospect Management
Director of Prospect Research
Executive Director, Prospect Development
Gift Processing and Prospect Manager
Philanthropy Manager
Prospect Research Analyst
Senior Director, Prospect Research
Senior Research Analyst

It may surprise you to learn that the majority of the respondents now work remotely. Amazing to see how the workplace has changed since 2020!

You’ll be as happy to hear, as we were, that our participants come from many different sectors:

Higher Education: 58.3%
Healthcare: 11.1%
Social and Human Services: 8.3%
Environmental/Wildlife/Zoos: 8.3%
Vendor: 5.6%

We made sure to ask you what your top training needs are so that we can plan future events that will be of interest to you. Here are some of the topic areas you highlighted:

Prospect Identification
Pipeline Development
Data Analytics/Data Mining
Predictive Modeling Scores
Portfolio Management
Reporting/Dashboards

You told us what you felt were the best qualities of Apra Carolinas – welcoming, engaging, innovative, supportive and more:

We were very delighted to see that some of you want to volunteer with Apra Carolinas to serve on our Committees or to speak at an event or a webinar. Please know that we will be reaching out to you soon if you're interested!

Finally, you told us what services you would like to see us offer and the following stood out:

Mentoring
More in-person networking opportunities
More virtual education opportunities/webinars
Library resource for articles/trends

The Apra Carolinas board would like to thank each and every one of you for participating in this year’s survey. We are a better organization because of your feedback. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time!

Finally, a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to our two $50 Amazon Gift Card winners Tohry Petty and Rachel Wilfahrt!

We look forward to seeing you at our virtual events and at our in-person events over the next couple of months: Apra PD Mid-Atlantic Happy Hour on August 21st in Seattle and, our Fall Conference on October 24^th and 25^th.

Accelerating Prospect Development: Crafting a Custom AI Chatbot

Fri, 31 May 2024 14:01:06 GMT

Accelerating Prospect Development: Crafting a Custom AI Chatbot
Written by: Chris Copsey

Are you tired of hearing about AI this and Machine Learning that, and want to get your hands dirty with a possible solution that can help your fundraising shop AND move your office to the cutting edge of the AI bandwagon? Then look no further than the world of Large Language Models, or LLMs.

Surely, most of us have either used ChatGPT or heard enough about it from your one friend who goes on and on about Crypto currency to be skeptical. In short, Large Language Models take large swaths of data and can act at your own personal help desk for any questions you might have. It has a range of uses in the world, but especially for Prospect Research and fundraising.

Are Development Officers complaining about a lengthy research document? Have an LLM summarize it in a few paragraphs! Having trouble writing an annual letter appeal? Have an LLM write a letter in the “voice” of your Dean! Does the thought of receiving the same Prospect Management question over and over again make you break out into hives? Create an LLM Chatbot that can help answer these questions instead.

This last example will be the focus of this article. I will be giving you some instructions on how to make your own AI Chatbot that can help ease the burden of email fatigue and be a great line on a resume, which you will be needing since, you know, AI is going to be taking all of our jobs, right? (Just kidding).

Background

The first thing to know is that this year, Microsoft launched their Copilot software, which is essentially a chatbot integration that currently lives in Microsoft browsers. You might be familiar with this logo:

Earlier this year, they launched the ability for users to build their own “Copilots”, as they call them, which are just bespoke AI Chatbots.

To get started, cruise on over to www.copilotstudio.microsoft.com.

**Note: This is NOT an endorsement or paid plug for Microsoft. It is merely the software that I chose to use. Be vigilant about any software that you use. If you have an IT department, contact them about any software that is secure for your information.

Instructions

Once on the site, you are given the option to either buy a license or have a free trial. I recommend starting the 60-day trial, which can still offer you some usage in that time. If your work or institution has a subscription to Microsoft 365, you might be able to just log in with your username and password. My institution, UNC Chapel Hill, has a contract with Microsoft for an enterprise version of Copilot, which allows internal usage of data that is not recorded on the back end by Copilot (as opposed to ChatGPT which does save your data). Again, check with your institution to see if you have a similar setup.

Once inside the Copilot site, click “New copilot”. Next, a box will appear asking to name your Copilot and to enter a website that will serve as a reference for the Copilot. Since I am working with a Microsoft 365 subscription, I was actually able to paste a link to my Development Office’s Devnet, where many of our Prospect Management policies are kept. Once you have linked up to a site, hit create at the bottom, and you’re ready to start Copiloting!

Once you have created your Copilot, you will be able to begin feeding it documents to give it a “brain”. On the left-hand side, there is a list of options, including a “Settings” dropdown. Click that, and then navigate down to “Generative AI”. Here, under the “Upload a document” area, you will be able to upload PDF documents that the Copilot will be able to reference.

In my instance, since I wanted to create a Prospect Management chatbot, I uploaded 20 documents relating to Prospect Management.

Once you have uploaded the documents, and are ready to start testing your Copilot, utilize the internal chatbot box that is to the left of where you uploaded the documents. Ask it questions! This is the great part of Generative AI and Chatbots- quizzing it and seeing if the answers line up with your internal policies.

If you are happy with the responses that your new chatbot buddy has given you, it is time to publish. Again, navigate to the left side and select “Publish”. There will be a button in the middle of the screen to press and then publish.

Finally, as the icing on the chatbot cake, you want people to be able to access and use your chatbot, right? Under the Publish button you will notice an area saying “Optimize your copilot”:

Click the “Configure channels” button to take you to a list of places you can push your chatbot into:

Now, since this is a trial account, you will not be able to publish to all of them. But the first option, as a Copilot, will give your chatbot its own tiny website and link that you will be able to share with others. Myself, I used the second option, which was to push it out to Microsoft Teams, which allows myself and others to chat with it like we would any other person on Teams.

After the initial build, you can easily add more documents to the chatbot that you have created. There is a maximum number to add, but I have added some PDFs that are over 50 pages long. Almost all of these documents were either how-to’s, FAQs, or policy documents that were spread out over an entire website. Collecting them all and loading them into the chatbot has allowed me to synthesize them all and access their collective information all at once, rather than going through dozens of individual documents.

Internal reaction, after the initial “Wow, what is this?” has been stellar. There were a few attempts to “break” the bot by asking it confusing questions, but it held up very well! Most of the rollout and testing among staff has been around calibration and making sure that the answers are actually correct and not hallucinations! Formal launch of the product writ-large is expected at the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Again, this is just one of the interesting things that AI can be used to do as it related to Prospect Development. Once you create your chatbot, poke around the Copilot site and try to improve it! Happy Building!

Chris Copsey is the UNC Health Foundation’s Assistant Vice President of Prospect Development. Since 2019, Chris has provided the Health Foundation with data and analytical support, mainly supporting grateful patient identification, cultivation, and solicitation activities. He assists with the strategic coordination of critical data and information sharing between the donor and alumni database, EPIC, and other resources as necessary, and serves as a liaison between the Health Foundation and University of North Carolina Development office as it relates to data management and information sharing. He is also very active in Apra, serving currently as a board member of Apra Carolinas and previously helping to organize their one-day conference for philanthropic data professionals called Data Science Now.

Chris graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in 2008 with a dual degree in Political Science and History. He enjoys reading books on American History, playing golf (poorly), and plotting out the best ways to grow vegetables in his yard- a work in progress! Chris lives in Snow Camp, North Carolina, with his wife Trinh, and son, Theodore.

Meet the 2024 Apra Carolinas Board!

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:30:00 GMT

Meet the Board

We always like to start off the year with a little Apra Carolinas Board Q&A. This year is a mixture of new and returning faces who are all dedicated to providing professional development and networking opportunities to our members in the Carolinas (and beyond)!

Engaging our community, providing resources, being a source of inspiration and finding meaningful purpose are a few shared sentiments among our board members about their interest in leading the chapter and continuing their prospect development careers - which of these resonates with you?

Rachael Walker

Prospect Analyst, Cornell University

President

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

It’s unfair to make me choose just one. I would say probably Trader Joe’s seasonal key lime kettle corn. I stock up every summer and try to make it last, but I never can.

Emily Glesias

Foundation Operations Manager, Novant Health Foundation

President-Elect & Communications Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

This year will be 8 in fundraising operations, almost 6 with a focus on prospect development.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

The community and brain power behind this stellar group of professionals is really what inspired me to joining the board! The opportunity to network with peers, have a sounding board for ideas or project issues I am encountering at work, and exposure to others in the industry that I’d otherwise not have an opportunity to communicate with are a few of the great aspects of Apra C board membership. Joining gave me a chance to personally make sure others in the Carolinas had regular access to educational opportunities, networking and a support system of likeminded individuals, especially as they’re starting out their prospect development journey. I needed the connections when I was first starting out and Apra has been a huge resource for me so giving back only makes sense!

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I love the “but why or how?” that comes with so many of our projects/finds – and that we’re encouraged to FIND the why and figure out HOW the prospect connects to our nonprofit! It’s a very rewarding treasure hunt through data, identifying nuggets of otherwise hidden information and crafting a story using them. My colleagues and I will often joke that we’re “super sleuths” for data that isn’t easily traceable which may be true and is part of the allure of prospect development but, it’s also the magic of how we’re usually the first ones to share said information and see how it’s ultimately translated into a meaningful, deeper relationship with a donor who makes an impact on your organization or community.

What's your favorite snack?

Can I say coffee? Specifically iced lattes of the vanilla or cinnamon varieties. My Nespresso machine gets lots of love throughout the day!

Megan Wynn

Research Database Coordinator, Cone Health Foundation

Treasurer

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in prospect development for 4 of the 11 years that I have been in fundraising.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

Since joining the Research team at Elon in 2019, I have been continually amazed by, and grateful for, all that Apra Carolinas has offered me. The professionals I have met are not only incredibly knowledgeable and skilled, they are also genuinely warm, engaging, and encouraging. My boss is a former President of Apra Carolinas, and I saw the fulfillment she got out of giving back to an organization that provides so much to those of us who work in this niche field. When I received the invitation to join, it was a no brainer for me. My hope is to inspire others to plug in as much as I did so that you can meet an incredible group of individuals and acquire invaluable insight into the field!

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Hands down, I could eat apples and peanut butter any day of the week!

Vicki O'Brien

Director of Prospect Research, International Fund for Animal Welfare

Secretary

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

To feel a greater sense of belonging and connection to our community of prospect development professionals. Our community is so generous with sharing its knowledge and experience. I have benefitted from this generosity in the most meaningful ways throughout my career, and it's time I returned that kindness through service on the Apra Carolinas Board.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

Having debates and discussions about donor strategy with frontline fundraisers always sparks joy for me particularly when it comes time to invite a donor to support your organization's mission at a significant level. I wanted to be more involved with the prospect development community and get to know more people in the field. I also owe a lot of my success in my first prospect development role to what I learned through Apra Carolinas. I hope to help others do the same in my role on the board. I wanted to be more involved with the prospect development community and get to know more people in the field. I also owe a lot of my success in my first prospect development role to what I learned through Apra Carolinas. I hope to help others do the same in my role on the board.

What's your favorite snack?

My favorite snack is pizza. Pizza counts as a snack, right?

Prisca Zaccaria

Executive Director of Prospect Development, University of South Carolina

Education Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I'm thrilled to have been recruited by the current board to join Apra Carolinas! What drew me in was the vibrant community, strong programming, and the evident passion among members to share their knowledge and embrace new industry processes. Given my recent role as the Executive Director of Prospect Development at the University of South Carolina, joining the board felt like a perfect fit. I've been truly impressed with Apra Carolinas' leadership! Looking forward to contributing and learning together!

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What I love about prospect development is the thrill of turning data into stories that drive meaningful change. But in my role, what I find most exciting is being part of the journey to grow future leaders in fundraising. It's not just about today and not just about my career; it's about sowing the seeds for a passionate and impactful tomorrow. To feel a greater sense of belonging and connection to our community of prospect development professionals. Our community is so generous with sharing its knowledge and experience. I have benefitted from this generosity in the most meaningful ways throughout my career, and it's time I returned that kindness through service on the Apra Carolinas Board.

What's your favorite snack?

Cheese and wine

Jennifer Kehoe

Senior Director of Prospect Development, Clemson University

Membership Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

21 years. First 4 years of my career were as a CFR Development Officer before moving into the Prospect Development side of things, and I’ve never regretted it for a minute!

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

The desire to be more involved with my fellow Analysts (in all of our different organizations) and to feel like I’m giving back. I’ve been in this area for 4 years now and I don’t know nearly enough people, this is perfect opportunity!

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Wow, I feel like this changes, but right now…Dot’s Pretzels (Original flavor).

Jenny Bunn

Prospect Research Manager, UNC Asheville

NC Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in Prospect Development for one year, but have worked in non-profit fundraising in various capacities for decades.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

It's hard to pin down what I like the most! I love the research. I appreciate the camaraderie with gift officers - it feels great when information I have shared helps them to make a meaningful connection.

What's your favorite snack?

Salty chips with really fresh guacamole

Chris Copsey

Interim Vice President of Prospect Development, UNC Health Foundation

NC Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

A desire to be locally involved with our industry's professional group.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The detective work of finding new potential donors!

What's your favorite snack?

Popcorn!

Rachael Daniels

Prospect Research Analyst, Clemson University

SC Regional Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

A little over 10 years.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

The best thing about working in prospect development is being able to help team members be successful. Finding that major donor hidden in the database or even just a tiny piece of information about a prospect that can move the relationship one step closer, whatever it is that can help a fundraiser get past a road block or get one step closer to meeting their goals.

What's your favorite snack?

I'm not a big snack person, but I never turn down cheese.

Road Trip Grant (from the other side of the desk)

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 18:40:29 GMT

I had the pleasure of hosting Nicole Tekulve from Kettering University, the recipient of Apra Carolinas’ 2023 Road Trip Grant, at Elon in early September. As a Past President of the Chapter, I had volunteered to serve as a resource and when Nicole expressed an interest in meeting with a colleague at another small private college, Elon fit the bill.

Nicole is giving background on the day from her perspective, but I thought I’d share a few takeaways from my experience as the “mentor.”

From left to right: Nicole Tekulve, Merissa Lawson and Megan Wynn at Elon University

It was relatively simple to plan. Nicole had some back and forth over email with Megan Wynn, a member of my team and an Apra Carolinas board member, to coordinate a date that would work best for everyone. We asked Nicole to send over a few questions/topics in advance so I could get a sense of how to best spend our time together. The only other things I needed to do were to schedule a conference room, pick a lunch spot, and pull together some resources.
It was fun to share our campus/culture. In addition to spending time going over Nicole’s questions, Megan and I took her to College Coffee (an Elon tradition where faculty, staff, and students gather for a weekly break) and walked her through a short campus tour. I’m sure Nicole could feel the pride we have in our campus, and it was great to see things through a visitor’s eyes. We also got to compare our different organizational structures and our unique way of doing things. Research is never one-size fits all, but it helps to hear what works and what doesn’t at another shop and leave with fresh ideas.
We got to commiserate. Everyone who has been to a networking or educational event knows the value of getting to connect on the similarities of our work. Some things seem to be universal: fundraisers who don’t put in call reports? YUP. Administration asking for everything at the last minute? YES! Bosses that don’t feel our pain when asking us to “just do a quick profile?” ARGH. There’s a small amount of comfort in knowing that some of our research pain points are shared.
I saw the value in my experience. Believe it or not, I have imposter syndrome. Even after spending almost 20 years in the field, I know that I certainly don’t know it all (and sometimes feel like I know nothing!). But it was a pleasure to talk through my experience and help someone else learn from my successes and mistakes. We spent a good deal of our time together going over comprehensive campaigns and it was so gratifying to help set Nicole up for success. (As an added bonus, this day of conversation didn’t just benefit Nicole, but also Megan, who was able to learn more of the details of campaign planning along with our guest.
It was a good reminder of WHY we do the work. Beyond hashing out some questions, I think our discussion reinforced the importance of our role in the greater fundraising process. Time and again we talked about our curiosity, problem solving abilities, the value in seeing data patterns, and our unique view of context and strategy. When things can feel rough, or a problem looks insurmountable, it helps to remember that we have a unique skill set and bring VALUE to our organization.

All to say, we had a wonderful day! I’d highly recommend volunteering if you’re considering a way to give back to the Chapter. It’s such a gift to share your time and talent with colleagues – remember, we’re all in this together! Or apply for a Road Trip Grant: it’s a fantastic opportunity to connect with peers, hash out problems, and gain new perspectives.

-Merissa Lawson (Immediate Past President, Apra Carolinas)

Prospect Research: Our Rookie Year by Michele Cheek and Jenny Bunn

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 20:42:43 GMT

Prospect Research: Our Rookie Year

A chance encounter at the UNC System Symposium brought new prospect researchers Michele and Jenny together. “We ended up sitting next to each other during a session - specifically, the segmentation session hosted by Chris Copsey and Lakshmi Gopakumar,” said Jenny, “and Michele offered me a piece of gum. When we started talking, we realized we were both in Year One of our positions, and we were amazed at the similarities between our paths to our new careers.”

Michele Cheek

Current position: Prospect Development Analyst, UNC Greensboro

Former Career: 30 years in social work, case management, nonprofits

Jenny Bunn

Current position: Prospect Research Manager, UNC Asheville

Former career: 20+ years in community and educational theatre

How did you even come across this job?

Michele: Years ago, I completed a year of service as an Americorps VISTA. A benefit was several thousand dollars in an education award that could be applied to student loans or to further my education. The catch? Use the award before the age of 55. Years passed and not wanting to waste an opportunity, I applied and started UNCG’s graduate certificate program, Nonprofit Leadership and Management, in 2021. One evening class of Spring 2022, we had a guest speaker, the phenomenal Ms. Rachael Walker, and she piqued my curiosity as she outlined her career and her work in prospect research and development. I started asking questions, not only of her, but to myself. Could I do this? Do I want to do this? The resounding yes was echoed by my professor and advisor encouraging me to apply for an opening with the UNCG prospect research department. It came down to this: Transferable skills and the willingness to learn something new. To try a new and different career that provided what I needed professionally, financially, and personally.

Jenny: I had basically burned out of my last job. I had worked for almost 20 years at our community theatre, and while I loved the mission of that organization, a schedule that included so many nights and weekends had become too hard. So, after taking a few months to indulge in baking classes at our fabulous community college, I started looking for a new job. My husband suggested checking out positions at UNC Asheville, and I really had been thinking more about marketing and communications, but I was intrigued by a job titled “Prospect Researcher.” I honestly did not even know a job like this existed before that moment! Once I read the job description, I realized that I had done a lot of the same type of work at the theatre - in addition to marketing, I had been responsible for database management, pulling lists, and creating custom fields to track engagement during our capital campaign.

What appeals to you about this career?

Michele: I was given the privilege of joining the UNCG prospect research team in July 2022. I will be honest, the past 14 months have been an adjustment from what was my previous 30 years. It has also been 14 months of “I like my job and want to go to work each day”. Internally, my supervisor and colleagues have been incredibly helpful, supportive, and insightful; externally Apra Carolinas and Apra International have also been part of my learning process and growth.

Jenny: I truly love the research. I love learning about the millions of different things people do that make them unique. This is as close as I’m going to get to being Nancy Drew! I like finding interesting campus events and sending them on to our terrific gift officers so that they can think about the donors who might want to attend them. And I may be alone in this - but I like creating event briefs!

I also really like the lack of chaos in my office. I feel like I have time to think and plan, and that the sense of urgency that I often felt at my prior job has been dialed down. We’re actively encouraged to get in a walk during the day. It’s also amazing to work at an organization with a large staff across the campus. That it’s not just nine people trying to manage everything from event parking to donor acknowledgments to programming to press relations 24/7.

I have also found the prospect research community to be so supportive and helpful. The APRA daily listserv is so interesting and informative. I wasn’t able to attend the APRA International conference this year, but am looking forward to the APRA Carolinas one next month. I have loved the webinars and online roundtables that have been offered - both by APRA Carolinas and by other APRA chapters. There was a GREAT one hosted by APRA Michigan this month!

How do you describe your job to others outside of the industry?

Jenny: This is not easy! I have a couple of sentences - “I analyze data that supports the work of our gift officers.” or “I look for ways that connect people’s philanthropic goals and values with the University.” That sounds more noble than admitting that I have read through a backlog of Facebook comments to confirm a divorce.

Michele: I share with others, whether they are in their early stages of a professional career, or seeking out a new path, to consider prospect research. It involves more than what it sounds like. I summarize my role as Prospect Research and Development as the opportunity to identify and research donors that will financially contribute to UNCG. To support our gift officers and fundraisers by analyzing data and providing information beneficial to their efforts. To assist our Advancement Operations department in the maintenance and integrity of our data.

A big thank you to Michele and Jenny for sharing their stories. If you have a topic or a blog post idea, email us at apracarolinas@gmail.com.

Q&A with Cindy Boccabello, Apra Carolinas Professional Development Grant Recipient

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 15:40:30 GMT

Cindy Boccabello, Assistant Director of Prospect Management from Furman University, was awarded the 2023 Professional Development Grant from Apra Carolinas. She chose to use the award to attend Apra PD virtually! Below is a Q&A between Cindy and Rachael Walker regarding her experience.

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing prospect development?

I have been in my current position as Assistant Director of Prospect Management for Furman University for four years. Although that’s a short time, I’ve worked with all of our fundraisers for 18 years taking on many prospect management tasks in other positions. I’m eternally grateful for my supervisor who promotes my strengths and allows me to use my abilities to do what I love to do.

Have you attended an Apra PD conference prior to this year?

This is the second conference I’ve attended, both virtually.

Why did you choose this conference?

I first joined APRA after I was officially moved to the world of prospect development. COVID took its toll so last year was my first time experiencing the conference. Those sessions proved to be educational, and I was equipped with so many new ideas and processes to put to use at Furman. Why not take advantage of others’ knowledge and experiences?

Did you have a favorite session?

The session ‘Create and Maintain a Prospect Referral Tracking System’ had my head spinning with ideas. We track our referrals, but I’m imagining new processes to follow referrals through assignment and qualification (or disqualification as needed).

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

Kindness, patience, and a willingness to help from all of the speakers and attendees. All were eager to share their processes and procedures while answering the very basic of questions.

Did anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

Virtual conferences are unique. I really missed the fellowship and engagement with other people. Regardless, I was able to make new, valuable connections.

Would you recommend that the next recipient of the scholarship use their funding on this conference?

Yes!

Is there anything that you’d like to implement at your organization as a direct result of attending this conference?

Referral Tracking! Although we currently code referrals, we could do a better job at following up on those referrals.

Apra Carolinas encourages everyone to apply for our scholarships, regardless of financial need. Our scholarships typically open early in the calendar year. For more information, please visit the Scholarships & Grants page on our website or contact us directly with your questions.

Apra Carolinas Membership Survey Results 2023

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 17:36:28 GMT

THANK YOU to all of our members who participated in this year’s membership survey. We appreciate and value your responses so much. Your insight and suggestions help us to shape and grow the chapter, plan future programming, and provide the most beneficial experience to you.

It was overwhelmingly clear that our chapter values community, networking and access to resources. These were the themes when asked: "What excites you most about membership?" Responses included "Networking and learning from others in this group”, “Connecting with colleagues and idea sharing”, and “access to free, valuable resources and programming”.

We couldn’t help but smile when reviewing your answers to, What benefits are you most looking forward to taking advantage of?

There was a positive response when asked about possible attendance at our Fall Conference. We are so excited to offer our first in-person conference since the pandemic at Novant Health in Charlotte, NC. Be sure to SAVE THE DATE - October 5th and 6th, 2023 and please join us!

As we look ahead to future education opportunities, we rely upon ideas for topics that would be of interest to you. We will be sure to keep in mind the topics that stood out in your responses this year:

Prospect Identification
Pipeline Development
Stocks/Securities
Completing thorough research efficiently
The future of fundraising & prospect development

You all shared your titles and proudest accomplishments– WOW – we are doing great things! We are in the company of Directors, Analysts, Consultants, Researchers, Program Managers, Associate Vice Presidents and Operations Specialists. You all have created and improved prospect management programs, established processes and procedures, completed due diligence work, completed database screenings, gone through database conversions, grown teams, learned new roles and more!

The survey confirmed the wide range of experience and involvement across our membership. We are grateful for new and long-standing members, and all those in between, of Apra Carolinas and the prospect development world.

A fun surprise when asked "What is something you wish we could offer to our members?" was your request for merch! T-shirts, hats, notebooks, coffee mugs, stickers – OH MY!

You all are also so invested in this community that many of you offered to volunteer in some capacity – panelist, blog post, presenter, road trip grant. Thank you to each of you that expressed interest! We are looking forward to your involvement and will be in touch with you directly.

Another thank you for your kind words and encouragement when responding to "Is there anything else you would like to share with the board?" We will continue our efforts to make our chapter the best it can be!

Again, The Apra Carolinas board is grateful for your participation in this year’s survey and for your involvement year-round. We can’t wait to connect with you at an upcoming event! Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at any time.

One final congratulations to LaDonna Lindgren from The Nature Conservancy for winning the $50 Amazon gift card drawing!

Member Spotlight: Angie Herrington

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 18:18:57 GMT

Apra Carolinas has so many talented members, we would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge them through this Member Spotlight series. If you, or someone you know, would be a good fit, please connect with us!

Angie Herrington is a Senior Consultant for Helen Brown Group (HBG). She began her career in development in 1999 at Virginia Tech in Corporate and Foundation Relations and later in prospect research at the University of Connecticut Foundation. Her past experience also includes grants management at the University of South Carolina, program evaluation for South Carolina Research Authority, and human resources analysis for Nissan North America. She returned to development in 2007 and worked in various prospect research positions at Vanderbilt University, including as Associate Director. She was named Director for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s research office in 2015 before joining HBG in 2016. Below is a Q&A between Angie and Megan Gregg as part of the Member Spotlight series.

Photo of Angie Herrington

How long have you been an Apra Carolinas member, and what has been your most meaningful experience with the chapter?

I’ve been a member since 2016 and was Communications Chair for a year. Apra Carolinas puts in the effort to provide regular programming and services I’ve rarely experienced with other professional organizations. The collaboration with other Apra chapters has also been great and opened even more opportunities for education and networking that I was already benefitting from with our own chapter.

What do you like most about Prospect Research?

Every day I learn something new. Each individual or organization is unique. One day I’m prospecting individuals in Spain, searching for the average compensation of a clown performer, reading how the Tulsa Race Massacre influenced future generations of a family’s wealth and career paths, then another day someone is “allegedly” and “accidentally” involved in a gold heist gone wrong involving a Nigerian war lord. Everyone has a story to tell – big or small – that makes them unique.

Describe your professional journey and what the trajectory of your career has looked like. What drew you to make the transition to your current role with The Helen Brown Group?

Everyone I know says they fell into it and I’m the same. I majored in history because I loved researching and learning about people. When my husband was in graduate school at Virginia Tech, I simply needed a job. I was hired as a development associate in corporate and foundations relations and had no idea “development” is fundraising. The prospect research office had two people in 1999 and didn’t have the capacity to support us. Tamara Overcash, who later became director of research at Duke University until she passed in 2011, gave me a few pointers and the link for Prspct-L and I was hooked. My first job as a researcher was at the University of Connecticut but we moved around and there weren’t many research openings during those times. I returned to prospect research in 2006 at Vanderbilt University. We moved to Raleigh in 2015 and I was taking a break when a former co-worker put me in touch with HBG. I began here in a temporary role and six months later we made it official!

What are some of the challenges that come with working in more of a consulting role versus a standard Prospect Research shop? Alternatively, what aspects of the role are stimulating?

I can’t immediately think of any major challenges working in my consulting role and the services HBG provides. When someone hires us, it means they already understand and value how prospect research helps them. In a standard research shop some fundraisers don’t always understand or are willing to learn how we can help them be successful and make their jobs easier. I never feel like it’s an uphill battle to advocate our worth.

There are two aspects of working with HBG I find the most stimulating. The most important is my coworkers. We all come from a variety of backgrounds and our knowledge and specialties makes for an amazing “brain trust” of collaboration. The other is our clients. For 25 years I've primarily been in higher education but have now worked with museums, public policy think tanks, and people on the front lines of social justice reform. All are making a difference and it's rewarding to have even a small part of that impact through our wide range of clients.

What are the most valuable skills for prospect researchers to develop?

You can teach people databases and websites to find information, but you can’t teach them the curiosity and critical thinking to pull it all together. Don’t rely on a check list of resources and think you’re done. Recently I noticed a pattern of someone with several direct connections to a sanctioned oligarch. I would have missed it if I didn’t think it was odd the person is chair for a company that didn’t fit their career history. Curious about the company, I immediately found several name changes and lawsuits. The sanctioned individual’s roles and investments to this and several other companies connected to the person I was researching became a potential red flag. Similarly, you have to know when to stop and that’s a difficult skill to develop over time.

Thinking back on your career history, share about a time that you hit a “roadblock” while conducting a research project. What was it, and how did you move through it?

News alerts. I’ve had a few clients find them important, but not everyone understands it can be time consuming and more of a manual process than pushing a button. Manage their expectations as well as yours. Sources have to be vetted for validity, create search strings to get the best results, review content for bias and accuracy, and an article from 5 years ago might be dated today. I wrote a blog post a few years ago and still believe you have to use more than one product to cover your bases. For example, out of three products only one caught an article where a high-profile individual received an OBE from the late Queen Elizabeth that week. I currently use Lexis Nexis (subscription), Talkwalker (free), and Google (free).

Tell us something fun about yourself that others might not know!

This isn’t necessarily “fun,” but thinking about my career history I realized I’ve lived in seven states and moved homes 19 times. My home in Raleigh is the longest I’ve lived – almost eight years now. No plans to contact U-Haul anytime soon!

How to Love Your Fundraisers - And Have Them Love You Back

Jennifer — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 21:15:23 GMT

February is a month focused on love, which makes it the perfect month to blog about how to love your fundraisers – and have them love you back.

We’ve all been there: a fundraiser asks for a profile on a prospect, and we create a beautiful work of art. This profile has it all. Picture, career history, family overview showing generational wealth, connection to your organization, other philanthropic interests, favorite family vacation spots, stock value that was up-to-the second of profile submission, wealth details that could secure a loan (not that they need one), and so much more. In return, we get “Thanks!” … if we’re lucky.

This type of dynamic can lead to frustration and resentment toward our colleagues on the frontlines. So, how can you turn it around?

At their core, fundraisers are people people. They like talking to people so much, they found a career where they get paid to meet new people and ask them for money. If you are in prospect development, you likely just shuddered at that – and if you didn’t, you have a leg-up on many in the profession. At our core, we tend to be more inclined toward data and details. We get frustrated when we don’t see contact reports (they get frustrated when they have to put one in). We want the fundraiser to be blown away with everything we could uncover about a prospect (they wish we could cut-to-the-chase and highlight the answer to the question on their mind).

So, we’re different. As with all things, it’s on a spectrum. Some fundraisers are more data inclined and some in prospect development are more people focused. The problem in many shops is that the two teams are reliant on each other, but don’t always interact. To start loving each other, we need to know each other.

Side story: I do not like spiders. I also have a kid who (briefly) puts bugs in a jar and gives them a name, backstory, and aspirations. This is no longer a spider from my wall, this is Alexandra Rainbow Princess who came inside looking for her sister. They are traveling the world in search of adventure and bananas. Do I want that spider on me? No. Do I want that spider in my house? Also no. Am I angry with that spider? Shockingly … no. I got to “know” the spider. It has a story. It’s not so different from myself. The first step to loving a colleague is to share your stories.

Share your stories

Make it a point to get to know your fundraisers. Let your supervisor know that you want to schedule 30-minute meetings with each of your fundraisers. This is going to look different at each organization – department size, department dynamics, etc. – but this step is essential. To begin to love anything, you need to understand it. If you are on a larger team, supervisors may want you to do this as a group. Push back on this and remind them of the purpose of these meetings. The purpose is to get to know each other. Would a fundraiser meet with a group of prospects to build a relationship? No! If you set up meetings with a group, it becomes a meeting or, even worse, it may feel like an interview. The purpose behind this step is to establish a relationship.

Establish a relationship

To establish a relationship, you need to connect personally and professionally. If you are quiet or less outgoing, this can be very tough to do – especially in a group. Yes, it will take more time if each person in prospect development meets with each fundraiser one-on-one, but the quality of the feedback you receive and the strengthening of your relationship far surpasses anything that would be achieved via a more formalized meeting.

During these meetings, your objective is to get to know each other and learn how the fundraiser prefers to work. Remember – none of this is a personal affront on you or your job. It can be hard to hear that something you’ve taken pride in may be viewed as unnecessary. (I’ve been there.) Try to keep in mind, the purpose of this process is to create a symbiotic relationship. They have the chance to tell you more about what they need, which opens the door for you to ask for something in return.

Why it works

Just like my spider friend, once you know someone’s story, it’s hard to dislike them. By establishing a personal connection, you open the lines of communication. It’s not Fundraiser calling Prospect Development, it’s Jim calling Pam. This also allows the fundraiser to be heard, which establishes connection to any process changes these conversations may ignite. It’s also a chance to educate the fundraiser about the work involved in their requests. By opening the lines of personal and professional connection, you create a relationship. By asking questions around needs, you create buy-in on change. Once you know each other better, you’ll feel more comfortable reaching out to them for clarification in the future – and since they know you, they are more likely to respond.

What you get

A partnership between prospect development and fundraisers. You get open lines of communication that you can use to clarify needs and simplify requests. You get insight into what you’re doing well and where you could improve. You may even be opening the door to streamlined work in the future. By looking at notes from all your conversations, you may find trends that lead to changes. By letting the fundraisers be a part of the process, you already have buy-in from that team. Think about the disruption of change. Imagine you hear a process is changing and now you must do things in a different way. Ugh, right? Another new process to learn? Now, imagine if a colleague sat down with you and asked you what you would like to see change and you provide feedback. Then you see that change come through – how likely are you to be excited about adopting that change? Being a part of the conversation is better than being informed of a new policy.

Suggested Outline

Below you will see a suggested outline for how this process can work. There are key points included in each section, but you should customize the questions and flow to your team and your organization. It is important to always keep your objective in mind with these meetings. What information do you want to take away from the meeting? What is something you would like the fundraiser to better understand about you and your work? Fundraisers are storytellers, so this meeting may last more than 30 minutes. It’s also a good idea to bring a notebook with you so you can make notes during the conversation. The suggested outline for the process is as follows:

Speak with your supervisor to get approval
- Do you need fundraiser supervisor approval?
- How many meetings will this create?
- Review key professional questions to maximize time
Set up 30-minute meetings with each fundraiser
- One-on-one
- Face-to-face (video or in-person - if you meet in person, meeting in their office will help them feel more comfortable)
- Share an agenda when you set up the meeting
- Bring a notebook so you can take notes

Meeting outline

Spend 10 minutes learning about each other personally
- Where did you grow up?
- Family? Kids? Pets?
- Hobbies? Favorite vacation spots?
- Do they keep snacks in their desk? (This can be a very helpful question if you share office space nearby.)
- Remember to share your answers as well!
Transition to work topics for the next 15 minutes
- What do you like most about being a fundraiser? Least?
- What brought you to [organization name here]?
- When you request X, what question are you trying to answer?
- What is the most helpful thing prospect development provides?
- What do you receive from prospect development that you don’t usually need?
- What do you wish you could receive from our team?
- How can we better partner with you?
Transition to soft work topics and wrap up the meeting for the last 5 minutes
- Would you mind if I reached out with any additional questions?
- Do you have anything fun coming up this week?
- Thank them for taking the time to meet and share
- This last part is optional and gimmicky - bring in a 100 Grand bar to give them after the meeting so they can say they used the 30 minutes to “secure 100 Grand”

Other tips

If you are in an office, keep candy on your desk – many fundraisers will go out of their way to stop by if you consistently keep candy on hand.
Once you know more about your fundraisers, try to stay connected by sharing articles, a quick story, or other little quip based on your shared interests.

Have you embarked on a journey to better engage with frontline? Do you have any tips you’d like to add? Please share with us on social media or send us an email! Better yet – let us know if you would like to present!

Meet the 2023 Apra Carolinas Board!

Jennifer — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 18:22:35 GMT

It's the beginning of 2023 we love to kick off a new year with Apra Carolinas by introducing you to your board. This year is a mixture of new and returning faces who are all dedicated to providing professional development and networking opportunities to our members in the Carolinas (and beyond)! We have some exciting things planned for the year ahead; to see the faces behind the plans, please read through to learn a little more about your board.

Jennifer Vincent

Account Executive, Blackbaud

President

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I worked directly in Advancement for over a decade before joining Blackbaud, where I now work adjacent to the field. Overall, I’ve spent over 15 years in the field.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Hmm, favorite any day snack is homemade popcorn with nutritional yeast and garlic salt. Favorite road-trip snack is Doritos [Cool Ranch!] and Muddy Buddies … depending on a sweet or salty mood.

Rachael Walker

Prospect Analyst, Cornell University

President-Elect

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I’m on my 13th year! Where does the time go?

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

It’s unfair to make me choose just one. I would say probably Trader Joe’s seasonal key lime kettle corn. I stock up every summer and try to make it last, but I never can.

Emily Hinz

Assistant Director of Prospect Development, UNC Charlotte

Treasurer

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

Coming up on 6 in May!

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I connected with a few of the other Carolinas board members at big Apra PD in 2019, and really appreciated their expertise and friendly vibe. When they said they had a board opening it was a no brainer!

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I truly love portfolio review- connecting with development officers to celebrate their wins and help them hone in on the best prospects in their area. Being a resource for them is the best.

What's your favorite snack?

Toughy as I am a snack queen... does chips and queso count? Best pre-dinner snack ever.

Megan Gregg

Senior Development Research Analyst, Elon University

Secretary

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have worked in prospect development for 3 of the 10 years that I have been in fundraising.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Hands down, I could eat apples and peanut butter any day of the week!

Emily Glesias

Foundation Operations Manager, Novant Health Foundation

Education Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

This year will be seven in fundraising operations, almost five with a focus on prospect development.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Can I say coffee? Specifically iced lattes of the vanilla or cinnamon varieties. My Nespresso machine gets lots of love throughout the day!

Teresa Pezdek

Director of Prospect Development, Furman University

Membership Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I have been in prospect development for 6.5 years.

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

I was excited for the opportunity to connect with new colleagues and give back to others. I couldn’t wait to play an active role in all that Apra Carolinas offers.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I love the strategy and creativity that goes into our work, along with the internal relationship building. It is also so satisfying to see the positive impact prospect development staff can have on fundraising efforts.

What's your favorite snack?

Chips and salsa! A side of queso never hurts either.

Andi Marrs

Prospect Researcher, UNC Charlotte

Communications Chair

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

I've been in the fundraising/prospect development world for around 7 1/2 years now and I love it!

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

Such a good question! I really wanted to give back to the Apra community that helped shape my early career days, help provide opportunities for growth and learning in the prospect research/development sector and expand my connections in the NC/SC fundraising community.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I think what I like most about working in prospect development is the diversity of the work we do. One day it could be a profile on an individual, the next we're analyzing a portfolio, and then the next we're working across departments to see how we can provide expertise. I also love seeing my gift officer colleagues succeed and build lasting relationships with donors.

What's your favorite snack?

Sweet snack would be sour patch kids and savory snack would be french fries. Always.

Kathy Mills

Senior Donor Identification Analyst, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

NC Regional Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

11 years

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

This is my second time on the board. I was previously treasurer, and after a short hiatus, decided to rejoin because I missed the networking and camaraderie. I originally joined due to encouragement by two coworkers who’d been on the board.

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

I love knowing the work I’m doing is helping others, and I really enjoy hearing donors tell us what motivates them to give, regardless of the gift size.

What's your favorite snack?

Dark chocolate

Jennifer Kehoe

Senior Director of Prospect Development, Clemson University

SC Regional Representative

How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect development?

21 years. First 4 years of my career were as a CFR Development Officer before moving into the Prospect Development side of things, and I’ve never regretted it for a minute!

What inspired you to join the Apra Carolinas board?

What do you like most about working in prospect development?

What's your favorite snack?

Wow, I feel like this changes, but right now…Dot’s Pretzels (Original flavor).

Q&A with Apra Carolinas Professional Development Scholarship Winner, Kelly Kemp

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:42:04 GMT

Kelly Kemp, Development Research Analyst from Furman University, was awarded the 2022 Professional Development Scholarship from Apra Carolinas. She chose to use the award to attend Apra PD in Atlanta, GA. Below is a Q&A between Kelly and Rachael Walker regarding her experience.


Kelly Kemp, Ready to go!	View from Kelly's room

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing prospect development?

I have been in my current position as a Development Research Analyst at Furman University since May of 2021. Although I was not new to higher education, I was completely new to prospect development and research. My previous role was as the Campus Visit Coordinator in Admissions. COVID complications and being in a very forward-facing role at the time caused me to reevaluate. I’m so thankful I was able to find this position within our Office of Development. It allows me to continue to support my alma mater in a meaningful way. I am a 48- year old woman who has finally found her perfect career path. Better late than never!

Have you attended an Apra PD conference prior to this year?

This was my first.

Why did you choose this conference?

My direct supervisor often reflects fondly on her first APRA PD conference. I chose this conference due to her recommendation and knowing it would be valuable for me and my team. Plus, Atlanta is a fun city with great food and a fun vibe.

Did you have a favorite session?

I am sure this is an annoying response, but I liked them all! If I had to choose, though, I especially loved “We are all Fundraisers”, as the theme of claiming a seat at the table resonated with me. I also found my final session, “Corporate and Business Research when you aren’t a Business Major” to be a wealth of information! However, all of the presenters inspired me with their unique expertise, helpful tips, and overall passion for the field. Each session made me think and provided me with a concrete way of bettering myself as a researcher.

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

Overall, I was reminded at how vital our work is for the success of our institutions internally as well as in our communities. Each session empowered me to arm myself with best practices and provided thoughtful, efficient strategies to elevate and contribute to the advancement of our causes. We matter and our contributions are crucial. AND, we are not alone—there is this vast community with a genuine willingness to share and provide counsel.

Did anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

I was amazed at the contentment that most participants emanated regarding their positions. I enjoyed being around people who truly enjoy their careers and believe in their institutions and causes. It was refreshing and motivating.

Would you recommend that the next recipient of the scholarship use their funding on this conference?

Yes! I found this experience to be motivating from a professional and personal standpoint. I really enjoyed connecting with others in the field from all over the country. It was time and money well spent!

Is there anything that you’d like to implement at your organization as a direct result of attending this conference?

PITCHBOOK!!! This got lots of mentions and praise as a valuable resource. I would love to check it out and see how it could impact our team and the work that we do.

Foundation Research & 990s

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 25 May 2022 21:15:48 GMT

Blog post by Amy Jackson, NC Regional Representative. Amy lives in Indian Trail, NC and is assistant vice president of foundation relations and development at Wingate University. She previously worked as grants manager for the Charlotte Symphony and has 8 years of fundraising experience, primarily in the areas of grants management and grant writing, prospect research and prospect management, campaign planning, and donor relations.

Prospect Research plays an important role in the success of nonprofit organizations. While the bulk of philanthropic dollars received each year comes from individuals and continues to rise, we are also seeing an increase in the second largest category, giving by foundations. According to the annual report from Giving USA, giving by Foundations in 2020 was $88.5 billion, accounting for 19% of all contributions that year and increasing 17% over 2019.

Support from foundations serves as a key source of revenue for many nonprofits as they seek to carry out their missions, and private foundations must pay out at least 5 percent of their assets each year in the form of grants and operating charitable activities. So, where do you start with foundation research and what tools are available to help in your efforts?

Foundation Research Tools

Candid, formerly Foundation Center and GuideStar, is a wonderful resource and it’s free to use. My favorite things to access via Candid are GuideStar and Foundation Directory Online (FDO). Candid also has some great e-newsletters delivered straight to your inbox to keep you up to date on subject-based philanthropy, links to resources, and funding alerts. GuideStar houses information about every IRS-registered nonprofit organization, including the three most recent 990s. While FDO Pro is a paid tool, many public libraries offer free access to the database. FDO Pro features 140,000+ grantmakers and 11 million+ grants, and it is updated weekly. I would recommend that you watch this free 1-hour tutorial first, and then bring a flash drive with you so you can download search results and profiles for more in-depth research once you are back at your desk. Search here for a library that has FDO Pro near you. FoundationSearch is another database option if you have the budget funds to add it to your shop. Relationship Science (RelSci) (relationship mapping to find board member connections) and iWave (one-stop-shop for prospect research and donor wealth screening), other paid tools, can support your foundation research efforts, too.

When I’m in FDO Pro or FoundationSearch, I like to narrow my search by looking at foundations with the largest assets, a geographic scope that corresponds with where my organization is located, and a granting category that fits my type of organization. I don’t always exclude foundations that don’t accept unsolicited proposals, because you may be able to connect with those folks in another way. Perhaps you have a board member or individual donor that knows one of their board members or staff members. Another tip is to search for organizations with similar missions to yours to see which foundations are giving to them. Maybe they would be interested in giving to you as well.

Three additional sites related to foundation research are The Grantsmanship Center, NC Network of Grantmakers, and South Carolina Grantmakers Network. The Grantsmanship Center provides training, publications, technical assistance, and consulting for nonprofits in addition to resources by state, including top giving foundations, community foundations, and corporate giving programs. NC Network of Grantmakers and South Carolina Grantmakers Network serve grantmaking organizations across their respective states. Their news pages are particularly useful for information about staff changes at foundations, grant awards, requests for proposals, and more.

Digging into 990s

Foundations are required to submit a Form 990 to the IRS each year. This form contains a slew of helpful information for research purposes. For foundation research, here’s what I look at:

Right above the Name of foundation line at the top, the form identifies the foundation’s fiscal year. This is good to know for timing of application purposes and strategy.
Next to the name, you can also verify that you have the correct address and grab a phone number if you don’t already have one. Foundations include this information on their website, but there are still a lot of foundations out there without a website.
Line I lists the fair market value of the assets. The larger the assets, the more the foundation has to give out to nonprofits each year.
Part 1, Line 25 will tell you how much they paid out in grants that year.
Skip down to Part VIII for the list of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Foundation Managers, Highly Paid Employees, and Contractors.
Part VX, 1 & 2 is important as well since it gives information about foundation managers and grant applications. There’s a check box that lets you know whether or not they accept unsolicited requests as well as the contact person for applications, the format in which applications should be received, submission deadlines, and any restrictions or limitations on grant awards. *Note: If the foundation has a website, there may be more specific, up to date information located there.
Last but not least, Part VX, 3 lists out grants and contributions paid during the year or approved for future payment (multi-year pledges). Here’s where you’ll see who they’re funding, for what purpose, and at what amount. This is key in determining what projects they might fund at your organization and the ideal ask range.

Foundation Profiles

You’ve done your research and now it’s time to put together a profile. I’ve found the following template to be most effective when sharing prep information with gift officers and/or senior leadership.

Foundation name and contact information (address, phone number, website)
Foundation Overview (background, mission, vision, etc.; if it’s a corporate foundation, I also include a company overview)
Foundation Funding Priorities (areas of focus/grant programs, eligibility guidelines, application timing, etc.)
Staff and Board list (with titles, brief bios, connections to your organization, and photos, if available)
Giving History for Your Organization
Financial/Grant Information (Total assets, total # and amount of grants awarded, list of grants from the most recent fiscal year)
Relevant action/contact reports from Advancement CRM and other related notes regarding the foundation and your organization, including most recent ask details, if applicable
Recent articles about the foundation or key staff/board members

Happy foundation prospecting!

Apra Carolinas Membership Survey 2022 Results

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:11:11 GMT

A big thank you to everyone for taking the time to complete the membership survey which was emailed out in the past couple of months! Your participation helps give us a clearer understanding of things that are being done well, things that may need some tweaking, and areas that we can focus on in the future within the chapter. This year, we received responses from just under 30% of our membership base.

In this blog post, we’ll share some survey questions and how members responded. Please know that even though this membership survey is a great way to share your thoughts with the chapter, you are more than welcome (and encouraged) to reach out with thoughts & feedback any day of the week throughout the year.

“What areas of Apra Carolinas provide value to you?”

Overwhelmingly, every single respondent answered ‘Webinars’ as an area which provides value to them. Point taken! The two response that shared second place, both with about three-quarters of respondents answering, were ‘Recorded webinars on Member Resources tab’ and ‘Newsletters.’ Along the same line, members said that the most valuable benefit was ‘Webinars’ at 64% with ‘Conferences’ in a well-earned 2^nd place spot at 25%. ‘Recorded webinars’ were once again mentioned with just over 10% of the responses given.

"What is something that you wish was offered by Apra Carolinas to its member base?”

Without being able to include every open-ended response, some great feedback was provided such as:

“More live educational opportunities via webinar. …”
“While Apra International offers a Body of Knowledge feature, it would be incredibly beneficial if Apra Carolinas published a guide, whether through a webinar or blog post, on what a career trajectory in Prospect Research looks like for those who are interested in growing their expertise.”
“More webinars/mentoring on data analysis, modeling, … anything data.”

A growing interest in recent years is on data analytics, on which this response touches: “More webinars/mentoring on data analysis, modeling, okay anything data.” Data analytics were mentioned several times in the post, but nothing about specific interests. We want to deliver, so we scheduled a roundtable in April to dive in and learn more!

Members may find it interesting that 39% of respondents indicated that they were members of Apra International and the same number indicated that they were not members. Additionally, close to one-fifth of respondents indicated that they were not currently Apra International members but previously were at one point in time.

We also asked members how many years they’ve worked in prospect development; an impressive 43% have been working in the field for more than ten years! Following this, 32% in the 3–5-year range and 14% in the 1–3-year range.

“How interested are you in attending virtual networking?”

Since we’ve become so accustomed to virtual networking in the last couple of years, we made sure to include several questions on the topic. Member responses showed that out of a scale of 1-5, almost 40% gave a response of 3 (mildly interested). When asked what kind of virtual networking should be offered, members overwhelmingly responded with ‘Professional topic led discussion groups’ (82%) and ‘Personal topic led discussion groups’ (46%) followed. Members indicated that if they haven’t attended a networking event yet, it’s mostly due to scheduling or timing issues.

On the topic of conferences (Fall conference planning underway!), we asked members if they currently prefer an in-person or virtual setting. Votes were very close with just over half of respondents indicating a current preference for virtual conferences. When asked if they’d be willing to attend if a conference was offered in-person, 61% said yes. Location and schedule conflict were the two greatest obstacles for conference attendance with each vote contributing 33% of the total.

This year, just over two-thirds of members indicate that they have a budget for travel and professional development in place. Although this question was not directly asked in 2020, we did receive some responses that cost was a prohibitive factor when considering conference attendance. Thankfully, Apra Carolinas offers a Professional Development Scholarship (congratulations to our 2022 winners - Kelly Kemp & Gillian Hayden!) which may provide financial assistance to those restricted due to budget. Scholarship applications will reopen on January 1^st, 2023, on the Apra Carolinas website for any member interested.

“What topics would you like to see in upcoming programming?”

We received numerous help and constructive thoughts in response to this question. These suggestions are taken very seriously and discussed by the board thoroughly in various stages of planning our programming. There are too many to share in this one blog post, so we created a word cloud visualization so that it can be viewed in a fun and different way, highlighting the more frequently mentioned (larger text) subjects.

Upon wrapping up the membership survey, we wanted to know what else you, the member, wanted to share with us. Those suggestions and comments were shared with the board. We appreciate every single piece of feedback - the gracious compliments, encouraging messages, and everything in between. As mentioned previously, this survey is a good way to assess and improve Apra Carolinas, but our ears are open year-round for any feedback, big or small. The Apra Carolinas board appreciates your participation, and we can’t wait to see you all at the next webinar, networking event, or conference!

Finally, please join us in congratulating member Michele Tanzosch of Grinnell College for winning the $50.00 Amazon gift card raffle!

To Infinity and Beyond! …or maybe, to the for-profit sector

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 17:22:05 GMT

Guest blog post by former President-Elect, Allison Kiglics. Allison resides in Wilmington, NC and recently left the prospect development field to work as a Small Business Banking Underwriter for Live Oak Bank. She would love to connect on LinkedIn and is happy to discuss her experience.

Prospect Development was a field I fell into. We often hear that from those in the field and, like so many others, I quickly realized I had found home. In 2017 I was hired by my alma mater, the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), as a Prospect Development Analyst. I jumped in with both feet, learning the development world inside and out under current Apra Carolinas president Jennifer Vincent. My first month at UNCW was a total blur. I was learning ethics, terminology, industry norms, and getting to know the development officers and other teammates I would be working with.

Prospect Development utilized a skill set I had been crafting for years as a wannabe super spy. I had a background in data analytics from my sociology undergraduate studies, and while I enjoyed analytics, I didn’t really want to work in data science full time. I am an introvert, after all. Prospect Development gave me the perfect balance of working alone, working with others, and working with data.

Jennifer took the role of president-elect with Apra Carolinas, and then received an amazing offer at Blackbaud. I moved into her prospect management role at UNCW, where I oversaw prospect research. When Jennifer moved into the president role of Apra Carolinas, I signed on as the president-elect.

Like so many others, I began wondering what my next role would be when ‘the great resignation’ hit. I was at the top of the department at UNCW and was the president-elect of Apra Carolinas. There wasn’t much opportunity for me to advance at UNCW; if I wanted growth, I would need to look elsewhere to find it. Left and right, there were remote development jobs being posted as non-profits began to see the advantages of remote employees. I was wrapping up my Master of Science in Business Analytics at UNCW, and it was great timing to start my search. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an opportunity came to me to join the Underwriting team at Live Oak Bank here in Wilmington, NC. I would still get to spy on people (I even get their tax returns!) and I would get to dive even further into my skill set of Business Analytics. I knew it would be a scary change, but the opportunity to join one of the best banks and places to work in Wilmington was one I couldn't pass by. So, I took the scary plunge into the for-profit world, and I have loved every minute of it.

The work I’m doing at Live Oak is so meaningful. We are almost exclusively a small business banking lender working with Small Business Administration loans. For example, I worked on a loan this week for an existing funeral home owner to acquire a location a few miles away as that owner retires. We were able to finance the loan at 100% because of the SBA program. It’s somewhat parallel to my development career, except now there are loan officers instead of gift officers and a loan servicing team instead of a stewardship team. There are many skills from my prospect development career that served me well to secure the job here at Live Oak. I had a good foundation of financial and business literacy from my prospect development career, which was an asset to this new role. In Prospect Development, we’re always in the middle of different teams; from front line fundraisers, advancement services, stewardship to working with executive leadership. We need to be chameleons, fitting in wherever we go. Adapting to different styles. That skill is transferrable to any career in the private sector.

We have this joke on the Apra Carolinas board about the “Curse of the President” which came about after several presidents left their term early due to outstanding job offers that pulled them away from the Carolinas or the profession. If you’re wondering if the curse is a myth… join the board and find out for yourself!

Apra Carolinas Mugshots

Jennifer — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Apra Carolinas Mugshots

The 2022 Apra Carolinas board recently met for our annual – now virtual – board retreat where we focus on mapping out the year ahead. One area of focus for the board is around engaging with chapter members and helping to make sure you know we are here to support your professional development efforts. During this meeting, we decided to share with you all our favorite mugs and why we love them. There are some recurring themes in our favorite mugs – see if you can spot them!

Please join us on social media by sharing your favorite mug along with #ApraCarolinasMugshot

Check out our: Apra Carolinas Mugshots

Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors are Revolutionizing Giving by Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody

Jennifer — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 00:35:53 GMT

In a time of great uncertainty, it’s hard to know what lies ahead – but we do know that the world is changing, and philanthropy will certainly change with it. That’s why “Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors are Revolutionizing Giving” felt like a particularly timely selection for our Apra Carolinas book discussion group. According to the authors, the Gen X and Millennial (and soon Gen Z!) philanthropists are looking to “disrupt” the world of charitable giving.

What does that mean, for us and for them? Well, here are some key takeaways from the book and questions to ponder moving forward:

These donors want to see the IMPACT of their donations (or at least indicators of progress towards a goal).

Question: How does your organization show the impact of donor gifts? Is there a way that you can communicate that more effectively, especially if your fundraising focus is on something that is hard to quantify?

They want to upend philanthropic norms and “change systems, not treat symptoms.”

Question: Is your organization addressing overarching societal issues (access to healthcare, education, clean water, etc.)? If not, can you show how your organization may help alleviate more systemic problems?

They want to focus on fewer organizations rather than spreading their gifts around and would prefer to work with smaller organizations where their donation can have a big impact.

Question: If you work at a larger organization, how can you highlight specific programs where a philanthropic gift would make a significant (and/or immediate) difference?

They are focused on “giving while living” – they want to see their donations working now and are less interested in bequests/estate gifts.

Question: How can you frame the impact of planned gifts beyond leaving a legacy? (An example might be suggesting that their gift could inspire others in their network to be philanthropic, or that an estate gift could make a larger impact over time than an immediate gift now.)

They want to use new approaches to giving beyond standard donations, like impact investing, microloans, and crowdfunding.

Question: Does your organization offer any of these options? Would it be feasible to work with next gen donors to create fresh funding ideas that appeal to them?

They want to help beyond just writing a check – to contribute their time and expertise in meaningful ways and leverage their networks to help as well.

Question: What options do you have for donor engagement beyond serving on a board or planning/hosting an event? Do you have any experiential learning opportunities or intensive volunteer activities that could allow them to use their skills?

They don’t see family giving as a hierarchy. They want to be a member of a multi-generational, multi-branch team that works together, and not just follow the lead of those that came before them.

Question: How does your organization approach inherited wealth and family giving? Do you engage with children of wealth differently (and separately) from their parents? How can you cultivate and solicit the family in a way that appeals to all its members?

That’s just some of the highlights. The real-life next gen donor interviews were particularly insightful, though (in my opinion) it would have been helpful to also hear some stories from fundraisers or even family members of different generations and how they have experienced working with these individuals. There will be a learning curve ahead but thinking strategically about these things now will give you a great head start!

I’d highly recommend reading this book if you’re interested in finding out more. As a member benefit, we are offering copies to the first thirty members that fill out our Google Form. Please do check it out and start planning for the future of fundraising.

-Merissa Lawson (Immediate Past President, Apra Carolinas)

Cyber Security – Why, When, and How

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 12:21:51 GMT

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

With October as Cyber Security Awareness month, there’s no better time to dive into what it means to be digitally secure and to listen to feedback from experts in the tech-world. In a constantly moving and advancing digital world, it’s more important now than ever to make sure devices are secure whether it’s for personal or business use. There have been several big-ticket instances in the past few years where malicious scammers have broken through company security forces and held software for ransom, stole sensitive client information, phished passwords from high ranking officials, and various other attacks.

One might hastily think “were these attacks avoidable?” The answer probably isn’t as easy as just saying “yes,” but using better methods for security from the groundwork up certainly could help reduce risk. Sometimes, these deviant occurrences are unavoidable, and the user or company is targeted for no particular reason. Other times, the user may have inadvertently compromised their own device, or worse yet, their business’ whole system. Let’s look at some tips that industry experts have offered to prevent these instances from occurring in the first place.

EXPERT TIPS & TRICKS

1. Xavier Mertens, Freelance Cyber Security Consultant & Owner at Xameco recommends several tips and tricks. For one, he urges users to enable 2-factor authentication if offered by the service. Using a password manager can also help to declutter an old-school notebook for trying to remember all previous passwords and is innately more secure. Xavier also believes users should keep their devices and software as up-to-date as possible. This includes not just phones and computers, but also modems, smart TVs, and any access point that is routinely used. Lastly, Xavier believes that the end user should always ask the question: why? If something might sound too good to be true when a stranger offers something, it probably is. Don’t answer or offer information if you don’t understand the request or if you don’t even know the entity asking.

2. Lee Munson, Senior Technical Writer at McAffee believes that the common practice of using the same password for every website and service is an “extremely risk behavior” which can be used by the attacker to have, in essence, “gained access to your entire digital world.” Lee further states that many individuals are too trusting and might click on a link found in an email even if they aren’t familiar with the sender. His advice is to not do this, ever. His last tip for cyber security is to be careful what you are downloading. Since so many downloads are freely available today, users often become a little nonchalant about where they are downloading resources from. Lee says to think twice about where you’re downloading from and to ensure that the website has a ‘padlock’ icon or a URL beginning with https://.

3. Kelly Jackson Higgins, the Executive Editor at Dark Reading, strongly encourages all internet users to browse using a VPN connection, or a virtual private network. She believes that this is applicable whether you are using a corporate network, Wi-Fi Network, or a public wired network. Kelly indicates that even though many corporate employers use VPNs for their users, it’s helpful for individuals to use this outside of work as well, even on mobile devices. Kelly agrees with Xavier in that it’s important for users to keep all applications up-to-date with the latest patches and even goes further to say that it can be beneficial to use less-targeted browser option. Ms. Higgins believes that a final key to web security is the creation of a strong and complex password and remembering to change them often and to never reuse them.

CONCLUSION

These tips and tricks from industry experts might sound easy, but can just anyone learn how to become more cyber-secure? The answer is yes; not only is there plenty of advice on this topic found through legitimate sources, but there are also courses developed specifically for cyber security. For example, Clark State College offers six free Cyber Security courses offered to any individual interested in advancing their knowledge of cyber security without having to be a student. LinkedIn Learning also offers a free, 30-day trial for courses which include various Cyber Security topics including security & risk management, cloud computing, and the basic foundations of cyber security.

In one sense, you can view cyber security training and prowess as a benefit to yourself directly, gathering knowledge that will protect your devices and your own wellbeing. However, becoming fluent in cyber security will actually benefit you, your place of employment, your future, your past, and even help to bolster your resume within this digital age where using technology is not a step of the job but a requirement. There aren’t many good reasons to not be knowledgeable about cyber security in the year 2021. Use this month’s blog post as a reminder to update your applications, change your passwords, and do not open any suspicious links!

SOURCES:

Zaharia, A. (2021, May 25). 50+ internet security tips & tricks from top experts. Heimdal Security Blog. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/security-experts-roundup/.

Interview with Professional Development Scholarship Winner: Bridgette Holley, Hope International

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 14:13:47 GMT

About 2021’s Professional Development Scholarship Winner: Bridgette Holley, Advancement Researcher and Advisor at HOPE International, was the 2021 Apra Carolinas Professional Development Scholarship winner. She used her scholarship dollars to purchase recorded sessions from Apra University and the PD2020 Virtual Conference.

About HOPE International: HOPE International is a faith-based non-profit that provides underserved and impoverished individual and businesses with savings services, microloans, and small business loans to restore dignity and break the cycle of poverty in underdeveloped nations.

About Apra Carolinas Grants & Scholarships: We strive to put professional development in reach of all Apra Carolinas Members, without the limitations of their organization’s professional development budget. The Professional Development Scholarship is a $1,500 award available annually to any Apra Carolinas member to cover professional development by Apra International or Apra Carolinas. Our 2022 Application will open 1/1/2022.

Additionally, we offer a Road Trip Grant ($300) to cover travel expenses for an Apra Carolinas member to travel to another organization for the day to learn about procedures, a specific project, or some other Prospect Development related topic. In response to COVID, we also opened a membership scholarship; a merit-based scholarship that considers financial need. Awardees will have their annual membership dues covered by Apra Carolinas - unlocking all of the Apra Carolinas programming for the calendar year. Details about these awards can be found on our Scholarships and Grants page.

The Interview

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing prospect development?

Almost four years. My first advancement services role was from 2008 to 2011. I was hired as a prospect research analyst at North Carolina State University along with four other analysts. Our manager was director of prospect research at the time. Before we came on, she was a one-person shop. I was tasked primarily with helping validate the results of a database screening during the public phase of the university’s first $1 billion campaign. I also did research on individuals, corporations, and foundations. There was another division focused on prospect management, so my work was strictly research.

I joined HOPE International in December 2020, nearly 10 years after my previous experience in prospect development. There is an advisor component to my role, so for the first time, I am involved in consulting with front-line development staff about data analytics and management in addition to research.

What does prospect development mean to you?

We all have God-given gifts, talents, and abilities to steward well. I would say the highest area of stewardship is relationship. I define my role in prospect development as helping people grow intentional relationships in a healthy and sustainable way that honors Jesus Christ. I love working with data, particularly making connections, like seeing how patterns in historical data can inform future decision-making.

How did you use your professional development scholarship?

I know the value of APRA conferences, having attended, "Envisioning the Future, Leading the Change" in Denver, CO in 2008. Nevertheless, I decided not to attend the virtual conference this year knowing that had nearly a decade of change in the industry to catch up on. I used my scholarship for on-demand learning through APRA University to get up to speed.

Do you have a favorite on-demand learning session?

I purchased a few standalone sessions, and a couple of bundled sessions centered around a common theme. My favorite is the 2020 Plug In to Campaigns Recordings Bundle.

What is one thing your organization is doing really well and you felt affirmed in while viewing any of the sessions?

There was a session in the bundle about the Importance of innovation, intentionality, and risk in virtual engagement. I felt affirmed that HOPE pivoted exceptionally well as an organization when everything went virtual in 2020. Many of the things discussed have been implemented.

Is there anything that you’d like to implement at your organization as a direct result of experiencing APRA University?

Creating a prospect development road map using the pattern from this presentation, basically a framework for change based on input from various stakeholders and observations. Combined with my understanding of agile principles, like the concept of a minimum viable product, it would be a living framework. So you see, some things we might dream of doing could be tried using tools we already have in our hands instead of waiting for the perfect database object.

How would you recommend that the next recipient of the scholarship use their funding?

Think about the roadmap of your year. Decide what type of learning is most needed for the short-term so that you can apply it immediately with the hope that its effect will have long-term benefits for you and your organization.

Donor Advised Funds & Why They Are In The News

Jennifer — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 21:14:01 GMT

For our July blog post, we wanted to tackle the topic of Donor Advised Funds and talk about the open proposal to change the way these funds function.

What is a DAF?

The short answer is a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a money-earning holding account focused on charitable contributions that allow a donor to receive an immediate tax benefit, without immediately gifting the money to charity. A donor can contribute assets (e.g., cash, cryptocurrency, liquid assets, etc.) to the account and receive the immediate tax benefit, but the assets remain in the account and are distributed to charitable organizations over time. The donor loses direct ownership of the funds but can advise – over time – where the funds should be distributed. The over time portion is important, because these funds are allowed to grow tax-free within the DAF account. While the DAF can continue to grow, the donor only receives the tax benefits on the amount initially contributed during the tax year the assets were added to the fund.

For example…

Let’s say a donor was given stock in their company and they are retiring this year. They paid $0 for the stock, which is now worth $25,000. To avoid a capital gains tax of $3,750 they decide to put the stock into the DAF, which nets them a tax deduction of $6,000.^[¹^] These stocks go into the DAF and they can decide when and where they would like to charitably transfer the stock in the future. Conversely, if they sold the stock and gave the proceeds to charity, they would end up being taxed the capital gains ($3,750), the non-profit would only receive $21,250, thus the donor tax deduction would be lowered to $5,100, which nets them a personal tax benefit of $1,350.

TL;DR …

(1)    $25,000 → keep → pay $3,750 capital gains tax
(2)    $25,000 → DAF → receive $6,000 tax deduction
(3)    $25,000 → sell → pay $3,750 capital gains tax → donate remainder ($21,250) to charity of choice → receive $5,100 deduction (net tax benefit: $1,350)

DAFs also allow donors to make grants anonymously, though many continue to tie their name to the grants. The important part is that they can contribute to their DAF, receive an immediate tax benefit, and their contribution is set aside solely for charitable uses that they can select for an indefinite period of time.

DAF grantmaking

According to the National Philanthropic Trust’s 2020 Donor-Advised Fund Report, for the tenth consecutive year, DAFs grew in every key metric. Grants from DAFs accounted for over $25 billion in 2019, which was a 93% increase from 2015. From 2018 to 2019 the assets held in DAFs increased 16.2% to $141.95 billion. That is nearly 142 billion philanthropic dollars not in the hands of charitable organizations. The average size of a DAF account has continued to decrease since 2016, currently averaging around $162,556. The decrease in average size has been attributed, in part, to DAF accounts gaining in popularity, the emergence of employer-sponsored DAF accounts, and many organizations requiring no contribution minimums. This allows donors to open and maintain accounts at a smaller level.

The report projects that “grantmaking from DAFs to charitable organizations will continue to grow at an extremely high rate in the next Donor-Advised Fund Report.” It points to the global pandemic response as well as racial justice and other urgent issues from 2020 as a driving force for DAF grantmaking.

What is changing?

Currently nothing, but there is an active proposal from the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving (IACG) which is targeting that over time portion we discussed. The proposal is hoping to free up the money currently sitting in DAFs and close the loophole that allows them to be, in essence, mini endowments. To free up these dollars, the proposal suggests creating two different types of DAF accounts with different tax benefits – sort of like an IRA vs. Roth-IRA account structure focusing on tax benefits rather than penalties.

1. 15-year DAF: Retains the current tax benefit structure, but the funds must be distributed within 15 years.
2. Aligned Benefit Rule: Allows the funds to be distributed over a longer time frame, but the donor only receives the income tax deduction once the funds have been distributed.

Why should you care?

Donors who gift via their DAF have a belief in philanthropy and are likely savvy philanthropists. After all, they set aside a specific amount of money to be used toward philanthropy, and there is no tax advantage to be gained or lost by keeping money in the DAF. So – what kind of difference can they make at your organization by investing in your cause? Almost $142 billion is currently invested in DAFs – imagine the impact a portion of that could make if invested at your organization.

Looking forward

Whether or not the IACG proposal is accepted as law, it appears that DAF giving will continue to remain a popular choice among donors. If you do not currently have a plan in place for DAF donors, now is the time to set up and assess fundraising strategies as they pertain to DAF donors.

Keep in mind, if you send a thank you note, it should go to the donor who advised on the grant rather than the institution holding the grant money. So, if a gift came from Fidelity Charitable from Jane Doe’s DAF, you want the thank you note to go to Jane Doe – but you must make sure to remove any reference to tax deduction. The donor is not eligible to receive another tax deduction for the grant. However, the note is a great chance to get them involved at your organization. After all, they have already told you they are interested in philanthropy (i.e., they have a DAF) and a cause (i.e., where they donated.) Now it is up to you to engage them.

New options are becoming available to make DAF granting easier for donors. For instance, DAF Direct is a free online application you can add to your giving page that helps donors initiate a grant from their DAF to your online fundraising campaign. Additionally, many organizations target communications specifically to DAF donors, knowing there is likely much more in the account that what has been granted. All of this is dependent on making sure you have a good system in place for tracking your DAF grants and the donors who initiated them.

How are you tracking DAF grants and donors in your database? Do you steward DAF gifts differently? Do you want to learn more from your peers? Drop us a line on social media or email us at ApraCarolinas@gmail.com to share your process or let us know if you would like to learn more.

Onboarding a New Researcher

Jennifer — Fri, 07 May 2021 13:24:48 GMT

“How did you get into prospect development?” is one of my favorite questions to ask anyone in our field. I have yet to meet someone who came into the profession intentionally, rather it seems that most people end up in prospect development through happenstance and pure luck.

Personally, I wanted to work at a university so I could continue taking classes toward a graduate degree. I applied to anything and everything relevant to my degree and office management experience, but I remember putting stars on the printout of the job description for a Prospect Researcher position, intuitively knowing that prospect research was something that would be a great fit. I had never heard of the profession (or Advancement, if I am being honest), but I knew I loved the idea of solving mysteries and I believed in the power of philanthropy.

Having worked in the field for over a decade, I have met more than my fair share of researchers. The ones that stick around always seem to have an intuitive way about them – along with a drive to dig deeper and fall into rabbit holes while searching for missing puzzle pieces. When you hire a prospect researcher, you are often hiring someone who has no idea about the profession and building them from the ground up. So, where do you start?

Local Chapter

My number one recommendation is to start with your local Apra chapter. If you do not have an active local chapter, be sure to check out the other chapters and join one that fits your professional development budget and goals. You are welcome to join as many chapters as you like, and the cost of the local chapters is much less than that of the larger Apra. It gives you access to local prospect researchers who can help you better understand the intricacies of researching in your area, and it’s easier to attend anything in person if it’s relatively close to where you live. If you have the professional development budget to be a member of a local chapter and the larger chapter, all the better for onboarding; however, you do not need to be a member of the larger Apra to take advantage of many benefits that are ideal for onboarding someone new to prospect development.

Ethics and Compliance

On their first day is a great time to introduce your new hire to the Apra Ethics and Compliance Toolkit. This is free to anyone – you do not have to be a member of Apra to access this toolkit – and is the holy grail of prospect development ethical standards. Even as a veteran in the field, you may be asked to do something unethical – this is the place to go to show that while you technically can create a fake social media profile and trick a prospect into accepting a friend request, you won’t do that, as it violates ethical codes of conduct. If you need support for your decision, Apra has your back. When you are onboarding someone new to the field, a great first place to start is with the ethical standards of the profession.

It’s important to note that this area is not a one-and-done kind of thing; the guidelines change as technology and laws change. Take into consideration the ongoing debate over the usage of Federal Election Commission data in prospecting. Laws changed in 2018 and there is still debate regarding whether or not FEC data can be used when compiling a profile. Note: the current official stance of Apra is that FEC data should not be used in prospecting.

Prspct-L

This leads me to the next stop for any new researcher, which is joining the Prspct-L listservs. Run by Apra, these discussion forums provide invaluable insight into prospect development. Not only can you read what topics are currently trending in the field, but if you have a question in mind, you can also go back and search through the discussions to see if anyone has asked a similar question. Broken into different discussion groups, I like to follow them all by getting an email in the morning with a summary digest of the posts from the previous day – this way my email is not constantly dinging all day, but I’m still getting the discussions and can weigh in on anything of interest. However you prefer to follow ‘the L’, it is a great way for anyone in the field to stay in the know about new topics, services, professional development, and more. It is also an ideal place to ask a question, as you will have access to prospect development professionals from across the world, ready to help out with an answer. (No pressure.)

Apra Education (Free or Paid)

Still on the Apra page, be sure to bookmark the Apra Talks, Apra Podcast, and Apra Bytes – all of which are free resources to anyone and they provide insight into prospect development. These can help those new to the field understand the complexity and significance of a career in prospect development. Of course, there are plenty of other professional development opportunities through Apra, if you are with an organization that can provide membership. There is the Apra Fundamentals conference each year that is ideal for those new to the field, as well as the larger PD conference each summer. There is something powerful about joining a large group of prospect development professionals and networking yourself into a group of knowledgeable individuals who can serve as a baseline for any question or policy change you may be considering. This can also be achieved locally through your local Apra chapter, though on a smaller scale.

Free Training

As our field is gaining traction, there are learning opportunities popping up in unexpected places. Coursera, which offers free courses on a wide variety of topics, actually has two sections that delve into Prospect Research! These particular classes provide a general overview of the profession with development as the primary audience. These courses on prospect research are part of the larger Major and Principal gift development curriculum, which can give those new to the profession valuable insight into development. Are you looking for training on a specific topic? Try a Google search to see if you can find free training – or better yet, have your new hire do the search. Google is about to become their go-to for all questions, so they might as well get comfortable.

Paid Training

For those looking for more interactive training, the Prospect Research Institute, run by Jennifer Filla, provides an exceptional mix of paid and free resources and training. If you are someone starting a prospect research department without a background in the field, this would be an ideal place to go. They offer classes that can get you up and running quickly in the field, all for a reasonable price. They also provide networking and a support system, to ensure you have all of your questions answered. If you are brand new to prospect research, you may not know that Jennifer Fila and Helen Brown literally wrote the book on Prospect Research for Fundraisers.

Blogs and Resource Libraries

Speaking of Helen Brown, her website offers a fantastic blog and growing library of prospect research resources and tools. If you are looking for additional free resources for prospect research, be sure to check out the Apra Carolinas blog outlining our board members favorite free resources, as well as some unexpected ways to use them.

Service Trainings

If that hasn’t kept your new hire busy enough during onboarding, keep in mind that most of the software that you use also has training that can be accessed for free. Services such as Foundation Directory Online/Candid, LexisNexis, ResearchPoint, etc. all have free training available within them to get your new researcher up to speed on how to use the products. Whatever services you may use, take a moment to find a link to their training modules and have your new researcher learn from the product how it should best be used. Chances are, they may learn a new trick and pass it along to you!

Even if you are not a client of the prospect research services (e.g., iWave, DonorSearch, Blackbaud, etc.), you can utilize their webinars, white papers, blog posts, and podcasts. By submerging a new hire in prospect research, it may seem a little overwhelming at first, but these resources help show someone new to the field that this is an exceptional career they have stumbled upon.

What did we miss? What resources are your go-to when onboarding someone new to the field? Be sure to comment on social media or send us an email to let us know!

If you are not a member of Apra Carolinas and would like to be, we offer a Membership Scholarship for anyone in North or South Carolina who may be unable to afford the $35 to join. Once you are a member, you can apply for other scholarships to unlock additional professional development funding. Members are able to attend all virtual content for free, receive discounts on in-person conferences, and all of our past recorded webinars are freely available to members on the Member Resources tab. We hold monthly networking sessions open to anyone and strive to provide professional development content aligned with the needs of our members.

Excel 101 Tips and Tricks

Jennifer — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 14:59:30 GMT

Did you attend the fantastic Excel Wrestling 101 webinar by Katie Stanhagen from Western Carolina University? This was our first webinar of the year and it was extremely popular! Remember members, you can catch a recorded version of it on the exclusive Members Resources tab on our website! Katie covered a LOT of material, and the entire webinar was done within Excel – even her agenda!

We wanted to cover a few of the tips in the blog this month – what do you want to hear more about? Reach out and let us know!

Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting is one of my favorites and I never used it to find duplicates until Katie’s webinar! Personally, I am a big fan of using conditional formatting on custom scores with color scales of a classic Green-Yellow-Red of a stoplight. When development officers are looking at a list and they see custom scores with three green lights, that means they are cruising along on their way to a major gift!

One of Katie’s tips was to use conditional formatting to highlight your duplicates, then sort based on the formatting color. In case you didn’t know, sorting by cell color is another fantastic tip and trick in Excel!

You can also use conditional formatting to add an icon to your values, which can be formatted in many ways. As with any of these tips and tricks, the most important factor in determining what to use is deciding what you want to show with your data. Are you trying to highlight proposals of a specific value? Are you wanting to compare one value to another? There are so many possibilities and it’s easier than you think!

Filters

A fast and easy way to narrow down a spreadsheet is to use filters. When you apply a filter to your spreadsheet, you can select the data in any column and filter out the rest. For instance, let's say you have a giant spreadsheet of all donors and you want to filter down to only those assigned to a certain fundraiser – click filters and use your fundraiser name column to select the name of the one you are wanting to focus. Perhaps you want to find only prospects living in a specific state – you can do that by using your filters.

Filters are a fast and easy way to break down lists – but it can lead to issues if you forget which columns are currently filtering or if you want to start copy/pasting blocks of data. If you are wanting to narrow down a list to work from, or share with development, you may want to turn your spreadsheet straight into a pivot table.

For many projects, simply filtering the data down will give you a quick idea of what to do next. Another tip: When you apply a filter, look to the bottom left corner of the spreadsheet, and it will give you a count of how many rows of data remain on the filtered list versus how many are in the entire spreadsheet.

XLOOKUP

Do you have a perfect database with reporting that meets all your needs? (I’ll wait while you grab a tissue to dry your eyes from laughter or sorrow.) Don’t worry, you are in good company. If you are trying to merge data from different spreadsheets using a unique column they all have in common (e.g., ID number), VLOOKUP can help you locate data in a vertical column, HLOOKUP can help you locate data in a horizontal row, while XLOOKUP can find the value anywhere in the spreadsheet. XLOOKUP is the newer, better, search function that will allow you to search for a value anywhere in the spreadsheet.

Anyone who has used VLOOKUP knows that it will often return an error if the data isn’t sorted in the right way or if the return value isn’t located in the right place in the spreadsheet. XLOOKUP allows you to return data that is to the right or left of your search data and will search both horizontally and vertically, essentially combining HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP and then making it even better. If you don’t know how to do any of these, just learn XLOOKUP and skip the others.

XLOOKUP can help you create a single report when you are trying to merge several different exports of data … and/or when you need to fill in a column that gets added to a report after you’ve already formatted the first report and your boss asks you why you didn’t XYZ in your report. All you need is that common unique identifier, like their ID number, and you can use that factor to take data from one list and insert it into another.

In one example from the webinar, Katie had a list of constituent names and IDs in one spreadsheet and a list of IDs with a ton of data in the other spreadsheet. She showed how to use XLOOKUP to match the ID numbers in the spreadsheets and bring the constituents names into the larger data spreadsheet.

Pivot Tables

We can spend an entire webinar on pivot tables (more on that soon!) which are my personal favorite tool. Pivot tables take your spreadsheet of data and allow you to break it down in meaningful ways. Dashboards are basically data visualizations and pivot tables and data visualizations from pivot tables. The best part is that they are EASY to do! In the webinar, Katie broke down a portfolio by the prospect capacities, which allows you to quickly visualize not only the number of prospects within each stage, but what stage each prospect is in, based on their capacity level. We were quickly able to see that there was a solicitation coming for 1 prospect with a $5m+ capacity as well as 4 prospects with $2.5m - $5m capacity who are almost at solicitation.

With most versions of Excel, you can simply double-click a number in the pivot table and that will generate a list of the data behind those numbers. Want to see the 81 names in Late Cultivation? Simply double-click the 81 in the pivot table and a new sheet will appear showing those names. For more robust pivot capabilities - looking at you KPIs - you may want to turn on Power Pivot in Excel. To do that, simply go to File → Options → Add-ins → Select Power Pivot for Excel → OK

While you’re activating Add-ins, I suggest you go ahead and activate the Power Map, Data Streamer, and Analysis ToolPak.

Even without the complexity of Power Pivot, pivot tables are extremely useful for visualizing data and you can add several pivot tables to a single sheet.

Once you have pivot tables, you can take it a step further by adding pivot charts with filters and sliders - which will quickly adjust all the pivot charts according to specific criteria.

For instance, if you've pulled out all development portfolios with prospect status, you may want to add graphs to show how many of their prospects are within each stage to determine pipeline flow. Another graph to show open proposals. Perhaps another one that shows proposals that have closed in the past 30 days (celebrate successes!) Then you can create a slider which will allow you to select an individual development officer, which will drill all of your charts down to only their data. That way, with one report you have the option to view everything in the pipeline, then drill in to each individual development officer, or focus on development teams, all without leaving your single spreadsheet in Excel.

We are working toward getting another webinar on the schedule to address your pivot table questions and – as always – please reach out and let us know what you would like to learn more about. We are here to help you excel at all that you do!

PS: There were many instructive visuals included in the making of this blog, but the size limit to post required their removal. Thank you for reading!

The Best Things in Life are Free!

Jennifer — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 14:56:58 GMT

Whether you are brand new to prospect research or a veteran of the field, some of the most used tools in our toolkits end up being free resources found online. For our February blog post, we wanted to share the love of our favorite free prospecting tools. The board members were each asked to share their favorite free resource(s) and why they love it. This is what your board had to say…

Real Estate & Spousal Information

For Emily Hinz and Rachael Walker, their favorite free resource is pulawski.net, which is a one-stop site for tax assessor websites broken down by state and then county. Rachael pointed out a lesser-known feature on the site that further helps your wealth estimates by explaining the assessment multipliers – that is, the factor by which you may need to multiply the assessed value to determine the actual value of the property. Good examples of how this is useful come into play when researching Pennsylvania or New York – places where each county may value the property a little differently. Emily loves to use property ownership not only for wealth assessment, but to confirm marital status by using the data from their deeds. This data can often confirm whether a prospect is married and can clear up questions about past relationships. Mimi Slade agrees that county property records are essential for understanding their tangible assets and uses their physical assets alongside their SEC filings to gauge a baseline for wealth.

“A lot of assessor websites will give both the assessed and the market value – but not all of them. I’ve more than once been looking at a property on an assessor’s website and thought ‘that can’t be right.’ Check Pulawski and lo and behold, the value is really more like 150% of what I’m seeing on the assessor site.” -Rachael Dietrich Walker

SEC Filings

Speaking of SEC filings, what are the 8 most important SEC filings and what do they mean? To find out, Allison Kiglics bookmarked this article from Accounting Today and uses it anytime she is reviewing insider trading documents. It keeps her from opening every single filing and lets her skip straight to the ones with financial information. To see if your prospect has any SEC filings worth searching, Jennifer Vincent loves the simplicity of rankandfiled.com, which allows you to search by name and/or export large amounts of data to do some proactive searching.

Salary

If you are looking for salaries for those working in the University of North Carolina System, Jennifer suggests you use the UNC Salary Information Database which reports any salary for an employee in the UNC System as well as their position details. It is a great way to confirm employment and find salary in one stop. Similarly, when looking for employees of North Carolina government, public school, or UNC Hospitals, the News & Observer has a link to a database where you can find position details and salaries. Likewise, you can search for any South Carolina state employee with a salary over $50,000 by searching the South Carolina Department of Administration. When looking for a salary range for federal government employees, www.federalpay.org is a great resource that Merissa Lawson uses regularly. You can use the “federal employee lookup” tool and sometimes you are able to find the exact person’s salary or work history.

Education

If you are looking for someone who attended college in North Carolina, Allison finds DigitalNC Yearbooks to be extremely helpful for verifying the educational history of a prospect or donor.

“DigitalNC Yearbooks is a great way to verify that a prospect or donor did in fact earn a Law Degree and MBA from Duke, plus a Biology Degree from Wake Forest, and an Engineering Degree from NC State.” – Allison Kiglics

Boats

While this may seem more applicable to the coastal researchers like Allison at UNC Wilmington, sometimes you come across a prospect with a boat … or a boat creates the path to a prospect. Allison shared that the USCG Vessel Search provides a free way to take a boat name from the marina (or a social media photo) and get the specs on the vessel and/or the owner. It can take a bit of sleuthing, but can lead you to details about the vessel, which gives insight into value. Sometimes you may find the boat is owned by a private company you did not know they had or leads you to a city you did not know they had ties. Then, of course, you will be off to county records to see what else you can find.

Professional Development

Daniel Moody says that his favorite free resource is on our Member Resources tab where you can watch our pre-recorded webinars from the past few years. This is only available to Apra Carolinas members, and contains over a dozen pre-recorded webinars on topics pertaining to prospect development. We continue to add more content each year and this resource provides a way to get answers to prospect development questions as they arise at your organization. Maybe your department was not ready for an engagement score last year, so you missed the webinar, but now leadership is discussing how to create one. Hop over to the Member Resources tab and check out that webinar!

"There are many times that I can't attend the live session, so I'm grateful to be able to go back and view these retroactively for some great content." -Daniel Moody

Wealth

Steve Grimes created a Wealth Open Data Dashboard to help assist non-profits in their wealth screening and fundraising strategies. Daniel has this dashboard bookmarked and uses it frequently, since it is a great tool to search through various wealth indicators in a variety of ways.

Giving and 990s

To find charitable organizations in a certain state, Jennifer likes to use the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, which allows you to search for different types of nonprofits and shows annual revenue, locations, and classification. So, if you are looking for grant funding for something related to healthcare, you can search for South Carolina Health nonprofits with a 501(c)(3) type and then look for organizations with high revenue … then dive directly into their 990s to see where they give. You can also search your prospect name on the site to see if someone you are researching is linked to any potential funding through a nonprofit. Merissa uses www.candid.org (formerly Foundation Center and Guidestar) almost daily. It is her favorite free resource for accessing 990s. This site is easy to use and they have historical records of filings, which can help you establish giving patterns. Amy Jackson is a big fan of Foundation Directory Online, which is part of Candid now. Many public libraries have access to their FDO Pro, but if you are planning to access it from a library, Amy recommends you watch their free 1-hour tutorial first, and then bring a flash drive with you so you can download search results and profiles for more in-depth research once you are back at your desk. Candid also has some great e-newsletters delivered straight to your inbox to keep you up to date on subject-based philanthropy, links to resources, and funding alerts.

“While FDO Professional is a paid resource, it’s FREE to use at many public libraries (search for one that has it near you here.)” - Amy Jackson

Anything and Everything

Finally, if you are looking for a single bookmark to contain most of your bookmarks, Daniel utilizes the Research Links Directory from Aspire Research Group and Jennifer uses the Helen Brown Group Research Links page. They both present a directory that breaks links down into topics and has a legend to let you know which services require subscriptions, free registration, or a mix of both. Most of the links are simply free, with no registration or fees required. Interestingly, a few of our favorite sites listed above are not in the directories, though you will find many many more.

Did we mention your favorite free resource? If not, drop us an email or comment on social media and share your favorite free resource with the chapter!

Welcome to 2021!

Jennifer — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 01:31:00 GMT

Greetings Apra Carolinas Chapter!

Most of us wanted to rush through 2020, certain that 2021 would undoubtedly be a better and brighter year. Here at your local Apra Carolinas chapter, each year we strive to make sure that every year is better than the last, and this year is no different. As your new president, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the successes of the past year and tell you a bit about what we are planning for the year ahead.

First and foremost – I want to welcome back the wonderful Apra Carolinas board. Most of the faces are the same as last year, but we have shuffled the deck a little. Our fabulous leader from the past two years, Merissa Lawson, has stepped into the Immediate Past President role, allowing yours truly, Jennifer Vincent, to become President. You may know her best for her hilarious GIFs, but the fantastic Allison Kiglics has agreed to become President-Elect for the next two years. Fear not, there will be plenty of GIFs still coming your way as Communications now falls into the very capable hands of Emily Glesias. Membership questions can still be directed to the ambitious Daniel Moody; the ever-witty Rachael Dietrich Walker will continue to bring outstanding content through her role as Education Chair; the ever reliable Mimi Slade is keeping us on track through her role as Secretary; and Emily Hinz, our terrific Treasurer, will process your invoices before you even knew you wanted to register. Sitara Smith will continue to share her insightful ideas through her role as the SC Regional Representative, and we are thrilled to welcome the dynamic Amy Jackson to the board as the NC Regional Representative, where she can share her vast acumen with all of us.

Looking back at 2020, I want to thank our amazing board and speakers for the Ross Geller style PIVOT in February/March that led to our first ever Virtual Spring Conference. I would also like to extend a huge thank you to our incredible members who pivoted with us and gave the board excellent feedback through session surveys and membership surveys. We heard what you were saying and applied your insights to the Virtual Fall Conference in October – which was a huge success, by all accounts. We have been chatting it up one morning a month at our Virtual Coffee Chats and we are excited to offer more of those with some additional virtual networking opportunities in 2021.

Looking ahead, we have exciting plans for 2021!

You can plan on a virtual spring conference, but this one will be bigger and better than ever. That is all the teaser we will share right now, but get excited, it’s going to be grand! Let’s all cross our fingers as we start planning an in-person fall conference in 2021 – can you believe it? Of course, nothing is set in stone, but we’re working toward getting the band back together for a reunion tour. We will offer up some additional webinar content throughout the year and hope to have a couple of surprises up our sleeves.

As always, reach out to any of us – or the chapter email – with any questions or requests, and we look forward to sharing another magnificent year with all of you.

Jennifer Vincent

President, Apra Carolinas

2020 Fall Conference Wrap-up

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 13:57:57 GMT

Our 2020 virtual Fall conference was a smashing success! 76 unique attendees – an Apra Carolinas conference record – heard from presenters across the country on four important and timely topics. Recaps of the sessions follow; if you missed any, Apra Carolinas members can check out the recordings on our new Member Resources page!

October 7^th – Leadership Annual Giving Panel

Panelists:
Mandy Baker Queen, Associate Director of Development, NC State University
Molly Moriarty Russell, Associate Director, Annual Giving, the Oregon State University Foundation
Drew Phillips, Assistant Director for Discovery and Pipeline Development, the Oregon State University Foundation
Allison Kiglics, Prospect Development Manager, UNC Wilmington

Summary by Moderator, Emily Hinz, Apra Carolinas Treasurer, UNC Charlotte

Leadership Annual Giving (LAG) and Leadership Annual Giving Officers (LAGOs) have become increasingly important to many institutions’ donor retention and pipeline development in recent years. For its first session of the Fall 2020 conference, Apra Carolinas gathered an expert group of panelists to talk about the subject. Leadership annual giving is very different from major giving in many respects. For one thing, with a gift size in the $1,000 - $2,500 range, a pool of prospective prospects could be huge. For another thing, a LAG prospect can move through the entire portfolio cycle – from qualification to solicitation to stewardship – in a single phone call.

Despite these differences, prospecting and portfolio management is much the same as with major giving. Work with LAGOs to understand their goals and desired outcomes in order to be able to come up with the best prospects. Use data points like affinity, giving history, and event attendance to build your lists. Metrics for LAGOs are not that different from major gift officers, and looking to the dollar amount raised is always a good measurement for success.

Ultimately, when launching a leadership annual giving program at any institution, collaboration between prospect research and annual giving staff is critical. Clarifying goals, expectations, criteria, and tracking methods on both sides of the prospect development process is the best way to ensure the program’s success.

October 14^th – AI & Machine Learning: The Impact on Prospect Research

Presenters: Cecelia Poplin and Sarah TeDesco, DonorSearch

Summary by Emily Glesias, Apra Carolinas NC Regional Rep, Novant Health

Our presenters, Cecelia Poplin and Sarah TeDesco from DonorSearch, couldn’t have said it better: between the pandemic, recession and unrest, 2020 has truly been a confluence of crisis. What this means for us in nonprofits is that there are new (and sometimes further exposed) pain points within our organizations. The key takeaway was that there’s a LOT of data out there in cyberspace ready to be leveraged; companies and for-profit organizations have been and continue to use this consumer data for nearly every decision they make using emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Nonprofit organizations have not begun to tap into the potential of AI like the private sector but, nearly 83% of those surveyed in 2018 believe that it would improve efficiency, according to Harvard Business Review.

This is where a nonprofit-centric tool like DonorSearch comes in: the use of AI, predictive modeling and scoring, as well as machine learning and can help advance your ability to do large-batch prospect screenings, deliver rankings and key philanthropic indicators in a timely and meaningful way. A research tool that has the capability to cross-reference your organization’s unique data points to millions of other donors and non-donors within the US is only beginning to bridge the gap for nonprofit organizations to finally leverage the same vast amounts of data that the private sector already uses. To take it a step further, tools like DonorSearch that feature an application programming interface (API) can allow you to connect to any available endpoint within your data or tools to deliver profiles and key data points and summaries which can be automated or triggered to run automatically saving you and your organization time to focus in on your mission and prioritize your donor acquisition strategy. The future of data is huge – and happening now – it’s up to nonprofits to keep up with their private sector counterparts and join in on big data if they’re going to stay savvy.

October 21^st - The True Final Frontier: Corporate and Foundation Research and Relationship Management

Presenter: Megan Tedeschi, Deputy Director of Prospect Intelligence, UNICEF

Summary by Mimi Slade, Apra Carolinas Treasurer, Central Carolina Community Foundation

For the third session of the Apra Carolinas fall conference, Megan Tedeschi spoke on the topic of corporate and foundation giving (or relations, CFR for short). While individual philanthropy was down 6% the first quarter of 2020 (per the Chronicle of Philanthropy), foundations are stepping up to fill in the gap, and some companies have been able to survive and thrive during this challenging time. With institutional funding on the rise, it’s worth the time to build great relationships with the gift officers who focus in this area.

How can we find these corporations that might be interested in partnering with our organization? PD professionals need to understand fundraisers and know exactly what they are looking for? Set up news alerts for top prospects or funding topics, and look into relationship mapping to be able to understand where your organization’s connections are.

To help fundraisers understand a CFR prospect, try tailoring a specific template for organizations; delivering content beyond the 990; providing a strategy recommendation; or sharing relationship mapping. An important part of Megan’s profiles is a capacity rating – check out the recording for the details of how Megan comes up with those in the CFR space!

When it comes to relationship management, keep in mind that CFR prospects are unique in some respects. You must tailor departmental metrics/KPIs specifically for CFR. Just as with major giving portfolios, regular reviews are helpful for CFR, but different metrics may need to be considered.

October 28^th: What’s DEI Got To Do With It?

Presenter: Chandra Montgomery, University of Southern California

Summary by Rachael Dietrich Walker, Apra Carolinas Education Chair, Western Carolina University

The final session of the conference touched on the incredibly important and timely topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Our presenter was Chandra Montgomery, Director of Health Sciences Prospect Development and co-chair of the DEI Council at the University of Southern California, a nationally known speaker on DEI topics, and a member of Apra International’s inaugural DEI Committee. Chandra began by giving us a common vocabulary to use, providing definitions of diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion that attendees said helped to illuminate the topic for them in ways it hadn’t been before. The key lesson here, in Chandra’s impactful words: “Diverse” is an adjective. People are nouns.

With a baseline understanding of the concepts, Chandra moved into discussing how they affect our work in development: from creating awareness our biases in pipeline development and algorithms, to working to be more inclusive in everything from our language to our affinity groups, to looking beyond the usual suspects for major and principal gifts. Next, she gave some suggestions for strategizing around DEI implementation: “easy” wins like pronoun inclusivity and a DEI values statement, an implementation arc from aspiration to action to accountability, and the suggestion that an organization should “plan for DEI like you’d plan for a campaign.” Her recommendation for the entire process: “get comfortable being uncomfortable.” She finished by providing resources for both theory and practice, as well as some DEI resources in the Carolinas, including the Foundation for the Carolinas, NC Center for Nonprofits, and the Racial Equity Institute in Greensboro. Attendees came away with lots to think about and a great toolkit for turning these thoughts into practice. Chandra was an incredibly powerful speaker on this crucial topic.

October 30^th: Post-Conference Coffee Chat

We wrapped up the conference with our monthly networking chat to discuss the takeaways of conference attendees from our various sessions – and to announce our Apra Carolinas Chapter Award Winners! This year’s Professional of the Year is Lauren Mullis from the University of South Carolina, and the Distinguished Service Award recipient is Merissa Lawson from Elon University, our chapter President.

After the award announcements, our feedback began with the Leadership Annual Giving Panel. The topic was very relevant and attendees enjoyed having the mix of researchers and gift officers on the panel. It was helpful to think about having goals and metrics for establishing a Major Gifts pipeline. It’s important to have someone thinking about LAG as it tends to be a gap where prospects aren’t really addressed in a dedicated way.

We then shifted to discussing the DEI webinar (Chandra Montgomery). The idea that we should be focused on why diversity is important and what it would add to a team, board, or council, rather than addressing it as a “box to be checked” was thought-provoking. Giving expectations around boards and councils can be too much of a focus when populating those roles and how that may adversely affect who is included. Attendees mentioned that they had attended other DEI sessions but our speaker “synthesized the information so well.”

Finally, we discussed lessons learned from the Corporation and Foundation Relations webinar (Megan Tedeschi). It was helpful to hear that researchers should be focusing less on information gathering and more on analysis and strategy with these prospects. One person said that they’re interested in working on capacity analysis for corporations and foundations after this session; another said that they would be developing a program to pass along grant information discovered during research to faculty members. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to discuss the AI & Machine Learning presentation.

That wraps up our 2020 Apra Carolinas Fall Conference. Thank you to everyone for your attendance and participation!

Q&A with Apra Carolina's Professional Development Scholarship recipient, Margaret Valyou

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 13:44:56 GMT

Margaret Valyou (Assistant Director of Prospect Development, Research & Strategy at NC State University) is the recipient of the 2020 Apra Carolina’s Professional Development Scholarship. The scholarship can be applied to any professional development activity offered by Apra Carolinas or Apra International. Margaret used the funds to attend this year's virtual Apra PD Conference in August. She shared the following impressions of her experience through a Q&A session:

Tell me a little about yourself. How long have you been in prospect development?
I’m originally from New York State and moved to North Carolina to pursue an MPA degree at UNC-Chapel Hill. Once I realized that warm spring weather could come as early as February in the South, I was hooked and never moved back north! I’ve worked in the Office of Prospect Development at NC State University for 11 years. Prior to that, I worked at several nonprofits in various fundraising operations roles.

What did you think of the virtual format of the conference?
This is the first virtual conference I’ve attended. Overall, it worked out well for me. I enjoyed having options for how much live interaction I wanted in a day. There seemed to be enough flexibility to accommodate both introverts and extroverts, while providing similar networking opportunities that you would find at an in-person conference. I also appreciated the breaks that were built into the schedule. Multiple hours of virtual sessions can be tiring on your body and mind.

Have you attended Apra PD before this year?
Yes, several times over the years I’ve worked at NC State.

Why did you choose this conference in particular?
A co-worker had previously won the Apra Conference registration in a prize drawing (thank you Apra Carolinas!) but was no longer available to attend. So, I was fortunate to be able to transfer the registration and attend in her place.

Did you have a favorite session?
I enjoyed the keynote presentation by Frank Sesno and the parallels he drew between his work and our industry. Some meaningful takeaways for me were:

- “The key is not necessarily the first question asked but the follow up question/s.”

- “When you pose a question to others you create a partnership, you invite others into the dialogue, you give them a sense of ownership.”

- His suggestions on how to structure a successful discussion

The Corporate and Foundation Research and Relationship Management session by Megan Tedeschi was also interesting because she walked through how her shop determines capacity on organizations, which is always a great topic. It was helpful that she outlined several options and described the methodology. [Editor's Note: We're glad you enjoyed it, Margaret! Megan will be presenting that session for us as part of our Apra Carolinas fall conference, so plan to register if you missed it at PD!]

Did you notice any common themes throughout the sessions? The idea of how much/what kind of data to collect and then what to do with it once you have it – in terms of ethical data use, privacy regulations, and diversity/inclusion – was an overall theme referenced in most of the sessions I attended.

Did anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

As you might expect, the uncertainty and urgency spawned by the pandemic and social injustice protests were at the top of most people’s minds at this conference.

Is there one thing that you’re committed to making happen at your organization as a direct result of attending the conference? I had already been thinking about the idea of diversity in prospect pools. How do we increase diversity within the research process of identifying suspects when we’re working on a data level and dealing with data points, not people with individual characteristics? There were a couple conference sessions that touched on this and gave me some different ways to think about it, so I’ll definitely be continuing down that road. [Editor's Note: We will also be hosting a wonderful session on DEI at our fall conference, so stay tuned for more details!]

Apra Carolinas Member Survey 2020 Results

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:19:49 GMT

Firstly, the Apra Carolinas board would like to thank each and every one of our members for participating in this membership survey. We received responses from roughly one-third of our membership at 32%. Drawing from these excellent and detailed responses, it becomes possible to be strategic and find ways to bolster the chapter both in resources provided and engaging our membership base.

The survey responses indicate a broad spectrum of reasons as to why one became a member of Apra Carolinas in the first place, ranging from “I was encouraged by my supervisor to join” to “Professional development, networking” and more than one response of “I wanted to be informed about best practices.” Similarly, members saw the benefits of joining the chapter in “order to compare notes, trade tips, educational opportunities, and share information.” The responses to these two questions convey that our members are eager to learn & connect with others and continue to be updated with the latest relevant information.

Following these two questions, we asked our members what they were hoping to gain from being a member of Apra Carolinas. Responses were once again thoughtful, such as “To better myself as a researcher through growth of skills” and “Education through webinars/conferences and connections to others in my area.” Subsequently, we asked what benefits had they already gained from being a member and received responses of …

Networking
Professional development
Webinars, Virtual Content
General knowledge in the field

Our questions regarding conferences showed us that location can be an issue; cost and scheduling conflicts have also prevented some members from attending. Fortunately, we are planning a virtual fall conference in October with events spread over several dates in order to make this more feasible for conference participants. Apra Carolinas members will be able to attend this conference free-of-charge.

Members had various expectations for conference material including learning tips & tricks, high quality content, and good speakers. These results tell us that conferences are still very much desired and from different perspectives. In regards to conferences, we asked our members where they’d like to see Apra Carolinas conferences take place once travel is possible. Suggestions included the South Carolina cities of Charleston, Greenville, and Bluffton. North Carolina areas volunteered were Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad, and the Research Triangle.

With the pandemic in full swing, we thought it would be prudent to ask which virtual ways members would like to connect with each other, resulting in an overwhelming vote for Webinars, followed by Roundtables and Happy Hours. In line with these interests, we have a great webinar scheduled for August 12^th centered around social media data and making it a meaningful resource. We have held two Happy Hours and a Coffee Break (another soon in August) and a roundtable discussion is currently being constructed to present at our virtual fall conference. Make sure not to miss these offerings!

We also asked members for something that they wished our chapter provided that isn’t currently in place. Many of our members responded that nothing else is needed, a big compliment which we appreciate! Several responses offered suggestions of mentorships groups, micro gatherings, and a forum or listserv. These are all recommendations that we will take into consideration for the upcoming year. The next question was “What is your favorite go-to resource for prospect development?” Prospect L Listserv was the leading choice, followed by iWave PRO. We’ll be sure to pass along the compliment to iWave, one of our generous sponsors!

Thanks to those working hard behind the scenes, the Apra Carolinas website received a facelift and has recently been updated with a fresh new look. Regarding the design, a majority of the responses showed an overall positive response to the changes. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, please visit us at https://apracarolinas.wildapricot.org/.

In regards to our overlap with Apra International, the majority of our members are involved with both. It may help to know that Apra International will be offering discounted memberships for new members in 2021, so we’ll keep you posted with more details! We are pleased to learn that an impressive 44% of our member base have been working 10+ years in prospect development! The next largest group goes to those working for 3-5 years at 22%. This is very helpful for us to know as we plan programming for our conference sessions, webinars, and networking sessions. We’ll do our best to try and provide content that appeals to a range of experience levels.

In the concluding section, we had asked our members if they would be willing to serve as a resource for the Road Trip grants, which is an opportunity for members to visit other members for professional development. We are happy to report that 31 members responded that yes, they would be willing to serve as a resource. Thank you for your willingness to share your time and expertise!

We were very happy to learn more about you, the member, from our final question “What is one thing in prospect development that you would like to learn more about?” We were able to see that research, new trends, regional development programs, prospect management meetings, and many more interests are potential areas in which to grow. As always, we are constantly working to provide the best opportunities for our members so we will refer to these topics when we plan upcoming content. We are currently working on a multi-chapter collaborative conference for Spring 2021 so we appreciate all of the excellent ideas.

Thank you once again for participating in our membership survey. The responses help us to provide more opportunities and better content, benefiting all of our members and the field as a whole!

Transitioning from the Nonprofit World to the Private Sector

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 18:48:11 GMT

The latest from Apra Carolinas Blog Post Editor Ashley Smith -- an interview with Jennifer Vincent:

As prospect researchers and managers, we have developed amazing skills in research, writing, and analysis. What would it be like to take these tools of our trade and move from our ivy towers and nonprofits into the private sector? Jennifer Vincent, formerly at UNC Wilmington (UNCW), made that transition last year when she accepted a newly created position at Blackbaud. In this interview, she shares her experiences working for a private company and offers insights to anyone who may be contemplating a move into a new industry.

What led you to make the switch from working in higher education to working in the private sector?

I fell in love with prospect research and management and didn’t really intend to leave the field; however, it began to feel like I was running out of room for growth after spending almost 12 years at UNCW. Several years ago, I began seeking other challenges in the prospect development field, such as serving on the Apra Carolinas board and presenting at conferences. Last summer when I was presenting at Apra PD, I received the offer from Blackbaud to join their organization in a newly created role, Competency Solutions Engineer. I have a degree in psychology, and my position gives me the opportunity to utilize the skills I acquired in statistics and analytics. It also allows me to stay connected to the nonprofit world – especially to prospect development – and work closely with higher education organizations across the world.

Does your current role with Blackbaud share any commonalities with your previous position at UNCW?

Yes! The challenges of account executives are similar to challenges of front-line fundraisers. I’m lucky to work in a more consultative role, where I support the sales teams, much like I supported frontline fundraisers with managing their proposals. I work with the sales teams much like prospect management. I help them identify who the good prospects are, who might be best to contact, review their opportunities, and try to help them meet fiscal year targets and goals. All of that is very similar to what I was doing in prospect management. The main difference is that now I’m the one on the calls with the prospects as we discuss the needs and goals of their organization to best figure out what software solutions are the right fit. I’m still helping nonprofits with major gift fundraising, but through the tools Blackbaud has developed.

What have been some challenges with the transition?

Not only am I a relatively new employee at Blackbaud, I’m also new to the private sector. I worked at UNCW for over a decade, so I knew the people and campus community well. I was fortunate to help build the prospect development department, which allowed me to intimately know the ins and outs of the profession. If I didn’t have an answer, I had the knowledge and freedom to create one. With a well-established new employer and a new industry, there are many times where I feel like I’m playing catch up as I learn the products and the systems. Add to that, my colleagues use a lot of acronyms, and I’ve had to create a glossary to help me communicate more effectively. It can be rather confusing, but I love a good challenge.

What have been some benefits with the transition?

The opportunity to work remotely! I love having a flexible work schedule and work attire based almost entirely of athletic clothing and blue jeans. I also find it very satisfying to have a job that helps prospect development professionals in lots of different organizations find solutions to problems they’re encountering. I like figuring out what products to recommend to best fit their unique needs. I’ve always loved puzzles, so now I get paid to solve them. While it may seem lonely to work remotely, I am fortunate to spend my days talking about analytics and fundraising with dedicated professionals from all over. Not to mention, I get to continue my relationships with my colleagues at UNCW, while fitting into a brand-new team of fantastic teammates. And yes, the pay and benefits are a big bonus to working in the private sector.

What do you wish you had known about the move from public to private sector before starting at Blackbaud?

While I knew that job stability in the private sector is less secure compared to state and nonprofit jobs, I didn’t really understand how quickly things can change. I might be great at my job, but if my position doesn’t add value, it can be eliminated. Assuming I’m a good employee, I could likely find another role, but there’s not a guarantee that it would be a next step I wanted to take.

What advice would you give to prospect analysts who may be considering a career switch from nonprofit to for-profit employment?

If you are considering a job in the private sector, be aware that you’re probably going into a faster paced, less secure job environment. Everything happens very quickly; emails are instantly returned, chats are flying in, appointments appear on your calendar – you might start the day with nothing on your calendar and find yourself in back-to-back meetings with entire projects transformed. You might find that you work more hours during the week, which happened to me. Part of the reason for that is I work remotely, so I don’t have the office banter at the water cooler. Additionally, I feel more accountable to the company because I’m not physically going into an office. It’s not uncommon for me to pop in at night to make headway on a project, because I’m more likely to focus without the emails and chats pinging me. That said, you can look forward to the freedom of a long lunch with friends or the ability to go to your kid’s school for a class project. I feel very fortunate to work for a company that values philanthropy and volunteering. They encourage (and incentivize) employees being active in their community. Additionally, Blackbaud wants its customers to be beyond satisfied with the products and services they’re receiving, and my role is to help amplify customer delight to 11 so to speak. Focusing on helping nonprofits helps me feel the warmth I felt while working at a nonprofit, with the additional benefits of the private sector.

Meet our new Board Members!

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 16:42:54 GMT

We have some new additions to the Apra Carolinas Board for 2020. As we prepare for another great year, please take a moment to get to know these fantastic volunteers and be sure to give them a warm welcome when you see them at an Apra Carolinas event!

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR

Daniel Moody, Advancement Research Analyst at High Point University

· How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: I’ve worked in the Prospect Research field for an admittedly short but strong 8 months. I’m looking forward to the 1-year mark in June!

· Briefly summarize your background: Preceding my current position at High Point University, I was an adjunct professor of Sociology. During this time, I was heavily involved in academic research and worked on various projects contributing my use of statistical and theoretical knowledge.

· What inspired you to join the board?: The employee that previously held my very position, McKenzie Diehm, spoke highly of Apra Carolinas which facilitated my joining the group. After attending the Fall conference at WCU, I was very impressed with the individuals and knowledge involved and knew that I could contribute to the success of the organization and field of prospect research. Becoming a Board Member, and specifically Membership chair, would help to facilitate this.

· What are you most proud of in your work?: Besides finding top prospects for our Advancement officers, I’m proud of always fulfilling and going beyond what’s asked of me even if it’s outside of my comfort zone and I need to learn new subject matter to successfully complete the task. I’m also a fan of the maxim “proud but never satisfied” and I believe that I reflect this in my daily work.

· Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: Truthfully, I think the combination of various research tools is what makes me happiest as a prospect researcher, i.e. a main screening tool, obituary databases, reverse phone/address search, geographic wealth ZIP code areas, CEO salary calculators, etc. I’m a big fan of the ReferenceUSA tool for determining estimated business revenue (from InfoGroup) that our library subscribes to. Also – Steve Grimes’ Wealth Open Data Dashboard is an excellent free tool.

· What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: I would really like to visit Greece. I’m not sure that I could pinpoint a specific reason, but there’s a wealth of culture, scenery, and history that I’d love to someday experience.

NC REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Emily Glesias, Prospect Research Management Supervisor at Novant Health

· How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: This year will be four!

· Briefly summarize your background: I have been with Novant Health Foundation for four years – first as the database management specialist and now as the prospect research supervisor. My love for fundraising and nonprofit work began in college when I interned with the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA working on development and grant-writing.

· What inspired you to join the board?: As a member, I really enjoyed the educational opportunities that Apra Carolinas offered and wanted to not only network with other researchers but also learn from them and gather as much wisdom as I could when I first started out. Joining the board was an exciting next step for me because I wanted to grow within the chapter and have a seat at the table (quite literally!) when deciding what the future holds for us, as well as giving input on all of the fantastic resources and educational opportunities in store!

· What are you most proud of in your work?: My team is very new and we’ve spent a majority of our time and energy creating brand new processes that are both thoughtful and efficient for prospect research management. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come in the last few years from a buy-in standpoint from all of our other foundation team members, as well as the work we’ve done in implementing prospect data analytics and data management policies for our donor database. I love being able to use our work every day to showcase how remarkable our foundation team’s efforts are and the impact of what they’re accomplishing in our facilities and communities.

· Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: Since we have six market foundations our team supports, and most of them are in NC, I use the NC State GIS site library often. It’s a quick and easy spot to find all NC county property maps without having to click through a bunch of bookmarked pages! I also use the NC Voter Search site to confirm residency, too since NC voter information is available to the public unlike some other states.

· What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: Ooh, I can’t pick just one! I’ve always been a big fan of genealogy and mapping family trees (big surprise I enjoy prospect research)! Recently, I’ve wanted to plan a heritage trip to trace my lineage back to an ancestral home or region. I have a lot of family that’s from all over Europe and the UK but, I would first love to trace back my family from Ireland and travel there. The origins of my last name are also a big family mystery – we’ve always said it’s Spanish but there’s no evidence – so, finding where it comes from would be exciting too!

TREASURER

Emily Hinz, Prospect Development Analyst at UNC-Charlotte

· How many years have you worked in fundraising/prospect research?: I joined the prospect research team at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in May, 2017.

· Briefly summarize your background: Before coming to Charlotte, I worked as a Donor Stewardship Specialist for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in my hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia. A small portion of my time there was shared with prospect research, which peaked my interest in the field. I graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2016 with a BA in English, and got my start in non-profit work by interning with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula’s development office.

· What inspired you to join the board?: In 2018, I was the APRA Carolina’s Road Trip Scholarship winner and used the opportunity to visit The Citadel Foundation! I was inspired to join the Apra Carolinas board after connecting with several of the other members at the Apra Prospect Development 2019 conference in Phoenix, AZ. Everyone seemed so welcoming and encouraged me to explore the idea, and I am so glad that I did.

· What are you most proud of in your work?: In my work, I'm most proud of the personal relationships I have cultivated with Development Officers. It helps me to feel that I make a significant contribution to the fundraising process at UNC Charlotte when a DO asks for my advice or thanks me for my research.

· Do you have favorite research tool, site, or trick you can share?: My favorite research tool is definitely iWave. It is a one-stop shop for employment info & email, property value, and philanthropic/political giving. It helps me determine if I've found a good prospect "at a glance."

· What is your bucket list vacation destination and why?: My bucket list vacation destination would be anywhere on the coast of the Mediterannean! Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and Greece are all countries that share the #1 spot on my travel list. I would love the gorgeous beaches and all the awesome history the area has as well!

They’re Coming!!! Data Privacy Laws and Their Impact on Prospect Research

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 16:10:28 GMT

From Apra Carolinas Blog Post Editor Ashley Smith -- some thoughts on the new privacy laws that will be changing the way we do our work:

Data privacy laws are having their moment as more people realize that numerous organizations are collecting their personal information without clearly disclosing what they do with it, who has access to it, and how it’s protected from unauthorized use (I’m looking at you, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica). Several countries have passed laws limiting the kinds of personal information that organizations may collect while giving their citizens greater control over their data. Some data privacy laws, like the one in Europe, have significantly changed how nonprofits do prospect research. US privacy laws, however, haven’t had much of an impact on prospect research in the states, but that is a temporary reprieve. With growing concerns over organizations’ data collection practices, lawmakers will eventually pass a privacy law, either at the state or federal level, that will force us to change some of our business practices. Now is the time to prepare.

In 2016 the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a law that requires organizations to be more transparent on how they’re using the personal data of EU and UK citizens. The law restricts the kinds of personal data organizations may collect and applies to nonprofit institutions in addition to for-profit companies. Charities, educational organizations, and other nonprofits may only use personal data for lawful, specific purposes, like carrying out their institution’s mission or advancing public policy. Any other uses outside of these purposes are prohibited. The GDPR affects not only companies and institutions in the UK and EU, but also organizations outside those countries that handle the personal data of British and European citizens (aka, data subjects).

Not surprisingly, the GDPR has impacted how nonprofits collect and use personal data to fundraise. The EU treats privacy as a fundamental human right, and the GDPR gives its citizens greater control of their personal data. While the law does not explicitly ban prospect research or certain tools of our trade, like wealth screenings, it does require organizations to disclose how they use their constituents’ personal information and to give their constituents the right to choose how their data may be used. Under the GDPR, nonprofits can no longer conduct prospect research without the knowledge of their prospects, and they must now get permission from their European data subjects to do wealth screenings.

As of November 2019, there is not a centralized law that protects the personal data of US citizens. Federal data privacy laws so far have been sector specific with Congress passing legislation that restricts how banks, health care organizations, and schools, etc. collect and disseminate US citizens’ personal information. To fill this void, states like California, Nevada, and Maine have passed their own privacy laws. When it becomes effective on January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will be the strongest data privacy law enacted in the US, and like the GDPR, it will compel organizations that collect California residents’ personal data to disclose that practice while giving them the choice on how organizations may use their data. Unlike the GDPR, the CCPA applies only to for-profit organizations that hold the personal data of more than 50,000 California consumers and have over $25 million in revenue. While it’s unclear how the CCPA will impact nonprofit development – and prospect development in particular – third-party vendors, like edtech companies or CMS providers, that collect and process the data of California residents will have to comply with the new law.

There is strong bipartisan support for a federal law giving US citizens greater control over their personal data, but it’s uncertain when Congress will pass a comprehensive data privacy law and whether such a law will have the same level of privacy protections as the GDPR. Until then, people who work with personal data will have to be mindful of the patchwork of federal regulations and privacy laws enacted by state legislatures. As prospect development professionals, we already know that we have a responsibility to protect our donors’ private information, but that responsibility will continue to evolve as more state privacy laws are passed and our organizations adopt policies to be in compliance with those laws.

Seeing Things From a Different Perspective

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:40:02 GMT

Apra Carolinas Immediate Past President, Beth Inman (National Director of Prospect Development for JDRF) has shared her thoughts on seeing fundraising from a different perspective -- that of a fundraiser:

My daughter is a sophomore at Academic Magnet High School in Charleston, SC – stick with me here, I promise this post is not about my daughter! In the fall of her freshman year, I was thrilled to learn that her (public) school had a foundation, the Academic Magnet Foundation, whose mission is to “preserve the long-term excellence of the school by supporting leading-edge academic and arts enrichment opportunities that help prepare the students to become successful and productive citizens.” Every fall, the Foundation hosts a fundraising campaign called Thanks for Giving to raise funds for the programs it supports, like Summer Scholars, a 4 day orientation before school starts to help incoming freshman with the transition from middle school to the school’s unique academic environment. As a parent who has lived (barely) through all the variations of school and sports team fundraisers like wrapping paper, cookie dough, Booster-thons, etc., I have long been a proponent of raising funds for schools annual-giving style, if possible. That is, ask the school’s families and local businesses to donate funds (all of which go to the school) instead of burdening the parents with selling crap they end up having to get payment for and then deliver (and the school only gets a small percentage of the sales). Let me back up a minute, though: I don’t think schools should have to fundraise at all, but that’s a conversation for another day!

Fast forward to the end of my daughter’s freshman year when there was a call for volunteers for the various parent organizations, including the Foundation. I raised my hand and the next thing I know, I’m in charge of the Thanks for Giving campaign for this fall. My disclaimer to the Foundation’s Board was I am not a frontline fundraiser BUT I do know fundraising and I was willing to give it a shot. The campaign runs from the beginning of November until the end of December each year and for the past few years the total amount given has flatlined. It’s still an impressive amount but we were looking for ways to boost that. So far, we’ve been creative with ways of contacting the parents (personal email then following up with a text message instead of a phone call) and we’ve done a challenge match which was tremendously successful. As I write this, we’re halfway through the campaign and we’re 81% to our goal. This is so exciting for me partly because I know how important these funds are but also, from a professional perspective, I am seeing fundraising from a different perspective.

At the beginning of the campaign, I had a call with a potential business partner and ended the call with a generous pledge both from the business as well as from the business owner. I asked for a gift and they said yes – what a high! In that moment, I was in the role of a frontline fundraiser and I got it. I got why they are passionate about what they do. Don’t get me wrong, I was a nervous wreck before the call but I survived and the experience of that call and other conversations about supporting the campaign has really expanded my perspective of a frontline fundraiser’s role. The chair of the Foundation’s Board and I made the call together which was really helpful. We approached it strategically and planned who was going to say what – he started the call with background on the Foundation and what we support and I followed up with details on the campaign and made the ask. It’s not easy to call and ask someone or a business for a gift; on some level, we are all afraid of rejection but the key is to have your homework prepared (which your prospect development colleagues can definitely help you with!) and to make the ask. Don’t dance around it, be direct and just ask! A former boss of mine used to say that the prospect should know they’ve been asked and that has always stuck with me.

The bottom line is we need each other – the fundraisers need us and we need the fundraisers – the ability and willingness to see things from each other’s viewpoints is vital and can only serve to make us all more successful. I challenge my prospect development colleagues to get involved in a fundraising effort for a cause about which you are passionate and gain a new or different perspective on our field. Likewise, I also challenge my frontline fundraiser colleagues to join in while a prospect development colleague drafts a comprehensive profile in preparation for a senior leadership visit or while a portfolio is being prepared for a new development officer. It’s worth it, I promise.

Q&A with Apra Carolina's Professional Development Scholarship recipient, Mimi Slade

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 12:45:37 GMT

Mimi Slade is the recipient of the 2019 Apra Carolina’s Professional Development Scholarship, which can be applied to any professional development activity offered by Apra Carolinas or Apra International. A Prospect Research Assistant at the University of South Carolina, Mimi used her $1,500 scholarship to attend the Apra PD Conference in Phoenix, AZ. Blog Post Editor Ashley Smith interviewed Mimi to learn about her experience.

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing prospect development?

I grew up in Columbia but left after high school to attend Clemson University. However, I knew I wanted to return to my hometown after I graduated in 2017. I’ve been doing prospect development for over two years now. I like to tell people that I graduated from college on a Friday and began my prospect research position the following Monday.

What did you think of Phoenix? Was this your first time visiting the city?

Phoenix was hot! Thankfully, it was a dry heat unlike the hot, humid summers we experience here. Not only was this my first time visiting Phoenix, but it was also my first trip to the western part of the U.S. I flew to Arizona a couple of days before the conference started and did some sightseeing at the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and Antelope Canyon.

Have you attended an Apra PD conference prior to this year?

This was my first time going to Apra PD. Until this year, I had only attended conferences put on by our local Apra chapter.

Why did you choose this conference?

Apra PD offered many opportunities for me to network. I wanted to meet other people in the prospect development field and learn how other institutions run their shops.

Did you have a favorite session?

I really enjoyed the sessions that focused on relationship building and collaborating with the development officers, like Empower Yourself to Improve Gift Officer Relationships and Strategic Discussion – Stepping Away from Cleanup and Focusing on Meaningful Conversations. The session on improving gift officer relationships was especially helpful because the information on relationship building and communication was drawn from psychology and personality studies. For me, it was a different approach to that topic, and the information I learned could be used for relationship building both in and outside of the prospect development profession.

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

One common theme I noticed was the importance of tailoring the information I find to the specific needs of the requester. For example, knowing when to really dig into the weeds and present highly detailed information or knowing when just a summary is needed. I also liked learning about visual data tools and how presenting information in charts and graphs can really enhance what I’m trying to convey in my communications.

Did anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

I was struck by the large number of people who attended Apra PD. The conference drew a diverse crowd, and it seemed like there was a session for everyone. I especially liked meeting prospect analysts from different countries and also analysts working at organizations outside of higher education.

Would you recommend that the next recipient of the scholarship use their funding on this conference?

Definitely! I had an incredible experience at the conference, and I’m thankful for all the opportunities I had to network with colleagues and see how other organizations are handling similar challenges. I feel the prospect development community is full of people who are generous with their time and knowledge and want to help others become better prospect researchers and analysts.

Is there anything that you’d like to implement at your organization as a direct result of attending this conference?

Before I left for the conference, my team was working though the logistics of organizing quarterly meetings with development officers. During the sessions, I learned how other institutions organized these meetings, which gave me many useful ideas on creating agendas, knowing who should be in the meetings, as well as what documents to send the development officers before and after each meeting.

Apra Carolinas Membership Survey results

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 19:16:09 GMT

Thank you to everyone who completed the 2019 membership survey. We received responses from 30% of our membership. The compiled information was reviewed and has provided some wonderful insights on how to best enhance the experience and engagement opportunities within the chapter.

Based on the results, we see that our chapter is comprised of both newcomers to the organization and seasoned veterans. As shown below, over 50% of the chapter has been a part of Apra Carolinas for three or more years. This mix has allowed members access to high quality content and peer learning that is central to the organization.

Almost all of our members’ responsibilities include prospect research and at least 50% include prospect management and data analytics. Additionally, the survey revealed that over 65% of the chapter is operating in small shops with less than 3 team members, of which 21% are in single team operations.

We also asked if members have attended our conferences; an overwhelming 88% of you have, with those not in attendance citing reasons like lack of professional development funding and no staffing coverage. This information highlights that while the in-person conferences are beneficial, it will be necessary to incorporate more virtual networking and webinar opportunities into the annual programming to bridge gaps in distance, budgets, and workload.

Suggested educational topics received from the survey will be explored for both upcoming conferences and future webinars. Topics submitted included the following:

Data Analytics (Development and Application)
Prospect Strategy and Pipeline Movement
Tracking Metrics and Best Practices
Prospect Identification Strategies/Challenges
Proactive Research and Prioritization
Influencing Change and Internal Culture Shifts

Finally, we asked what members value most and what they’d like for us to offer – and we loved your responses! Apra Carolinas members enjoy our networking and professional development opportunities, as well as access to a larger community and the sharing of ideas and experiences. Requests came in for more frequent programming/webinars, additional networking opportunities, and certification/training. We are currently exploring ways to collaborate with other professional organizations and other chapters to offer virtual networking and interesting webinars. Stay tuned for more details!

We are excited to better connect with members and continue to enhance the community of prospect professionals throughout the Carolinas. Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses, and we look forward to seeing you at an Apra Carolinas event soon!

Q&A with Apra's 2019 Distinguished Service Award recipient, Beth Inman

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:56:52 GMT

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.

Meet the Apra Carolinas Board

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:52:14 GMT

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**

Cryptocurrency Interview with Liz Rejman and Jason Shim of Pathways to Education

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 01:45:17 GMT

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!

How to Develop an Analytics Project: Building a Model Score (Part 4 of 4)

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 20:58:27 GMT

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!

How to Develop an Analytics Project: Building a Model Score (Part 3 of 4)

Fri, 02 Nov 2018 02:55:40 GMT

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!

Interview with Dana Green, Apra-Carolinas Scholarship Winner

Mon, 22 Oct 2018 22:43:49 GMT

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!

How to Develop an Analytics Project: Building a Model Score (Part 2 of 4)

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 16:07:18 GMT

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.

From Charlotte to Charleston: A Day at the Citadel (2017 Road Trip Scholarship)

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 16:49:46 GMT

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 10^th, 25^th, 40^th, and 50^th 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 40^th 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.

How to Develop an Analytics Project: Building a Model Score (Part 1 of 4)

Thu, 24 May 2018 21:40:58 GMT

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.

Apra Carolinas: 2017 Year in Review and What's Ahead for 2018

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 17:49:40 GMT

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.

ICYMI: 2017 (Philanthropy) Year in Review

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 16:37:18 GMT

This month's blog comes from Elizabeth Roma. Not only is she the Assistant Director for Research with The Helen Brown Group LLC, but she is also our chapter's president beginning in 2018.

ICYMI: 2017 (Philanthropy) Year in Review

Looking at my calendar and counting the number of days left in 2017, I find myself wondering where the year went! Time has flown, but so MUCH has happened, that at the same time, some days feel like they’re a week long. (What’s that expression? “The days are long, but the years are short.”) As prospect researchers, it is part of our job to keep an eye on all that’s happening and think about its impact (both immediate and potential) on our organizations. Doing that while trying to crank out profiles, run reports, and identify new prospects (not to mention process gifts, write grant proposals, and all of the other things that you might be doing if you work in a small shop) can be challenging, to say the least. If you are like me, you probably have a folder full of bookmarked articles that you saved for later reading. I know that folder can be overwhelming sometimes, so I spent some time tackling mine and pulled out some of the top themes that I’ve been observing over the last year, along with some articles that I think are worth reading and contemplating. I hope that you will have some down time over the next few weeks to read some of them and that they will help inform your work in 2018!

Growth of new philanthropic vehicles and types of gifts

Foundations and cash gifts are still around, but donors are looking more and more to non-traditional philanthropic vehicles (like DAFs and LLCs) and forms of giving (like impact investment and donations of art—or bitcoin.)

Thankfulness by Kathy Mills, Senior Donor Identification Analyst

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:41:19 GMT

The Impact of Thanking Annual Fund Donors

When I was younger, my mother forced me to write thank you notes to anyone who had given me a gift for my birthday. It seemed like a chore at the time, but as an adult, I came to appreciate when I was thanked for sending a gift – and I certainly remembered those that never thanked me. Today, sometimes a simple “thank you” seems like a dying art.

As nonprofit organizations, it’s critical that we thank our donors promptly. That $25 annual fund donor could turn out to be a $25,000 donor in the future if he or she feels appreciated right from the start. But every organization sends a thank you letter. What if you took it one step further?

A couple of years ago, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center supercharged its annual giving program with the addition of two special gifts officers (SGO). One of the roles of the SGOs is to reach out to annual fund donors to thank them for their first-time gift or for finishing paying a pledge. They also call other donors that our prospect research/management team identifies as having potential for making larger or additional gifts but who aren’t yet major gift prospects.

Delighting the Donor

I love reading our SGOs’ contact reports. It is not unusual for a donor to be taken completely by surprise by our thank you calls. Unlike major donors, a thank you call is unusual for lower-level donors to receive, and they’re delighted to be recognized. This leads our SGOs to ask what motivated them to make a gift, and we’ve heard some wonderful stories from our medical school alumni who valued their time here as well as patients who were pleased with their care. When we hear, “You saved my life,” we know we found a potentially loyal donor. This opens the door for our SGOs to ask for continued giving, and I’m amazed at how many donors say, “Absolutely,” and proceed to give a credit card number over the phone or ask for a reply envelope in the mail.

In addition to phone calls, our SGOs visit patients in the hospital. We monitor a daily list of inpatients looking for unmanaged alumni, current or former board members, recent annual fund donors, and lapsed but previously consistent donors. The SGOs stop in to say hello, bring a medical center tote bag or other swag, a handwritten get well note, and a business card. They thank the donor for being a friend to the medical center, and of course there is no solicitation at the time. It’s simply a thank you visit. These visits have gone very well, and many times we’ve seen gifts come in after the patients have been discharged.

Uncovering Major Gift Prospects

When SGOs are engaging these donors, they listen for clues that someone could eventually be a major or planned gift prospect. After some cultivation and at an appropriate time, the SGO may hand off these prospects to a major gift officer for further cultivation. However, there have been times when a significant gift came in before re-assignment. For instance, one of our SGOs really bonded with one of our medical school alums, who revealed that he had included the medical school in his estate plans. Teaming up with a major gift officer for a visit with the donor, the SGO was able to document this gift. This alum had barely been contacted before the SGO reached out to thank him for his loyal giving.

By having the prospect research/management team work in conjunction with the annual funds team to identify prospects for SGOs to call or visit, the number of annual fund renewals has increased, and donors are left feeling good about supporting our organization. We’d like to think our efforts would have made Emily Post proud.

Two Days in the Triangle by Rick Loveday, Road Trip Scholarship Winner

Tue, 12 Sep 2017 14:11:47 GMT

Rick Loveday’s Two Days in the Triangle

We were excited to award 2017’s Apra Carolinas’ Professional Development Scholarship to Rick Loveday of Clemson University! The “road trip” is a scholarship program to cover travel expenses for a member to spend a day with someone within the Carolinas to learn about processes, procedures, CRM, a specific project, or so forth. One road trip scholarship is awarded annually and covers travel expenses (gas, meals, and 1 night of lodging) up to $300.

Read on to learn where Rick went and what he learned…

Two Days in the Triangle

I have been in Prospect Research at Clemson University for about a year and a half. This job has been my first foray into non-profits, higher education, and fund raising. I had garnered plenty of research experience in previous jobs, from journalism to fiction to legal. I also had extensive report development and Excel coding experience. Despite jumping into a completely new field, it was a fairly seamless transition. Since about my third week on the job, before I even had any teams of my own to support, I started developing reports to improve some of our methods of tracking portfolio details or created new reports that filled in areas our team had not been tracking yet. Every couple of weeks or so, my boss would drop some idea she came up with or some new aspect she wanted to track. I would take that idea and come back with a prototype report. That process went on for about eight months. By the end of the year, we had a full suite of new reports to help our Development Officers. When the Apra Carolinas’ email went out with the information about the Road Trip Scholarship, my boss made sure I saw it and urged me to apply.

As I pondered where I might want to visit while writing my application essay, I thought about where we were trying to go as a department. My boss has made a big push to increase our analytics offerings since I was hired. I decided I wanted to take a look and see how other similar institutions got started in analytics or ran their departments. Since I am at a university, I wanted to visit another university and that narrowed my list down to a manageable few. I figured if I visited a higher concentration of universities I would get more bang for my buck. That led me to North Carolina’s Research Triangle.

Wednesday, July 19.

On my first day, I met with Pitt Tomlinson and Justin Woodard at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One of Pitt’s primary goals when accepting the job as the Director of Prospect Management, Research and Analytics a little over two years ago was to create a new analytics team. His first, and to date only, analytics hire was Justin Woodard as Assistant Director of Prospect Analytics. The word “Analytics” was already part of Pitt’s title when he accepted the job and part of UNC’s strategic plan. I took some time to go over our current setup at Clemson. I explained how we had just been focusing on developing new reports and introducing them. Some reports were modifications on existing IT created reports that took a deeper look into certain aspects not previously tracked or recorded. Pitt was impressed with the way we were going about getting our foot in the proverbial door. He encouraged us to continue doing exactly what we were doing. People don’t realize what they are missing out on until it gets put in front of them. The more products we create and push out to our development officers, the more they will realize the additional benefits we can provide.

Justin’s journey to his present position followed a similar trajectory as my own. He had experience in the legal field and was well-versed in various methods of research. But when he took the Assistant Director position, it was his first trip down the fund-raising rabbit hole. He’s spent the last year getting a stronger handle on the position and what all it entails. Pitt explained they could have hired a couple additional analysts, but decided to hold off. He wanted Justin to be fully immersed in the position and go through all the growing pains before bringing in additional staff. In doing so, Justin would have a stronger grasp on the position and be that much more of a leader; it is a concept I could whole-heartedly get behind. I always want to be a master of something before I have to go teach it to others. I love hitting the roadblocks and breaking right through them.

Thursday, July 20.

On Thursday morning, I made the short drive over to Duke University to meet with Natalie Spring and her team. Natalie is the Director of Prospect Research, Management and Analytics. The thing I found most interesting about Duke’s central development office was they do not have a CRM. At Clemson, we use Raiser’s Edge and know a few other schools using Millennium. I couldn’t imagine not using some sort of software to access our constituent database. Natalie first joined the department working in statistics and analysis. She left Duke for another position then returned as the Director of Prospect Research, Management and Analytics. Her biggest piece of advice was to figure out what they were doing and to mold their job descriptions to that. As you adapt jobs, continue to adapt the job descriptions to match. I believe she said they were currently in the middle of the fourth rewrite of job descriptions. The positions they originally had when creating the department no longer existed and have evolved into completely different beasts.

In addition to Natalie, I requested to meet with Ian Conlon and Chris Coutlee. Ian is the Associate Director of Prospect Management and Analytics. Chris is a Data Analyst. Chris’s background really intrigued me because he listed all the online classes and certifications he had gained through Coursera, which were the same I was looking at or already taking through EdX.org and Coursera.

I spoke to Ian and Chris about some of the types of projects they’ve worked on. Chris mentioned they had a script they run that would de-duplicate their constituent lists by removing separate lines for spouses, including all activity for the whole family on the same line. I thought that was an interesting process I needed to look into since we currently have to de-duplicate our lists by hand, depending on the data, or by using the remove duplicates feature of Excel.

Ian explained the typical life-cycle of their projects. They tend to start with something small, usually confined to just one of the departments. They develop a report or application just for that department and try to work out all the bugs. Once that is done, they bring in another department to increase the user pool. This typically leads to more bugs being discovered. They repeat that process until they feel the tool is ready to present to the major stakeholders; I really liked that concept. With what I had developed at Clemson, we generally created something, tested it ourselves, then took it to the stakeholders for approval. We never really went through a beta testing phase or included groups of development officers to get their input or thoughts.

Another key concept they realized quickly was the need for a formalized list of research offerings, that way everyone stayed on the same page. The development officers knew what they could ask for or what research could provide them. The researchers and analysts didn’t have to worry about five different development officers requesting five different variations of the same report. I quickly saw where that would make life much easier.

I also got to spend some time with Chris one on one to see some of the projects he was working on. He showed me a travel list they put together that had some interesting geocoding features built into the report. That took the top spot of ideas I wanted to implement into my own travel lists when I got back to Clemson.

After lunch with both groups from Duke and UNC, I hit the road back to Clemson, fresh with new ideas. Some I can immediately start working on, while others, I know will need more training and experience before I start. In the end, the visits gave me a goal to work towards and a bright horizon to look forward to.

Thank you, Rick, for sharing your experience!

Many thanks to UNC’s Pitt Tomlinson and Justin Woodard and Duke University’s Natalie Spring, Ian Conlon, and Chris Coutlee for hosting and taking time to speak with Rick!

The Struggle is Real: DoD Contact Report Entry by Dawn Wyatt, Associate Director of Prospect Management

Fri, 14 Jul 2017 12:54:03 GMT

In the Office of Development at the University of South Carolina, it is the Prospect Management team’s responsibility to make sure contacts entered into our CRM by Directors of Development (DoDs) are accurate. Last fall we did a study and discovered that 78% of the contact entries made by DoDs needed some form of correction, whether large or small, by the Prospect Management team. During the study, we discovered numerous mistakes made by DoDs— contacts entered in the wrong stage, blank fields, manager conflicts, asks entered with no manager assignment. Each mistake required our attention and knowledge of how to correctly document contact entries in our CRM.

As the Associate Director of Prospect Management, I knew there had to be something I could do to eliminate these errors and improve our business processes in order to have accurate, reliable data in our CRM. While attending the 2017 Apra Carolinas fall conference, I participated in a group discussion about prospect management and quickly realized this was an industry-wide issue with others experiencing the same problems with contacts being entered wrong or not entered at all into CRMs. This common complaint gave me the motivation I needed to work on improving the process or to provide an alternative to the traditional method of contact report entry into our CRM.

I saw the Prospect Management team as the professionals inside the database reviewing an average of 300 records a week, and the DoDs as the professionals outside the database meeting with constituents and donors. Because the Prospect Management team members are among the primary stakeholders and subject matter experts when it comes to entries into the CRM, my plan was to develop a system for DoDs to submit to the Prospect Management team information about their fundraising efforts that did not require the DoDs to log into our CRM and make their own contact report entries. This would hopefully free the DoDs to do what they do best which is raise money and enable my team to do what they do best which is manage data entry in our CRM.

My plan was to create an online contact report form for DoDs to fill out and submit to the Prospect Management team to make the entry correctly in our CRM. This simple form was accessible online by computer, tablet, and smart phone to help our DoDs who travel frequently.

The goals of the form were to:

• Help ensure accuracy with contact entries

• Increase accuracy of data in the reports we provide to leadership

• Decrease the time it takes DODs to document their efforts

• Eliminate the uncertainty of where a contact needs to be entered in our CRM

• Eliminate the time it takes to correct entries

• Decrease number of questions for DoDs regarding their entries

The project started with six DoDs from different divisions who committed to a six week test run of the online form. When they discovered the form could be submitted via their smartphone, they quickly became advocates. They became even bigger advocates when they realized they could use “voice to text” on their smartphones to fill in the form. The Prospect Management team members were on board with giving this project a try; however, they expressed concerns about how to keep up with the new form while also continuing their regular routine of reviewing contact entries. These concerns were quickly laid to rest when it became apparent the online form was quicker when compared to the amount of time it took to identify and correct existing errors made by DoDs in our CRM.

Throughout the six week test run, we received great feedback and excellent recommendations for improvements to the form. Among the improvements was the inclusion of specific fields to help save steps. For example, we added a field so a DoD can submit one form to add multiple entries, for example when they send out numerous emails to schedule appointments. A form does not have to be filled out for each constituent receiving an email instead one form is filled out for the entire email recipient list. We also added a field to ask the DoD would like to be assigned as a manager; this prompts us to assign them as a prospect manager without them having to do anything else. We are also able to capture new biographic data with a field that asks for updated employment or address information. We even have a field asking if the gift capacity rating seems accurate. If it doesn’t seem accurate, we forward the form to our Prospect Research team who re-screens the constituent’s gift capacity rating.

The six week test run was a tremendous success; we quickly saw a decrease in corrections needed on contact report entries. The results were presented to senior level management who, with no hesitation, quickly saw the value of the online form and asked that I do a presentation on the form at our division’s quarterly all-staff meeting. The form is now a part of our regular business processes to offer DoDs the online form as a method for getting contact reports entered into our CRM.

Use of the online form is optional and has been in use approximately six months; 50% of our DoDs are using the form and a staggering 1,700+ online forms have been submitted. The popularity of the online form continues to grow alongside our quality in communication with DoDs. If DoDs are contacted, they are now contacted in a positive way and not because of a problem with an entry in the CRM. Even DoDs who made little to no effort to enter their contacts are using the form, which means their activities are being entered and are accurately reflected in our reports.

Ultimately, we have made the contact report review process more efficient and decreased the number of corrections needing to be made to entries. Our overall experience with the implementation of the form has been positive and we’ve seen excellent results in terms of data accuracy.

Dawn Wyatt

University of South Carolina

Associate Director of Prospect Management

Q & A with Scholarship Winner, Amy Jackson

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 18:01:52 GMT

Amy Jackson, Director of Research for Prospect Development at Wingate University, is the recent recipient of the Professional Development Scholarship awarded by Apra Carolinas to an upcoming leader in the prospect research industry. Recipients receive a $1,500 scholarship to be applied toward professional development activities offered by Apra Carolinas or Apra International. Amy used her scholarship to attend the ARC Conference held March 13 - 15 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Vicki O’Brien, Associate Director of Prospect Research at the University of South Carolina and Apra Carolinas Blog Coordinator, spoke to Amy about the ARC Conference to learn more about her experience.

Vicki: One thing I love about working in the prospect research industry is that it is a constant education, and there are so many opportunities for professional growth and development through attending conferences. What made you decide to apply your scholarship toward ARC when there were other conferences to choose from—APRA Chapter conferences, APRA International, APRA regional conferences, etc.?

Amy: Being new to full-time prospect research, I really felt that the regional conference was the best way to “get my feet wet” given the smaller size and numerous opportunities throughout the conference to have conversations about prospect research with others in the field relatively close by. Also, the timing of ARC was perfect based on my other work-related commitments and responsibilities. I’m looking forward to attending other APRA professional development offerings and plan on using my remaining scholarship funds to attend the Apra Carolinas Fall Conference in Wilmington.

Vicki: I was lucky enough to attend the conference myself, and I have to say that my favorite thing (besides the fruit tart desserts) was the “Share the Knowledge” session where everyone in attendance was encouraged to chat about what they do at their prospect research shops. Did you pick up any neat tips or tricks during this session that you are going to implement?

Amy: The breakfast buffet was a highlight for me, ha! I really enjoyed the “Share the Knowledge” session as well. One thing I picked up that I’m going to implement -- having gift officers identify the “Top 10” from their portfolios and then setting google alerts based on those names. I’ve got google alerts for mentions of the university and some of my own prospects, but I hadn’t thought about using them to assist gift officers with people already in their portfolios.

Vicki: Several topics were discussed during the 3-day conference. What topics stood out to you as setting the pace for the future of prospect research? Are those topics we all need to focus on as the landscape of prospect research is being re-defined with new tools and techniques?

Amy: I think analytics and predictive modeling stood out the most in looking at the future of prospect research. We’re going away from traditional research and profiles and relying more on data mining and scoring based on affinity and capacity to identify major donors and drive fundraising.

Vicki: At the conference there were researchers representing large, medium, and small prospect research shops. Additionally, there were prospect researchers from several types of non-profit organizations ranging from museums to hospitals to religious-based organizations to higher education institutions. There was diversity among the prospect researchers attending the conference. Despite the differences in size and type, did you identify any common characteristics all prospect research shops share?

Amy: You’re right. The crowd was diverse, which I loved, since my background is in the arts and now I’m working in higher education. I think the one thing shared by everyone, no matter the shop size or focus area, was the desire to learn and improve. We all want to be better at what we do and how we support our executive leadership, gift officers, and other team members.

Vicki: Conferences are always so exciting for me, and I genuinely return to my office feeling inspired to be an influencer and initiate change. Is there one thing that you are committed to making happen at your organization as a direct result of attending the conference?

Amy: After a conference I feel ready to take on the world! For my organization, I am committed to making data cleanup a top priority. For myself, I will dedicate more time for webinars and online training sessions.

Vicki: Would you recommend ARC to the next Professional Development Scholarship recipient or anybody in prospect research for that matter?

Amy: Absolutely! Session presenters covered a variety of relevant topics, exhibitors shared worthwhile information regarding available products and tools (good swag, too), and the chance to interact with other prospect research professionals in this particular setting was truly invaluable.

Vicki: Thanks so much, Amy! I’m glad I was able to learn more about your experience. You offered some great insight into what’s happening in prospect research today. Is there anything else that you would like to share?

Amy: I would like to thank the Apra Carolinas Chapter for making it possible for me to attend ARC this year. It was truly a meaningful, wonderful experience.

Apra Carolinas connections with next week's ARC 2017!

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 13:47:32 GMT

Are you going to ARC next week in Atlanta? We're so excited to brag about the number of connections Apra Carolinas has with ARC 2017. Plus, you can still register.

First, Missy Garner, director of prospect research at Clemson University, is this year’s chair for the conference and Krystal Wilson, manager of prospect development at Appalachian State University, is a member of the committee and a presenter.

Vicki Leigh O’Brien

Associate Director of Prospect Research, University of South Carolina

"Will the Mouse Take the Cheese? – A Curious Experiment in Portfolio Building and Marketing with the Collaborative Efforts of Prospect Research, Annual Giving, and a Development Officer"

Monday, March 13, 1:30-3:00

Larissa Kelly

Senior Director, Advancement Services, Clemson University

"Want to be a Better Manager? Be a Better Project Manager!"

Tuesday, March 14, 1:30-3:00

Elizabeth Roma

Assistant Director, Research, The HelenBrown Group

Angie Stapleton

Research Associate, The Helen Brown Group

"Collective Giving: Philanthropy as a Team Sport"

Tuesday, March 14, 3:15-4:15

(Get a preview through Angie’s blog post.)

Krystal Wilson

Manager of Prospect Development, Appalachian State University

"The Art of Collaboration"

Wednesday, March 15, 8:30-10:00

Thank you, Missy, Krystal and the entire committee, for organizing an incredible few days in Atlanta!

#ResearchPride

Fact: The Apra Carolinas Road Scholarship will help you no matter your level of experience or the size of your organization.

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 17:04:21 GMT

How will the Apra Carolinas Road Scholarship help you no matter your level of experience or the size of your organization? Think about this...

Are you about to implement a new prospect management tracking system?

Asking yourself what's the best way to get my fundraisers to objectively review their portfolios before your campaign (I may/may not be thinking of someone in particular with over 500 names in his/her portfolio)?

Wondering how you can start incorporating analytics in your work?

Thinking of "automating" your profiles from always updating word documents?

You've been asked to show ROI for all those referrals you've made (and of course the fundraisers have picked up the phone to call), but you don't know where to start? (Ok, that last one might be me projecting from my old job.)

Or maybe you need some perspective from how "we've always done it this way?"

The “road trip” is a scholarship program to cover travel expenses for a member to spend a day with someone within the Carolinas to learn about processes, procedures, CRM, a specific project, or so forth. One road trip scholarship will be awarded annually. The scholarship will cover travel expenses (gas, meals, and 1 night of lodging) up to $300. The recipient will be asked to write a blog post about his/her road trip experience.

To apply:

Applicants must be current members of Apra Carolinas. Please send a narrative to apracarolinas@gmail.com with Apra Carolinas Road Trip Scholarship as the subject. Applicants should state in 500 words or less the purpose of the visit and express financial need. Applicants will also need to provide the contact information of the person with whom he/she would like to schedule a meeting, and confirm that his/her supervisor has approved the road trip. Dates for the visit can be finalized once the scholarship is awarded.

The deadline for applications is March 17, 2017. The recipient will be notified by April 1, 2017. Travel should be completed by December 31, 2017.

ARC in the Southeast!

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:11:49 GMT

Apra is coming to the Southeast! Join us at the Apra Regional Conference (ARC) 2017, March 13-15 at the Atlanta Airport Marriott for dynamic speakers, technical deep dives and the sharing of best practices. Whether you bring your entire team or if you’re flying solo, you will come away from this unique event with the connections and tools to solve the challenges you face every day.

We're covering a lot of topics in just a few short days, including:

What A Wonderful World: Strategies & Tactics for International Fundraising & Prospect Research, Jay Frost, Senior Partner, Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners
Collective Giving: Philanthropy as a Team Sport, Elizabeth Roma, Senior Researcher & Angie Stapleton, Research Associate, The Helen Brown Group
Turning High Tech into High Touch: Transforming Data Into Actionable Insights, Dr. Molly Wasko, Associate Dean, University of Alabama at Birmingham
The Art of Collaboration, Krystal L. Wilson, Assistant Director of Prospect Management and Research, Appalachian State University
From Easy to Tricky: Scraping Online Data, Marianne M. Pelletier, Managing Director, Staupell Analytics Group
Trends and Innovations in the Ever Changing Field of Prospect Research, Nick Sollog, The Sollog Group
Want To Be a Better Manager? Then Be a Better Project Manager, Larissa Kelly, Senior Director, Advancement Services, Clemson University
And much more!

ARC is kept intentionally intimate to have plenty of time for networking and idea sharing. Our special Chapter Networking session is the perfect opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones with local members.

Register by February 13 for the greatest savings. APRA-Carolinas members receive the Apra member discount by using code “arcse17”. Need help convincing your boss? Download our justification letter for assistance.

Spending A Day in Tiger Country

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 20:42:21 GMT

Written by: Lindsay Rogillio, University of South Carolina & APRA Carolinas' Road Trip Scholarship Recipient

As one of the newest members of the University of South Carolina’s Prospect Research shop, every day here presents itself as a learning experience. Relatively new to the field of prospect research, I began working with USC’s Prospect Research team as a graduate assistant in 2014 before being hired as a full time research analyst earlier this year; essentially, one could say that I have “grown up” in this particular shop, learning to weave my various skills and experiences in a new direction, cultivating the ability to effectively mine data, manipulate a particular CRM, write concise but information-packed research reports, and incorporate the processes and procedures of prospect research as I work with my colleagues. As I am only familiar with USC’s Prospect Research shop, I was eager to further explore the field of prospect research by spending time with another team in the Carolinas and experiencing how other shops operate. APRA-Carolinas’ Road Trip Scholarship presented the perfect opportunity to get just that experience.

With my road trip date set for late October, I was happily welcomed by Director of Prospect Research Missy Garner and her team at Clemson University. In addition to spending a bit of time with Missy, I was also scheduled to spend time with each member of her team to learn about the various aspects of each person’s job and how each researcher spends their work day. I thought this was an excellent way for me to not only get a sense of the big picture and how the research team works with Clemson’s development officers, but how each researcher’s responsibilities contribute to the cohesive working of an efficient team.

Having only ever worked within Millennium management software, observing the Clemson team’s use of Raiser’s Edge was insightful; the opportunity to survey the numerous similarities and differences between the two database systems brings a new appreciation for Millennium, along with a bit of envy at the bells and whistles of Raiser’s Edge! Additionally, one of my goals in obtaining this scholarship was to learn of new aspects of prospect research I may as yet be unaware of, and to perhaps observe the techniques and methods of other researchers that might better inform my own research process. Sitting down with Analyst Rick Loveday was fascinating as he showed me the dashboard he built from scratch in Excel that the team uses to visualize portfolio valuations and various other data points concerning prospects and development officers’ progress. Analyst Elaine Terry’s explanation of how the team divvies up the responsibility for reviewing the local newspapers and then compiling and distributing that information to the development officers via listserv was an intriguing idea that I plan to suggest for the USC Research team. Hearing Analyst Tyler Cantrell talk about his specific duties concerning corporation and foundation relations research made me appreciative that USC has a separate team dedicated to CFR that mostly handles their own research (I’ll admit…CFR research is not my favorite…).

Talking with Missy, Team Lead Sheri Pequeno, Analyst Gail Reignier, and Senior Director Larissa Kelly helped inform my understanding of the role of a prospect researcher in a more holistic sense; I realized my perspective regarding what prospect research is, what a prospect researcher does, and the value of prospect research itself was both very insular and disjointed in a way. I realized I tended to think of the team I work with and the work I produce as an island of sorts, completing projects for development officers and senior leadership without really understanding how the work contributes to USC’s development goals as a whole. Even as I was evaluating the inner workings of Clemson’s Research Team, listening to Missy, Sheri, and Gail explain to me their particular processes and procedures allowed me to re-evaluate my perception of how my work and USC’s prospect research team fits as a necessary cog within the larger USC Development wheel. Mentally comparing how our teams work differently to achieve essentially the same goal of advancing each university allowed the big picture to come into view, but only once I was a step removed from my own office.

Continuing to learn and absorb knowledge is a perpetual personal goal of mine that carries over into my career. Although new to the field, any opportunity to further my knowledge of prospect research promises to make me more confident in my abilities and day-to-day duties as well as a more skilled and competent researcher; to that end, the opportunity afforded to me through APRA-Carolinas’ Road Trip Scholarship was immensely helpful and has brought me a renewed enthusiasm in delving deeper into this field. Special thanks to Missy, Sheri, Gail, Elaine, Rick, Tyler, and Larissa for making me feel welcome and for taking time out of their day to show me their ropes, so to speak!

Top 10 Tips for Searching SEC Filings

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 18:47:07 GMT

Written by: Elizabeth Roma, The Helen Brown Group & President-Elect of APRA-Carolinas

I remember the feeling of dread that would run through me in my early days as a researcher when a search for my prospect’s name in SEC filings returned a page full of hits. I felt overwhelmed by the unfamiliar forms and their language and anxious that I would miss (or misinterpret) important information on the individual I was researching. Eventually, thanks to the help of many skilled researchers who generously shared their knowledge with me and the comfort that experience brings, I learned to keep calm and slog on through the filings, and now I love it when my prospects show up in SEC filings.

Here are my top 10 tips for using SEC documents in your research. I hope you will find them helpful!

1. Know the reporting requirements. Before you get started, it is important to know what information you can and cannot find. Here are the basics:

· Public companies in the US are required to report the compensation paid in the last three years to the company’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and the three highest paid executive officers, other than the CEO and CFO, who were serving as executive officers at the end of the last completed fiscal year.

· They are also required to report compensation paid in the last year to members of the company’s board of directors.

· Company insiders (officers, directors, or holders of more than 10% of any class of stock) are required to report purchases, sales, and holdings of their company’s securities.

2. Know the forms. You can save yourself a lot of time if you know which forms to search for the information you need. The forms you will probably use most frequently are:

· Form DEF 14A More commonly known as the proxy statement, this form is filed by a company prior to an annual meeting in order to update shareholders on items that will be brought to a vote. It contains bios of directors and executive officers, as well as information about compensation of directors and officers and information about insider securities holdings.

· Forms 3, 4, & 5 are filed by individuals and used to report insider holdings. Form 3 is the initial filing, which an individual must file within 10 days of becoming an officer, director, or holder of more than 10% of any class of stock. Changes in ownership are reported on a Form 4, and a Form 5 is used for deferred reporting.

· Form 10-K is a comprehensive financial report that must be filed annually by publicly traded companies. It contains detailed information about the company’s finances, including disclosures of risks the company faces, which can provide important context for prospect researchers.

· Form S-1 is known as a prospectus and is filed by companies preparing for an initial public offering. The prospectus contains background information on the company’s operations, management, and ownership, as well as information about the underwriters of the IPO and the planned offering price. If significant changes occur after the prospectus is filed but before the IPO, they will be reported on a Form 424.

· Form 8-K is used to report “material events” that could have a significant impact on the company’s business. Examples of these events include mergers, executive changes, and patent rulings.

3. Start with the basics. The specifics of your prospect’s situation and the scope of your research will determine the level of detail you need to provide, but in many cases you can probably find what you need to know about compensation and stock holdings by checking the proxy statement and the most recent Form 4 filed by your prospect. If there are extenuating or unusual circumstances or you are doing a deep dive into financials in order to help craft an ask that is planned for the near future, you might need to delve deeper.

4. Use multiple sources to check each other and yourself. Most screening tools offer information about stock holdings and/or compensation, and there are also free tools that allow you to look up insider holdings by an individual’s name. (J3SG.com is a favorite of mine.) These tools are a great first step, but they are not perfect, so always make sure to go directly to the filings to verify that the information other sources report is current and accurate.

5. Read the footnotes. That’s where the good stuff is! Footnotes contain a treasure trove of information about executive perks like security details and use of company cars and airplanes, and they can also contain clues about family members and charitable giving. Pay particular attention to footnotes that explain the nature of indirect ownership of stock holdings. Often they will be held in trust for an individual’s spouse or children, who might be named in the filings, or by a family foundation.

6. See if someone else has already done the hard work. Let’s face it: sometimes the legal terms used in SEC filings can be pretty obtuse. If the language is particularly challenging or the situation seems especially complex, it’s worth a quick news search to see if a financial reporter has already deciphered the filings for you. You might get lucky and find an article that explains the exact situation that has you stumped.

7. Use a cheat sheet. Not sure which form will have the information you need or what in the world carry trade is? Look it up in a reference resource. I like Investopedia, and the SEC has many helpful explanations on its site.

8. Look for patterns. Does your prospect sell the same amount of shares every month or every quarter? This might be evidence of a stock trading plan set up to help diversify your prospect’s holdings or ensure a steady cash flow when compensation is largely made up of stock. Either way, it’s worth checking the filings to see if you can find an explanation. Looking at the list of recent transactions by your prospect in Yahoo! Finance or a similar tool is a great way to quickly spot patterns. You can work backwards from there by using the transaction dates to find the corresponding filings.

9. Search for salary comps. SEC filings can help even if you are researching an individual who works at a private company. If you can find a few publicly traded companies in the same industry that are roughly the same size and (ideally) in the same region, you can use the reported compensation figures for executives at those companies to help you estimate what your prospect might be making at a private company. This is not an exact science, to be sure, but at least you can make an educated guess.

10. Phone a friend. If you are fortunate enough to work in a shop with other researchers, ask for a second opinion when you aren’t sure where to find information or whether you are interpreting it correctly. If you are flying solo, reach out to other members of your local APRA chapter when you get stuck. If you find yourself consistently feeling unsure when you are asked to review SEC filings, ask your boss for some extra training in this area. At one university where I worked, we invited a professor from the business school to spend a couple of hours going over SEC filings with our entire research staff. We all learned a lot, and it didn’t cost a penny.

Although financial documents can be intimidating, they are a wonderful source of information for prospect researchers. I hope that these tips will help you get started. And I would love to hear your favorite tips for researching public company insiders!

For all the annual giving folks out there…

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 18:27:31 GMT

Guest Author: Liza Turcotte, Senior Consultant at Target Analytics, a division of Blackbaud, Inc. (APRA-Carolinas Sponsor)

Liza.Turcotte@blackbaud.com

For all the annual giving folks out there…

Annual giving is one of my favorite fundraising things to talk about. I “cut my teeth” running an annual giving program, so the topic has a special place in my heart when I work with Blackbaud’s clients.

It has a special place in nonprofit offices everywhere too. It’s how you acquire donors, educate them about your essential mission, and hopefully grow their passion into a long, loyal relationship. Some of your annual giving donors will even grow into major and planned giving, and that’s beyond exciting, isn’t it?

With that in mind, how can the data you have on hand (yours, ours, or otherwise) help your annual fund get more done for your organization? Two of my recent clients are trying new tactics, and I thought I’d pass them along in case they’re helpful to you too!

Are you mentioning planned giving as part of your annual fund mailings and communications? If not, how can you work it in? I am working with a client who asked us to take a custom look at their database to determine which prospects are likely to give through certain vehicles, like annual, major, and planned gifts. We discovered a lot of prospects sharing high annual and planned giving affinity, and it turns out they have noticed planned giving communications inspire a lot of annual gifts. They haven’t tried it “the other way” though, so they plan to use an upcoming mail solicitation to highlight a donor who is both an annual and planned gift donor to share the idea with a good audience for a blended message.

When do you introduce your annual fund donors to higher touch cultivation? Another client is thinking about this differently to address a gap between the experience of annual fund donors and major gift donors. The pipeline hasn’t been as healthy as they would like—but their staff is small and the bandwidth is limited. To get started they identified a small group of “up and coming” prospects who will make up a portfolio for the annual fund manager. She will ensure these prospects get some personal outreach and start a higher-touch experience. The idea is that when they are ready for a more significant relationship, the cultivation process will feel familiar and seamless.

And if you’re a little lost in the process or it’s time to revisit a long-standing approach, give us a call. There are lots of ways Target Analytics can help you understand your donor base and potential (you can explore here).

APRA Carolinas' Members Presenting at APRA's PD 2016!

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 20:20:53 GMT

We are proud to share that a few APRA Carolinas' members will present at APRA's Prospect Development 2016 in Nashville. Congrats to Elizabeth Roma (Helen Brown Group & President-Elect of our chapter), Missy Garner (Clemson University & our chapter's Western SC Regional Representative), Vicki O'Brien (University of South Carolina, & our Midlands SC Regional Representative), and Abigail Mann (University of South Carolina, & one of our wonderful blog writers). If you are attending the conference, we encourage you to show support to your fellow Carolinas' chapter members.

Click on the presentation title below to view more details.

Missy Garner How to Find the Golden Prospect Pool

Time: Jul 27, 2016 (09:00 AM - 12:00 PM)

Prerequisites : Attendees should be able to lead organization conversations to develop portfolio creation and dissolution and maintenance procedures. Creatively suggest criteria for portfolio assignment dependent upon fundraising role and seniority. Shape or develop metrics used to measure portfolio performance. Finally, a mastery of how to best utilize existing resources for portfolio management.

Presentation Description: In this session the presenter will use data results from a Segmentation Project to demonstrate how to build an internal rating and confidence level system to uncover best prospects and ultimately develop a “Golden Prospect Pool” for each Development Officer. Other major topics of discussion include tracking methods, metrics, ROI, and goal-setting.

Elizabeth Roma & Rachel Dakarian 20/20: Strategic Vision for Today’s Philanthropic Realities

Time: Jul 28, 2016 (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM)

Presentation Description: Presenters will provide an overview of the current landscape in philanthropy and issues that have received recent press coverage. Presenters will discuss how the trends we are observing impact all nonprofits, regardless of size or sector, and what attendees can do to help their respective organizations thrive in the world of fundraising today. Attendee participation is encouraged. Topics covered might include (but are not limited to):

• Megadonors/Megagifts
• Prospect research under fire/Protection of personal data
• Due diligence fails
• Data security

Vicki Leigh O'Brien & Abigail Mann Predictive Modeling – Or How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Database

Time: Jul 29, 2016 (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM)

Presentation Description: “How does affinity influence an individual’s giving?” University of South Carolina Prospect Research staff asked themselves that question two years ago – and have been working to answer it ever since. This session will provide an in-depth look into how USC’s shop created a “homegrown” predictive model using attributes in the university’s database to predict the outcomes of future solicitations and identify high quality prospects with a strong affinity for the university. Topics covered will include categorizing and weighting indicators of affinity, running a linear regression, and interpreting its results to give the model meaning. The aim of this session is to present a methodology than can be applied to and tailored to the needs of other prospect research shops. This presentation will expand on material presented at the Fall 2015 APRA Carolinas conference.

In addition, while in Nashville -- be sure to join us for a social event on Thursday, July 28th!

We have been invited to join in on Mid-Atlantic’s chapter happy hour at the APRA Int'l Conference!

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center's Conservatory Bar

Thursday 7/28/16

5:30 -7:00 pm

To Sign Up Click Here

for “Are you a member of a chapter?”

Select "Other" and type in APRA Carolinas

The Conservatory Bar is located in Garden Conservatory Atrium.

*no charge to attend, drinks/snacks on your own

Hope to see you there!

Should there be a Minimum Number of Visits to Justify a Fundraiser’s Travel?

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 19:52:45 GMT

Written by: Lisa Ukuku, The Citadel Foundation

Here at The Citadel Foundation (TCF), gift officers set travel to prospects or donors around one or two anchor visits usually from constituents in their portfolios. Once a gift officer (GO) has set up an appointment with his or her anchor, they send a request form to research and ask us to create a list of additional prospects within a 50 mile radius of the preferred address of the anchor visit(s). The process for developing the list has become automatic and we typically sort the prospect list in three ways: largest total gifts, propensity score, and zip code.

This list is usually condensed, (unless the GO wants to see everyone) with only the top donors in the area where the GO is visiting. According to the travel location, the list may contain 30 names or it could contain up to 300 names. The affiliation of the prospect is indicated on the list, which could be an alum, an alum from The Citadel Graduate College (CGC) or a parent of a current cadet/student. We also show the last action or contact that anyone from TCF has had with the prospect so that the GO can see the last time the prospect was visited or if they were ever seen at all.

Research spends a lot of hours fine tuning the list to make sure we are forwarding the best of the best prospects in the area requested. It could take us up to three days to return the names to the GO’s. We also attach any miscellaneous notes to the email when we send the list to indicate any additional information we may learn about some of the prospects on the list. There are situations where the prospect may already be assigned to a GO but has not been seen in a while so we will suggest the traveling GO speak with the assigned GO to see if they could visit the prospect. As a side note, if the assigned GO has a strategy in place that we were not aware of (not noted in the database) we support his or her decision for another gift officer not to visit at that time. If a prospect is a current parent, we consult with the parent program GO who will confirm with the appropriate campus entity that the cadet is in good standing prior to the meeting.

So this all brings me to the question in the title of this piece. Should there be a minimum number of visits to justify a GO’s travel? What would your reaction be, after spending three days developing a list of prospects, and finding out the GO scheduled three visits? As a researcher, you may feel a little let down when you learn this. We are wondering if any development shops have a policy that sets a minimum number of required visits for GO travel. If so, we would love to hear from you. We are interested in knowing how many visits should be set per day and the standard duration of travel. If two or more GO’s are traveling to the same area, should they both go on the same visit or each have their own separate visits scheduled? How many visits should be set if the trip also includes an alumni event on one of the three days?

We would love to hear your feedback! Please feel free to reply to us with your questions or comments.

Basics of Foundation Research (includes video podcast)

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 27 May 2016 18:52:45 GMT

Written by: Elizabeth Roma, The Helen Brown Group, APRA-Carolinas President-Elect

Whether you are new to the field of prospect development or are a seasoned veteran, chances are you’ve been asked to research a foundation. Maybe you discovered a family foundation in the course of researching a new donor, or took a deep dive into the activities of a trustee’s company foundation in order to better understand how her business approaches philanthropy, or were asked to create a list of foundations that seem likely to support your organization. If you haven’t done this type of work already, you can just about bet that you will be asked to do it at some point, probably in the not too distant future. According to Linsey McGoey’s book No Such Thing as a Free Gift, almost half of the roughly 85,000 private foundations in the US were started in the past fifteen years, and new foundations are being created at a rate of about 5,000 each year.

In many ways foundation research can be a dream assignment for prospect researchers. Foundations are created exclusively for the purpose of philanthropy, and in the US they are required by law to provide a high degree of transparency about their operations through detailed reporting on their assets, grantmaking, and personnel. In addition to what they reveal explicitly about the philanthropic activities of their founders, foundation filings can often give us clues into the lives of our prospects that we might not get from other sources.

I recently recorded a video podcast with Helen Brown, founder and president of the Helen Brown Group, in which we discuss the basics of foundation research, including what to look for when researching foundations, how to navigate the Form 990, ways to approach identifying new foundation prospects, and how to make connections with foundations through your own constituents. If you could use a primer on foundation research, settle in with a fresh cup of tea and have a look. I hope you’ll learn something new and pick up some new tips!

International Research on a Shoe String

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 19:46:48 GMT

Written by: Abigail Mann, University of South Carolina

In November 2015, the Prospect Research Department at the University of South Carolina received a request from one of our professors based overseas. They were planning an alumni event for the coming year and wanted a list of university alumni living in France and Germany. As our team’s international analyst, I was handed an early Christmas present.

My initial plan was to conduct a search on LinkedIn (LI) filtered by school and location and compile these results. The search was successful, but there was a catch – I was working with a basic account, which meant that nearly all of the alumni in my search results were named “LinkedIn Member.” So what’s an analyst to do with a deadline looming and a project budget of free resources only? Below is a methodology as well as tips, tricks, and work-arounds I discovered as a result of this project. It may not solve all of your problems, but you’ll still be surprised by what you do find along the way.

Start with What You Have

My first step was to regroup and start closer to home – specifically, what did our CRM have to tell us. If your CRM is anything like ours, then you tend to take your international data with a grain of salt. Foreign regulations and privacy laws make it difficult to verify and update contact information, screen for capacity, etc., so this data isn’t always as current as what we have on file for our domestic alumni. I also knew that there were going to be gaps in my data. For example, my LI search for alumni in France returned over 300 results while our CRM listed only 140. A smaller dataset for each country actually ended up being an advantage, since I was going to have to do some research on each constituent individually. (Short of being tied to my desk chair and put on a caffeine drip, there was no way I was going to be able to reverse engineer the results for the 300+ alumni in France, not to mention the nearly 500 LI said were in Germany).

Utilizing our CRM’s dashboard, I exported spreadsheets containing education and address information for alumni in each country and combined the data via an Access database. Once I had my master list, constituents were checked against three main data points – address/country of residence, e-mail address, and social media.

Verify Your Data

In addition to designations for home, business, etc., addresses in our CRM are further coded as “Good”, “Bad”, and “Deceased”. Deceased individuals had been excluded from the dataset, so I was dealing only with “Good” and “Bad” addresses. Regardless of whether an address was coded good or bad, there was little I could do concerning the postal address itself. I could, however, reasonably verify that they were still in the country in question via social media. For the sake of convenience, I utilized LI rather than other social media platforms, since it was most likely to have additional education and employment information that might be missing from our constituents’ records. I ran searches for each name on the lists, applying additional filters for education and country/location as necessary. Though this took time, it proved to be a helpful work-around as it let me find through individual searches profiles for constituents who displayed anonymously in my initial master search. Additionally, if a constituent had an e-mail address on file, these were checked to see if they were valid (mailtester.com is a great free resource for this).

By this point, my spreadsheet was a festive sea of color coding that would have made catalogers at libraries everywhere jump for joy. There were constituents with good postal addresses (so far as we knew), valid e-mail addresses, and who followed the university on LI, constituents with bad postal address but good e-mail addresses and no social media presence, and constituents for whom all we had was a bad address, as well as every other combination of these criteria and a partridge in a pear tree. From these results, I refined the datasets for each country down to those alumni who, to the best of our knowledge, we had a viable means of contacting.

Constituents were included in the final lists based on the presence of one or more of the following criteria:

· A good postal address
· A valid e-mail address
· A LI profile wherein they referenced attending and/or followed the University of South Carolina
· Any combination of the above

Those who only met the social media criterion were included based on the rationale that the professor could make arrangements to promote the event through this platform. As followers of the university they, as well as those alumni who got lost in the “LinkedIn Member” shuffle, could still be made aware of the event. Rows for these constituents were highlighted on the spreadsheet while all other contact and education information was displayed in columns.

Data Integrity and Data Mining

An unexpected result of this project was that we were able to improve the integrity of the data we had on file for a number of these international alumni. In some cases, we discovered that our “Good” addresses weren’t so good after all. For example, a constituent we had every reason to believe was living and working in Paris had since relocated to Oslo, Norway. Other constituents had been promoted within their company or now worked for a different company altogether. This meant that some of our e-mail addresses were likely to be invalid now, since they were business e-mail addresses reflecting a past employer. Any necessary updates were made to constituents’ records and static URLs to their LI profiles were added as well. Again, this took time, but we are now able to point to collection of international records in our database and say that the information is reliable.

Additionally, it is our hope to use this data to help find international proactive leads for our fundraisers.

While fundraising strategies and donor appeal vary by country, the profiles of several alumni on our lists showed some of the characteristics we commonly look for in domestic donors – affinity for the university, interest in/support of particular causes or initiatives, and job titles suggestive of disposable income. We are curious to see if these factors hold true across the Atlantic as well.

Show your pride

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 13:12:04 GMT

Written by: Krystal Wilson, Assistant Director of Prospect Management & Research at Appalachian State University, and Past-President of APRA-Carolinas

In honor of #ResearchPride month, as we advocate for our profession, I’d like to share a few tips on how to advocate within your own organization.

Step up and take initiative. Don’t wait for things to happen to you. For example, review gift reports daily or weekly to look at new donors, determine a threshold that works for your shop, and screen them. You may find a donor that has given $25,000+ to similar organizations… can you say ‘research win’?
Don’t just pull up a chair to the strategy table; own it. Speak up, ask questions, and let your voice be heard. Whether in meetings or in an email with the typical research that you provide, share your opinion or insights (ex: patterns you’ve noticed in a prospect’s giving) as it can change the solicitation strategy.
Increase your presence. Check in with development officers on a regular basis with a phone call or stop by their offices. This may open the door to get more information than by only reading contact reports. If possible, volunteer at events so you can meet prospects and donors. Some people will share their life story or maybe that tidbit of info that you haven’t been able to verify. Score!
Track your work. Create (or ask your lovely report-writer colleagues to create) a report to show the number of prospects you rated, or number of records that you added or updated research, or number of prospects you identified.
Build your network within your organization, your local APRA chapter, and in APRA International. APRA is truly a community of learners that empower one another; so, I strongly encourage you to get involved. Through APRA, I learned how to be an information strategist, how to enhance a prospect development program, and have met many amazing people that I have the honor to call friends. #IamAPRA
Last but not least, be positive and have fun! Having a positive attitude can increase productivity and creativity, as well as lower stress.

Feel free to share your tips on how to advocate. Thanks for reading! #ResearchPride

You’ve Done a Portfolio Review…Now What?

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 19:44:24 GMT

Written by Beth Inman, Senior Director of Prospect Management & Research Analysis
University of South Carolina
President, APRA Carolinas

In last month’s post about the University of South Carolina’s recently concluded portfolio consultation project, I examined why we bothered doing the project and what we learned from the process. Since then, I have been thinking a lot about everything we’ve been doing since it ended. The project is over, right? We even made a toast to the project’s ending! So, why are my team and I still working on it?

After reviewing approximately 3,500 manager assignments and releasing about half of those assignments, we realized we needed a way to know which prospects were released in the database besides simply ending the manager relationship (manager relationships are assigned on the Relations screen in our database). We changed a lot of data in the system as a result of this project and wanted it to be clear in a constituent’s record if they had been released from a portfolio. It doesn’t mean the constituent isn’t a major gift prospect for another division, but information on being recently released from a portfolio should be helpful if the development officer decides to proceed. Some constituents look great on “paper,” but what we didn’t want was the constituent to look great to another development officer and they start the qualification process unnecessarily. We made the decision to add ‘released prospect’ information on our Actions screen (where we document contact reports, manager requests, etc.) to briefly explain the prospect had recently been released from a portfolio. We recommended they communicate with the formerly assigned manager for more details or to contact my team for info on why the prospect was released. This screen is a common one referred to (or it should be!) when development officers are reviewing a constituent’s record. Also, putting the ‘released prospect’ information on the Actions screen means it will appear on our portfolio reports staff can pull from the database.

Another aspect of our portfolio consultation project was streamlining our manager assignments. We used to have 5 different categories of manager assignments. It was a lot for everyone to keep up with; this many options made it easier for a manager to have too many prospects but it also made it easier for some prospects to have too many managers. From the development officer perspective, there could be ‘analysis paralysis’ trying to determine how the constituent should be assigned. For example, was the prospect capable of making a major gift in the next 2 years or would it be more than 2 years? Had the prospect made their ultimate gift and they just needed stewardship? Also, the admission that it was too easy for them to forget about prospects who weren’t in their primary portfolio made it easy to proceed with narrowing the prospect manager assignment options.

To rewind briefly, something to think about during a portfolio consultation: it is important to review the constituent’s record when ending a prospect manager relationship. This likely sounds like an obvious suggestion, but it is easy to try and save a few clicks when dealing with a high volume of updates. Review the constituent’s record for any open stages and close them. Review the status of any asks that may still be open and close them. Are there any remaining assigned managers? If so, what is the assignment and should they remain assigned? Taking the time to do this will help to ensure your pipeline reports and your aging reports are accurate and will prevent you from going back and doing this after the project is over. Trust me, I speak from experience.

To each portfolio consultation meeting, we brought copies of the portfolio spreadsheet with the reviewer’s notes. There were always questions and always things to follow up on after the meeting. The notes we took helped to make sure we didn’t forget anything post meeting but also helped us to spot check for accuracy. When all of the consultations were over, we split up the spreadsheets and made sure what the development officer wanted was what we had changed (or not) in the database. We try to be paperless as much as we can, but these printouts have been valuable in every phase of the project. For the record, what the development officer wanted to do with the prospect was noted and the spreadsheet was updated with this information and saved. After all of the changes were made, the development officer’s portfolio was re-run and emailed to them along with the final stats on what % of their prospects were kept and released.

I am sharing these suggestions and our experiences because, in some cases, we learned the hard way some tasks should be done during the project, not after. If I can help anyone save some time, it would make me very happy.

You might be asking yourself what’s next for our development officers’ portfolios and how can we keep the momentum going on the progress we’ve made so far? I am currently drafting a schedule of consultations for the next 18 months for members of my team and me to meet with the development officers. Their portfolios will be reviewed again and we will meet with them to discuss any changes, strategies and ways our team can help them. Stay tuned for an update on the progress of our regularly scheduled consultations!

Portfolio Reviews: Why Bother?

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 19:13:16 GMT

Written by: Beth Inman, Senior Director of Prospect Management & Research Analysis, University of South Carolina and President of APRA-Carolinas

Picture it: the year was 2015 and the University of South Carolina’s $1B capital campaign, Carolina’s Promise, was coming to an end. And, one of our development officers had 300 prospects in her portfolio. Yes, 300. I can hear the collective gasps as you read this and wonder how a portfolio could be that big! In the development officer’s defense, there had been turnover in her department and she inherited a lot of prospects. That being said, 300 is an unreasonable amount of prospects in a portfolio and it was one of the primary motivations to get started on a large scale portfolio review project.

In the past, portfolio “reviews” in my shop were very one-sided and there was very little actual reviewing going on. A list of their prospects was sent to the development officers requesting they review it and let us know if there were any changes. You can imagine how many changes were sent back to us; not many. I knew the process wasn’t working but I honestly had a hard time wrapping my head around how to do a project like this for 40 development officers. We decided reviewing one prospect manager category for each development officer was a good beginning; every Primary Manager assignment (approx. 3,400) would be reviewed.

In February 2015, I convened a Prospect Management Committee to discuss the idea of a portfolio review project and came to the meeting prepared with stats to illustrate the project’s importance. I created graphs to show the total number of Primary Manager assignments and from there, broke down how many of those were individual constituents and how many were corporate and foundation constituents. To help make my case, I also included the % of constituents who had not been contacted in the last 12 months (28%) and, without sharing names, included the high and low number of prospects in the portfolios. In proposing the project, I shared that the Primary Manager assignments would be reviewed and one of three recommendations would be made: keep, release or needs attention. The committee saw this as a positive step in helping them manage their portfolios and suggested that my team approaching it from a positive approach would go a long way in the project being successful. At that point, we made the decision to refer to the review process as a ‘portfolio consultation.’ Getting the support of this committee was a huge boost to getting the project started officially.

One lucky development officer agreed to be our guinea pig; we did a practice review of her Primary Manager assignments and scheduled a meeting with her to discuss. For each Primary Manager assignment, each record was reviewed for information in the contact reports, total giving, date of last gift, # of years giving to Carolina and the status of any major gift asks. We also reviewed the constituent’s philanthropic giving outside of Carolina and their gift capacity rating was reviewed for any changes. This first consultation clocked in at an hour and a half because we discussed every prospect on her list. While this was very informative, we knew it wasn’t logical for each consultation to last 90 minutes. From there, we made the decision to sort the spreadsheet by the recommendation for the prospect – the prospects recommended they keep would be grouped at the top, the prospects needing attention would be grouped in the middle and the prospects recommended for release would be grouped at the bottom of the list. This helped with the efficiency of our reviews; we would only discuss the ‘keep’ prospects if the development officer wanted to release a prospect we recommended they keep. This way, our time was spent delving into the ‘needs attention’ and the ‘releases.’

Other time savers were to have a template email to send out to the development officer when it was time to schedule their consultation meeting and a template in Excel for the review and its results/recommendations. In the email, we explained the project overall, what data was being reviewed and what we were requesting they do prior to the meeting. The Excel template ensured the data and recommendations we were providing were aesthetically and analytically consistent; an example of the template is pictured below.

This project took approximately 7 months; we met with 39 development officers and reviewed 3,545 manager assignments. We recommended that 61% of the manager assignments be kept and 39% of them be released. After the project was complete, we calculated that, in the end, 59% of the assignments were kept and 41% were released. It was validating to know that the development officers agreed with almost all of our recommendations. From the development officers’ view, they often told us how helpful this process was and that they really appreciated our input on their prospects. There were even some who said they had forgotten about a few of their prospects.

Why bother with a portfolio review project? We learned a LOT! By meeting with every development officer about their portfolio, there was valuable dialogue about their prospects and their strategies and we also heard some really great stories! We updated a lot of solicitations, we adjusted manager assignments when the development officer felt like their prospect was better suited for another division, we updated a lot of records with information on divorces, deaths and we now have a much more accurate picture of the total number of real prospects under management. This helps with gift forecasting, campaign planning and staffing requests.

This project was also a good opportunity for my team to show how valuable we are to the division of development. We have access to a lot of information and we are the experts on finding, interpreting and analyzing this information. Our hope is the directors of development will continue to utilize our expertise and view us as the valuable partners we are in the University’s fundraising efforts.

*This project would not have been possible without Kristin Richardson, Vicki O’Brien, Abigail Mann and Matt Bundrick. This was an enormous project for my team and they were invaluable throughout the entire process.

Prospect Management: An Everlasting Gift

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 14:45:19 GMT

December's blog comes to us from Barbara Chadwell, Director of Prospect Management and Research at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC.

When an organization has a change in leadership positions there is often a mixture of excitement and uneasiness in the air. Existing procedures, protocols, and reports will be used or seen for the first time by new players. Assembling information that will help assess the soundness of your fundraising operation will be a given. Those of us that work in prospect management and research should be among the most important go-to persons because we have one of the best “big picture” views of the fundraising operation’s strengths and weaknesses. We see the work of most everyone and we know the ins and outs of the giving and prospect data.

During times of transition, hopefully it is revealed that your prospect management system is one of your organization’s most important assets and not one of your weakest links. Many of us have spent a great deal of time establishing and refining a prospect management and reporting system that captures the basics: prospect ratings, assignments, external screenings, contact histories, solicitation data, and action items. We have reports that can be sliced and diced numerous ways to reveal the big picture for anyone who will take the time to review them. The system shouldn’t be complicated. It just has to be kept up to date! If you haven’t been successful in eliminating shadow lists and gotten your leadership to support the idea that “if it isn’t recorded in the database then it didn’t happen” then your big picture view will be incomplete. The database must be the central point of information sharing; otherwise accountability and progress reporting will continue to be a difficult and time consuming task.

To this end, one of the most fundamental things you must stress with every new member of the fundraising team is the importance of documentation. Be specific about your standards. Share examples. Give them feedback. Show them the work of the person that does this the best on the fundraising team. When you see gaps, keep after them to do better. In our respective areas we all have a responsibility to record value-added information and leave a plan of action for the person that may come after us. Without a shared trail of activity, you can have potential chaos when a key position becomes vacated. You will lose momentum and you may even run the risk of looking unprofessional because you’ve let something important fall between the cracks. Why risk that happening?

We should never quit being among the loudest advocates for recording and centralizing information. When you have a simple prospect management system that everyone buys into and leadership commits to reporting from, then there is no angst in accurately answering questions such as “How many major gift solicitations did your team make last year?” or “What asks are currently outstanding?” In the end, the prospect management system that you maintain on a daily basis will be an everlasting gift to your organization.

Ask and you Shall Receive

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 15:43:13 GMT

October's post comes to us from Mary Collin, who is the Director of Research/Alumni Relations/Special Projects at Central Piedmont Community College.

I have been very fortunate in my professional career in prospect research. In my early career, my employer brought in two power-house women who at the time were working for a consulting firm. They helped me set up shop, trained me on the available tools, and ignited my already abundant curiosity. They helped me refine and deliver gathered information into a workable, cohesive format that would come to define me as a solid and reliable prospect researcher.

I have watched the stellar careers of both these women over the years. How fortunate I was to have been schooled, tutored, and mentored by these women.

One of the most important lessons I learned during training was to ask questions. I proudly delivered a project to a development officer only to have it handed back with a note that it was not what was needed. When I called the consultants, I got this sage reply, “You gave her what she asked for, but it was not what she wanted. Did you take the time to ask her what she needed, how she was going to use it, or what the overall project was?”

Keeping those questions as my focal point has helped me through the years. It keeps me humble, reminds me that while we are all working towards a common goal, the delivery of research goods needs to be in a usable format for the development officer receiving it. As a single-person shop, that means I sometimes have to append my delivery to meet the audience.

Am I spoiling my development officers? Maybe.

Getting to know the development officers, their personalities, and needs, gets me invited into their inner circle. I get called into strategy meetings to weigh-in and offer opinions based on findings. I have learned to trust the development officers and they have learned to trust me.

Developing relationships with the development officers also led me to join the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and to gain certification as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE.) Was this necessary? No. What it did, was to give me insight into the dynamics of fundraising and the challenges of being a development officer. I believe it made me a better researcher. It helped change my mindset, and chinked away at the wall that sometimes separates “us” from “them.”

The great thing about our profession is that we all have the opportunity to be great, to find our niche, our specialty and to create a dynamic working relationship that will advance the field and the profession. So take the chance, strike up a conversation with the development officers and ask what they need from you. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I will always be indebted to Karen L. Green and Diane Crane, for their knowledge-base and mentoring skills that helped launch my career.

Highlight Your Analytical Skills

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 13:23:10 GMT

September's post is from Tania Drummond, Director, Prospect Research at NC State University, Raleigh, NC.

Most prospect research professionals probably describe their work to others something along the lines of this statement, which is part of the information presented about the prospect research office at my institution:

Prospect research professionals conduct research on people, companies and foundations. They collect, evaluate, analyze, organize and disseminate publicly available information in a way that maximizes its usefulness in making decisions for development operations.

Prospect Researchers have always been responsible for analyzing data in order to put it to practical use in fundraising efforts. One type of analysis might include sifting through large volumes of information, understanding what the data may be telling us and determining which pieces of information should be included in a report and which should not. Another type of analysis might be applying the results of a predictive giving model to suggest potential new gift prospects for discovery pools or to inform development officer travel. But whatever the variety of projects on which prospect research professionals are asked to work, much – if not most - of our value lies in our ability to analyze data.

The availability of data to development personnel, free and purchased, and how easily we can get that data has changed tremendously in the last decade or so. It’s far more common now for nonprofit organizations to be able to purchase wealth screening data and predictive giving models from a wide choice of vendors. People who don’t do the work we do, however, often don’t understand that getting all this available data and using such tools as screening and modeling, while helpful and valuable, aren’t turn-key solutions to informing development strategy. The data gleaned from such projects as screening and modeling can’t be implemented and used effectively without having someone analyze that data in conjunction with the organization’s internal data, in context, and make sense of how it all can be used together and applied to the project or problem at hand. It’s the prospect research professionals who do this analysis, and who make sure that the organization is getting the highest return on the investments made into purchased data and data services.

I think those of us in prospect research should look for every opportunity to showcase and highlight that which is unique about the work we do and to display, in all the ways that we can, our ability to objectively analyze and evaluate information to come to an informed decision or judgment. We can do this not just in the prospect research work that we do, but also in the choices we make in our office operations, our budget proposals, and our project and staffing plans. Our critical thinking and problem solving abilities should be on display in everything we do, and we should always be able to answer the question of “why” – why we made that choice, why we made that decision, why we suggested that strategy. In doing so, perhaps we’ll better the odds that we’ll never have to answer the question, “why is prospect research important?”

The "Holding Pool"

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 13:07:31 GMT

Our August post is from Chris Nuckols, Senior Donor Identification Analyst at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.

In 2014, I completed a project which involved the “holding pool” prospects at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. These are prospects who were previously managed, but can still be reactivated. Over the years, our holding pool gradually increased to over 1,300 prospects. As a result, the size of the pool was becoming difficult to manage. This increase was due to factors such as the following:

Development officers determined that some of their managed prospects were too young
Development officers determined that the circumstances were not ideal at the time
A prospect had strong connections to our medical center, but a meeting could never be arranged

Since the holding pool had grown from a “kiddie pool” to an “Olympic size pool,” the prospect management team decided we needed to dive in and explore the situation. I was chosen as the lead diver for this project and was ready to become the next Jacques Cousteau. After carefully analyzing the background of the 1,300+ prospects, I resurfaced and divided the group into three new mini-pools:

Ready to Assign Prospects: These are very worthwhile prospects, but have not yet been contacted by a development officer (portfolios are full). This would be the equivalent of the kid who jumps into the neighborhood pool as soon as he arrives.
Delayed Prospects: These prospects have been contacted by a development officer, but are not ready to give a major gift now. They could become major gift prospects at some point in the future though (after they are more established in their career and/or when children have graduated from college, etc.). This would be the equivalent of a young adult who goes to the pool on a 75 degree day, and the pool is a little on the cool side. So, this person would take his good ‘ole time getting into the pool. Additionally, the development officers provided review dates (typically 2-4 years out) which will prompt the prospect research team to evaluate for possible reassignment on that date.
No Response Prospects: These are good prospects who were assigned to a development officer, but did not respond to multiple attempts to meet. This would be the equivalent of a kid asking his mom or dad several times to jump into the pool, but the parents would rather sit poolside soaking up the rays and enjoying a beverage of their choice. For these prospects, a one year review date was added for evaluating and possibly reassigning the prospect.

In addition to the prospects who were placed into one of the three mini-pools, several prospects were deemed not viable and were subsequently removed from the holding pool. Also, many were reassigned, reactivated, or marked as deceased.

I now act like David Hasselhoff (portrayed a lifeguard on Baywatch, for those a little younger) and monitor the three mini-pools on a regular basis. When either a delayed or no response prospect comes up for review, I will reevaluate the prospect. Depending on the circumstances, I will extend the review date, place the prospect into a different mini-pool, reassign the prospect, or permanently remove from the holding pool.

The goal for this project was to restructure the way prospects are assigned from our holding pool. We now have much more reliable and useful categories of potential prospects when a development officer’s portfolio needs to be replenished or increased (for a new development officer). With the completion of this project, the way we manage prospects has become more efficient and effective.

You Might Be a Donor If……

Apra Carolinas — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 18:14:53 GMT

July’s post comes from Tracy Martin, the Advancement Services Coordinator at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

In the world of donors, of course, not all donors are created equal. However, using the savvy information included in this article you can capitalize on donors of any size. I hope you find it both entertaining and informative.

You might be a student leadership donor if…….

You have influence over your classmates and can give a dollar! Leveraging the information from student applications is helpful by reviewing engagement with non-profits and fundraising positions. Students in these roles already get the importance of philanthropy and therefore can help further spread the philanthropic mindset through peer solicitation. Oftentimes you can also capitalize on student leadership to ‘infect’ the rest of their classmates with their philanthropic spirit. With this group in particular, playing up participation rather than dollar amount is key.

You might be an annual fund donor if………

You can give a dime that you found on the ground to the organization of your choice. This is a tricky, yet simple, category of donors. The simple answer is, no matter what organization or capacity to give, everyone engaged with your organization should be an annual fund donor. By supporting your cause, program or school- each donor is saying with affirmation that they agree with your mission and they want you to continue to succeed in all you are doing. Generally speaking, these are your first time donors, young donors and perhaps your aging donors. These are likely your donors that give more of their time and talent perhaps because they cannot give much past their annual gift. This only shows their passion for your organization!

However, it’s not as sexy as say naming a building or having a professorship named after you. What you can glean out of your annual fund donor lists are the following things. Trends in increased giving levels over time can indicate deeper engagement and loyalty. By examining the times of their giving, you can estimate the appropriate time to solicit them once instead of inundating them with continual solicitations and save your organization valuable dollars. Focusing on time and amounts can reveal that they may be a potential planned gift prospect also. This will be discussed in the planned gift segment. By combining this information with birthdates of their children, you can also anticipate increased giving as their children approach coming to your school or upon graduation from college.

Even when a donor is being solicited for a major gift, continue to keep them in your annual fund pool unless they have declared they are not interested. When you continue to keep them as an annual fund donor, you can also leverage their standing in your community to demonstrate to other annual fund donors their potential to grow. This goes back to the old Fabergé shampoo commercial. “Then you tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on and so on…” (Yes, I realize I am dating myself greatly!)

You might be a major gift donor if……………………..

Your passion is matched by your capacity and inclination. I’m sure everyone is well versed in how to identify a prospect with the potential and having given to similar organizations like yours. That’s the easy part. But what else can a major gift donor do for you?

As mentioned in the section above, they have the potential to influence other annual fund donors and potential new major gift donors. Do they have a nice office space or second home or connections to an upscale country club? How about an interesting collection of art or cars? Have them host an event where they declare they are going to lead a challenge to assist you in securing new major gift donors. Let them throw down that gauntlet! If your organization gets 50 new donors giving at your major gift threshold, this leader will give a larger than usual gift to commemorate the occasion. Keep in mind that this is different from a matching opportunity in that no one that gives at the new level will receive any credit, soft or otherwise, from your leadership donor’s gift. This will keep the accounting simple on the backside.

Leverage these donors with higher capacity to host a small event to include potential new major gift level donors or assist in stewarding a circle of annual fund donors. Again, using awesome space can only enhance the mood.

You might be a planned gift donor if…………………

You are approaching the 72 year mark where gift planning can be counted in full. Many of them have been sitting quietly at the lower threshold of your annual fund pool for years without raising any eyebrows. However, their steadfast giving speaks for itself. Some may be your worker bees who have worked diligently beside your staff for many years in eager anticipation of the next time they can give of their time to your cause. Still others will be those that made their money quickly and planning is essential to them while they still have a large sum. This is another category of prospects that should be considered with all donors, at some point.

There has been a noticeable increasing trend of prospects in their mid-forties who have begun looking philanthropically at their estate planning. While you might be able to capitalize on the value, you can capitalize on the timing. Eventually this will pay off for your group.

Once they become a planned gift donor, no matter the age, treat them special from your annual fund donors. They can also be leveraged as you would your major gift donors by inviting their friends to special events, and so on and so on.

You might be a worker bee prospect if…………………

You just can’t resist when the call for help arrives. These are the steady Eddies that are always there for you, rain, shine, sleet or snow. They don’t mind pitching in by mentoring, helping with events, speaking at an information session or cheering for your leadership.

These are your core people who will give more when they can, but you should always value the fact they give of their time and themselves! They likely will have you in their will, speak kindly of your group to anyone they know and will be there when the chips are down.

They will give annual fund gifts; some even major gifts. These are the people for whom Distinguished Awards are created! Give the people what they want!

You might be a connector if……………………….

You are a mover and a shaker in your industry, circle of friends or community. These are the “who knows who of the who’s who.” They are seated on several boards, chairs of committees and can influence many with a few tweeted words. Use them to open doors that might otherwise remain closed.

Ask them to make introductions, host dinners whereby you may meet future prospects interested in your organization or even ask them to submit a list of friends they’d like to invite to something honoring their service to your organization.

You might be sour grapes if…………………………

You claim you’ll never give another dime unless they bend to your wishes or complain about everything the organization does even when they do get it right!

It’s hard to do, because we are ever hopeful. However, sometimes you just have to know when to quit. If they never take a call or meeting, or when they do- it’s to complain about something that was on Facebook or other social media about your organization; it’s time to just back off and leave them alone. You can’t win them all.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick and dirty way of sorting your prospects into apples, oranges and pears. May you enjoy the fruits of your labor and there be few sour grapes!

Joyfully submitted,

Tracey Martin

Affinity Score as a Tool for Finding Future Major Gift Prospects

Apra Carolinas — Sun, 31 May 2015 18:07:12 GMT

Last month we heard from USC about their experience in creating a model for donor affinity and this month we have the pleasure of hearing from Kathy Mills, Senior Donor Identification Analyst, at Baptist Medical Center who shares their approach for a similar project at Wake Forest.

In 2013, our prospect management/development team here at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center embarked on a plan to create an affinity score for our non-managed prospects. The goal was to use this score as a tool to find lower-level donors who were shaping up to look like our major gift donors and who should be assigned to a major gift officer.

First, we brainstormed about characteristics of our major donors and criteria that would indicate someone had an affinity for our organization. An APRA Carolinas meeting where fellow member Patrick O’Toole presented on the topic further guided our methodology. After lots of conversation, we decided on the following:

Consistent giving
Gifts of stock
Gifts through a donor-advised fund or foundation
Planned gifts
Attended 10 or more events (lifetime)
Alum of the medical school
Alum of both Wake Forest University’s undergraduate and medical school
Current or former board member
Hospital volunteer

We knew that some of these characteristics should carry more weight than others, but we were not sure how to determine those weights, so we consulted with statisticians on our faculty. We sent them a list of 800 donors, including some of our very highest-level donors, and included their total household giving and which of the above characteristics they had.

The statisticians analyzed the file and made their score recommendations. After a little tweaking, we finalized the figures and determined the maximum score a prospect could obtain. We had our systems analysts overlay the scores on our sample file of 800 donors and analyzed the results. We were delighted to find that the donors we expected to have the top scores did indeed score very highly. The scoring system appeared to be working.

Next, we had our systems analysts overlay the scores on a file of about 29,000 unmanaged donors, with the data refreshing every night. As with our previous test, those with the highest scores also tended to have higher household giving levels and alerted us to those who were shaping up to look like major donors. What surprised us, however, was how few donors scored highly. We uncovered very few hidden gems that could be assigned immediately to major gift officers.

This exercise indicated to us that we needed to do a better job engaging our annual funds donors to help move them through the pipeline. We are currently looking at ways to do that, including digital communications, event invitations, better stewardship for annual giving donors, and other methods.

We also realized the need to have special gift officers on our team to help move those with moderate scores to a higher level in which they would be ready to be assigned to a major gift officer. We are now in the process of hiring these gift officers.

We took a snapshot of what our unmanaged donors’ scores look like today. With the enhancements we will be making to our program, including increased engagement and special gift officers, we are hoping to see the overall scores increase over the next few years.

Adventures in Predictive Modeling

Lisa Ukuku — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 20:41:49 GMT

This month our blog comes from Vicki Williams and Abigail Mann; Prospect Research Analysts from The University of South Carolina.

At the University of South Carolina, we are creating a predictive behavioral model using attributes assigned to our constituents to predict the outcomes of future solicitations and identify high quality prospects with a strong affinity for our university.

Our model came about from a simple question: How does affinity influence a constituent’s giving? We asked ourselves this deceptively innocuous question in Fall 2013, and it has morphed into a research project that has gone through several developmental stages as we have met challenges that had to be overcome in order to create a model that would work for us and meet our needs. Over a year later, we are ready to test our model, but reaching this phase demanded a lot of time and hard work. It also required us to meet with colleagues outside of our prospect research shop. We learned early on that we could not build a strong, actionable model without our colleagues’ specialized knowledge and expertise.

To begin with, we defined the term “affinity.” For our purposes, affinity came to be known as engagement with the university through involvement. In our CRM, attributes are assigned to constituents for event attendance, participation in athletics, memberships in clubs, service organizations, and more. We knew attributes were going to be the critical piece to creating our model, because they would be our way to measure affinity. We proceeded to measure every attribute through assigning it a weight on a scale from 1 to 5, with one being the lowest level of involvement and five being the highest. Through this process, we essentially quantified involvement.

There are over 1,400 attributes in our CRM, and, believe it or not, we weighted every attribute for level of involvement. As we’re sure you have already guessed, this was by no means an easy process. Due to the sheer volume of the data set, there were, understandably, gaps in our knowledge regarding the significance of many attributes. Not only was it necessary to conduct individual research, but also to collaborate with our donor relations team and development officers from several divisions in order to make sure that as many attributes as possible were clearly defined and weighted accordingly. There were debates and marathon meetings on what attributes warranted a five, what attributes warranted a one, and what some attributes were doing in our CRM in the first place. This led us to request Information Systems to generate reports of constituents with particular attributes to examine trends in total giving and other involvement with the university. One example is our athletics teams. Each of the university’s twelve teams has its own attribute and all were initially given the same weight. We began to wonder, however if this was using too broad a brushstroke. This motivated us to request a report of constituents with these attributes. We found staggering differences in engagement and giving between the various teams. Surprisingly, we found that constituents who had played golf for the university were more involved and gave more frequently than constituents with other athletics attributes. As a result, we adjusted our weights for these attributes according to the data.

With the attributes finally weighted, we will be working with Information Systems to integrate the weights into our CRM to enable us to generate datasets that show constituents’ affinity scores. In the next month, we will be prepared to test the strength of our predictive behavioral model by running linear and multivariate regressions of a sample population to see how our attributes, coded by their weight value, can predict giving. We are in the middle of choosing our first sample population for our test run. It has been our experience that constituents who were members of a Greek organization during their college careers were also members of other organizations with some even serving in leadership roles, and, as a result, have a total weight of attributes that shows significant affinity. We have also witnessed trends showing that as constituents advance in age, their giving increases. Should we use this sample population, our goal will be to see how much giving increases as constituents with a membership in a Greek organization and high affinity score start to age. Our results may reveal to us that giving by constituents who were members of a Greek organization and have a high affinity score increases by thousands of dollars from when they were fifty to the age of sixty. The strength of this relationship will have the power to help us make predictions about future giving. We will then be able to consider increasing our solicitation amounts of constituents who were members of a Greek organization and have a high affinity score who are entering the retirement stages of their lives all based on the data results of the regression that the model enabled us to run.

Another added bonus to the model is that we will be able to use it to fill our pipeline through identifying prospects that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, because we did not screen them through our customized model to see their predicted giving based on their affinity.

Knowing the strength of the relationship between affinity and giving will help us to understand our donors better, and understanding our donors is most certainly one of the guiding principles of prospect research. Our hope is that we will have persuasive statistical evidence that supports our empirical observations that affinity can predict giving. We feel very strongly that we have created a predictive behavioral model which will enable our leadership to make data-informed decisions about our donors and future solicitation amounts.

In a couple of months, we will be excited to share the results of our project with you when we have precise numbers explaining the relationship between affinity scores and giving. Stay tuned for another post about the outcome of our first application of the model as well as tips and tricks for how you can “DIY” your very own model.

Analytics

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:53:41 GMT

Our March blog post comes from Kristin Richardson, Director of Development Research Analysis at The University of South Carolina

Data analytics—it’s the buzzword that prospect research and management can’t seem to stop using. But what does it really mean? And is it something that is even possible for everyone?

Well, a lot of that depends on your shop. If you are a bare bones shop using Office products to get your analysis done, you’re going to have a few more hurdles to clear. Larger shops, with more software and staff, will certainly have an easier go of it. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into robust data analytics output. Regardless of the size of your shop, there are two key components that both need in order to succeed with data analytics: human resources and functional data.

To fully implement a strong data analytics strategy, you have to have the right staff. Not everyone is comfortable with linear regressions, ANOVA, and all the other statistical formulas that are used in data analysis. There are still plenty of us in prospect research who can barely use the basic functions available in Excel! In order to build an analytics component in any size research shop you have to have the personnel with the requisite skills to make it happen. For those shops without an existing data component, this will mean evaluating the strengths of your existing team and possibly rearranging daily functions. Even though all team members may have the same title, not all will have the same skills. In our shop, we have one researcher who is most proficient with the research and writing, updating the CRM, and identifying strong prospects that have already been prescreened or modeled. Our other researcher, while having similar skills, is also very talented at statistical analysis; thus, her annual plan is weighted more heavily on the data side. It’s also important to realize what duties make the members of your team most productive. If someone is a whiz kid at manipulating pivot tables, but enjoys writing profiles more, let them do more of that; it’ll make everyone happier and more productive. If you are in the position to hire new staff, and don’t have someone with strong data skills in place, use this opportunity to rethink the job description. By overlaying some of what you want data analysis outcomes to be for your shop onto the prospect research job description, you can try to find someone with both skill sets. And if you’re really fortunate, you can make the case to leadership to hire a true data analyst, someone whose sole function will be to perform data analysis projects as part of your prospect research deliverables.

The other key component, functional, data is not necessarily within your sphere of control. There are plenty of factors that keep data from being “clean”—the number of users for the CRM, training, data cleansing, report writing and gathering, and the list goes on. What is working for us in getting better data into and out of the CRM actually happened as by-products of other initiatives. A combination of in-person training with online tutorials is helping condition the CRM users in the proper way to input data into the system—what fields to use, when to use them, when not to use them, and the like. By continual reinforcement from the prospect management and research teams of how the data is captured and utilized, we are finding that data is more functional now compared to 3-4 years ago. What has really made the biggest difference? Getting better at articulating what we want the data to tell us and communicating that with the information services team members who are going to extract that data. Filling out a request form with a simple statement such as “All donors with giving over $100,000 and ratings under $100,000” doesn’t really tell that data extractor much, does it? But telling them you are looking to identify those donors who were rated lower than gifts received to help model future donors by looking at key indicators such as education, marital status, giving outside the institution, etc., will certainly help them build a better report. And an added bonus is you’ll also get more data that you won’t have to pull out manually because they know which tables to pull this data from in the CRM. Additionally, forging a strong relationship with the information team will go far—never underestimate the power of respectful questioning of what they do and how they do it. You know, the more you know!

Data analytics isn’t going anywhere—if anything, we are going to see more and more of it being expected from any size prospect research department. Keeping in mind the key components which are under your control will help you get there with less stress. Even if you don’t know the difference between a data set and a linear regression, remember this: human resources and functional data are all under your sphere of influence. Even if you don’t know the difference between a data set and a linear regression, remember this: you can influence your human resource capital and work within your department and with the information systems team to improve your data. Bringing data analytics to your institution can now be a reality keeping these key factors in mind.

Beauty & the Reunion Beast

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 20:47:09 GMT

Our February blog post comes from Lisa C. Ukuku, Director of Research at The Citadel Foundation.

Here at The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, we have a unique solicitation strategy that has worked very well for several years. It’s called CRC, which stands for the Class Reunion Campaign. The idea is for classes to hold a mini-campaign and have an immediate impact on campus as a collective group. The milestone reunion classes, those celebrating their 10th, 25th, 40th, and 50th class reunion, are assigned to a CRC officer, who is responsible for both major gift and annual gift donations made as part of the CRC.

The CRC officer begins the process by recruiting a committee of volunteers, who determine a project and monetary goal for the CRC. Once the project and goal are approved, the CRC officer presents them to the class. Then, the CRC officer meets with class members whom the Research Office has designated as the class’ top prospects. The campaign includes gifts and pledges made two years before and pledge payments made up to three years after the reunion year.

The process for selecting the top prospects of each class is very precise and is done twice a year for each reunion class. This report can be a bit of a “beast” to format. However, the data is very helpful to the CRC officers, because it assists them in determining the giving history/pattern of the class members. The Research team creates a query from the Raiser’s Edge database and exports it into an MS Office Excel spreadsheet. The following material is retrieved:

1. Contact information
2. Employment
3. Spouse
4. Company
5. Class year
6. Total giving for last three years
7. Cumulative lifetime total giving
8. Number of gifts
9. Date of first gift
10. Date of last gift
11. Name of fund to which last gift was made
12. Date of last action (i.e. touch)
13. Target gift dollar range (for an annual gift)
14. Major giving likelihood score (MGL)
15. Solicitation code

This data is then sorted three ways and saved on separated tabs of the spreadsheet; the tabs are labeled as follows:

MGL: MGL score (Major Gift Likelihood) ranging from 1-1000 based on the constituent’s ability to make a major gift to The Citadel Foundation.

Company: The name of the barracks where the cadet lived while he/she was a
student at The Citadel

Total Giving: The cumulative lifetime giving amount, sorted from highest to lowest amounts

To further segment the MGL group, the list is sorted from the highest to the lowest scores and divided into three tiers, based on the MGL score and total lifetime giving of $25,000 or greater.

After the list is compiled, it is sent to the Director of Development for Annual & Reunion Giving and copied to each of the corresponding CRC officers. The Research team saves each class list in a folder on the network so that all CRC officers and staff have access to this information.

The benefit of the CRC is that the Foundation is educating alums on reunions and preparing them for capital campaigns, board memberships, etc. The alums who give are actually being cultivated to become the next annual and major gift donors to The Citadel. Once their class campaign is over, the CRC officer meets with the Research department and discusses the donors individually and recommends if they should be assigned to Major Gift Officers or to Annual Gift Officers. Another option is that if the CRC officer and the alum have formed a good relationship, the CRC officer can choose to remain assigned along with an Annual Gift Officer or Major Gift Officer. The team assignment offers continuity of the class reunion experience and gently upgrades the alum to the next step in philanthropy.

The “beauty” of the CRC is that it enables graduates, who formed strong unions as cadets, to continue to challenge and support each other after graduation. It also plants the seed of giving and provides much needed funds to special projects, programs, and scholarships for future cadets.

The CRC officer begins the process by recruiting a committee of volunteers, who determine a project and monetary goal for the CRC. Once the project and goal are approved, the CRC officer presents them to the class. Then, the CRC officer meets with class members whom the Research Office has designated as the class’ top prospects. The campaign includes gifts and pledges made two years before and pledge payments made up to three years after the reunion year.

The process for selecting the top prospects of each class is very precise and is done twice a year for each reunion class. This report can be a bit of a “beast” to format. However, the data is very helpful to the CRC officers, because it assists them in determining the giving history/pattern of the class members. The Research team creates a query from the Raiser’s Edge database and exports it into an MS Office Excel spreadsheet. The following material is retrieved:

1. Contact information
2. Employment
3. Spouse
4. Company
5. Class year
6. Total giving for last three years
7. Cumulative lifetime total giving
8. Number of gifts
9. Date of first gift
10. Date of last gift
11. Name of fund to which last gift was made
12. Date of last action (i.e. touch)
13. Target gift dollar range (for an annual gift)
14. Major giving likelihood score (MGL)
15. Solicitation code

This data is then sorted three ways and saved on separated tabs of the spreadsheet; the tabs are labeled as follows:

MGL: MGL score (Major Gift Likelihood) ranging from 1-1000 based on the constituent’s ability to make a major gift to The Citadel Foundation.

Company: The name of the barracks where the cadet lived while he/she was a

student at The Citadel

Total Giving: The cumulative lifetime giving amount, sorted from highest to lowest amounts

To further segment the MGL group, the list is sorted from the highest to the lowest scores and divided into three tiers, based on the MGL score and total lifetime giving of $25,000 or greater.

After the list is compiled, it is sent to the Director of Development for Annual & Reunion Giving and copied to each of the corresponding CRC officers. The Research team saves each class list in a folder on the network so that all CRC officers and staff have access to this information.

The benefit of the CRC is that the Foundation is educating alums on reunions and preparing them for capital campaigns, board memberships, etc. The alums who give are actually being cultivated to become the next annual and major gift donors to The Citadel. Once their class campaign is over, the CRC officer meets with the Research department and discusses the donors individually and recommends if they should be assigned to Major Gift Officers or to Annual Gift Officers. Another option is that if the CRC officer and the alum have formed a good relationship, the CRC officer can choose to remain assigned along with an Annual Gift Officer or Major Gift Officer. The team assignment offers continuity of the class reunion experience and gently upgrades the alum to the next step in philanthropy.

The “beauty” of the CRC is that it enables graduates, who formed strong unions as cadets, to continue to challenge and support each other after graduation. It also plants the seed of giving and provides much needed funds to special projects, programs, and scholarships for future cadets.

1. Contact information
2. Employment
3. Spouse
4. Company
5. Class year
6. Total giving for last three years
7. Cumulative lifetime total giving
8. Number of gifts
9. Date of first gift
10. Date of last gift
11. Name of fund to which last gift was made
12. Date of last action (i.e. touch)
13. Target gift dollar range (for an annual gift)
14. Major giving likelihood score (MGL)
15. Solicitation code

This data is then sorted three ways and saved on separated tabs of the spreadsheet; the tabs are labeled as follows:

MGL: MGL score (Major Gift Likelihood) ranging from 1-1000 based on the constituent’s ability to make a major gift to The Citadel Foundation.

Company: The name of the barracks where the cadet lived while he/she was a

student at The Citadel

Total Giving: The cumulative lifetime giving amount, sorted from highest to lowest amounts

To further segment the MGL group, the list is sorted from the highest to the lowest scores and divided into three tiers, based on the MGL score and total lifetime giving of $25,000 or greater.

Estimated Annual Income: An Underutilized Wealth Indicator

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 21:22:50 GMT

Our first blog post of 2015 comes from Patrick O’Toole, Principal Consultant of Prospira Consulting, LLC.

Early in my career as a prospect researcher, I read Cecilia Hogan’s book Prospect Research: A Primer for Growing Nonprofits. I learned a great deal from this book, and I still have a dog-eared copy in my bookshelf. It is filled with book marks and Post-It notes pointing the way to information I still find useful a decade later.

I have always had a keen financial sense, and I learned quickly how to accurately assess a prospect’s wealth. And this area is where I always had difficulty with Hogan’s suggestions. In writing about philanthropic capacity based on annual income, she wrote:

Frankly, we cannot discover the annual income for most of our potential prospects. The only compensation figures available to us are the ones we find in proxy statements. … Although salary surveys have value for placing an individual within your vision for further research, they are speculative, not real. With that in mind, my philosophy includes quickly leaving the capacity formulas based on income behind.

I could understand Hogan’s reluctance to use estimates of annual income. By using a salary estimation, you were engaging in a bit of speculation. But by doing so in a logical and carefully researched manner, I thought, wouldn’t you bring something of value to your assessment of a prospect’s gift capacity?

I then read the white paper “Prospect Research for the Non-Researcher” by David Lamb in 2010. In this brief but helpful document, Lamb wrote:

Unless your prospect is an insider officer in a public company, you will almost certainly not find a definitive report of his or her salary. In some case, however, it is possible to estimate constituents’ income based on what else you know about them. Salary surveys abound and are easy to access over the Internet.

This buoyed my spirits greatly. I read extensively on the topic of annual compensation. I experimented with several salary survey websites and learned their idiosyncrasies. Before long, I felt confident enough in estimating annual income that I began including such an estimate in most of my asset assessments.

In speaking with other prospect researchers, I believe I am in the minority with this decision. By not providing even an estimate of a prospect’s annual income, however, I believe we do a disservice to our clients. To be clear, I would never consult a salary survey website and attempt to mislead a gift officer. I would never obtain an estimate of a prospect’s annual income and state anything like:

Mr. John Smith earns an annual income of $117,650.

Rather, I am fully open and honest by stating, “I am providing an estimate.” When providing an estimate of a prospect’s income, I always write something like:

According to Salary.com, a mechanical engineer living in High Point, North Carolina, with an education and job experience similar to Mr. John Smith, can expect to receive base annual income of approximately $117,650.

I then footnote my estimation and provide a link to my search.

I have found the inclusion of an estimated annual income to be incredibly helpful to gift officers. The gift officers I have supported speak with individuals from all walks of life. They speak with cosmetologists. They speak with veterinarians. They speak with financial advisors. They speak with plumbers. By providing an estimated annual income, I am helping them to better understand the individual with whom they are building a relationship. Income often determines life outcomes, and the estimate I provide gives gift officers a tiny bit more insight into their prospects’ lives.

Whenever possible, I determine an estimated annual income based on a prospect’s occupation, education, and location. I have found Salary.com http://www.salary.com/ to be a very helpful tool in this process. There are other salary surveys, and I use them regularly; however, Salary.com is my most-used tool. By using the U.S. Salary Wizard, and following on-screen prompts, you can determine the salary distribution for an occupation, skill level, and location. The wizard prominently displays the median annual base salary, but you can adjust your estimate using the 10^th, 25^th, 75^th, and 90^th percentiles. In other words, you can further customize an estimate to better fit the prospect you are researching.

When I do not know a prospect’s occupation, I sometimes provide a broad ZIP Code-based estimate of income. Trust me, I use this estimate with great caution. Summarizing economic information by ZIP Code can produce decidedly bad results. Used with caution and care, however, a ZIP Code-based estimate can provide a generalized sense of the prospect’s environment.

The United States Census Bureau offers a wonderful tool for this process with the American FactFinder http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml. The FactFinder can use five-digit ZIP Codes to gather data. You can also use cities, counties, and states. For this purpose, ZIP Code is the smallest tract possible. When reviewing the results for a ZIP Code, the FactFinder provides numerous tabs, such as Education, Housing, and Income. Under the Income tab, the median household income is prominently displayed. Should you wish to research further, there is a wealth of more detailed information contained in linked Census Bureau reports.

And so I return to my original affirmation: Estimated annual income is an underutilized wealth indicator. Cecilia Hogan and David Lamb are both correct: We cannot know the annual income for the majority of prospects we research. I strongly believe, however, that we can provide an accurate estimate of annual income. To do so, skilled prospect researchers must remain mindful of the prospect and fully understand the tools they employ. And they must make it perfectly clear that they are providing an estimate of someone with education, experience, and location similar to the prospect. This extra bit of information, albeit just an estimate, can provide gift officers with a keener insight to the potential donor they are going to meet. And this insight can lead to larger gifts that close more quickly.

Identifying Corporate & Foundation Prospects Doesn't Have to Make you the "Odd Man Out"

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 16:33:24 GMT

Our final blog post for 2014 comes from Nancy Hillsman, Assistant Director of Research and Stewardship for Duke University Foundation Relations. Happy Holidays from APRA-Carolinas!

Realizing you’re the odd man out is difficult to swallow. But sometimes it’s the only remedy. Having worked in Corporate and Foundation Relations research at Duke University for 13 years, I’ve often had to swallow that fact that corps and founds are definitely the “odd man out.” And trying to explain the differences to individual fundraisers reminds me of trying to explain to my husband that Girl Scouts are not female Boy Scouts! It’s an entirely different group with entirely different goals and concerns. Likewise, corporations and foundations are not just very large individuals!

Knowing that most of my colleagues in APRA Carolinas do individual research, I wonder, “Who might want to read about corporate and foundation research?” Yet I remain hopeful that some of you will, so I’m going to repost an excellent blog that Jen Filla shared with the CFRNET community. Here’s what she had to say on Prioritizing Corp & Fdn Prospects:

“Corporate and foundation research is different from individual research. Could it be so simple? About as simple as stating that boys are different from girls! They are different, but also the same in many ways. It’s complicated! Let’s take a quick peek at how corporate and foundation prospects differ when we need to identify new prospects or prioritize a long list.

Identifying Corporate and Foundation Prospects

There are some great tools out there for creating a good list of corporate and foundation prospects. Foundation Center Online and Foundation Search immediately come to mind. Pretty quickly you can create a long list of good prospects that fit some general criteria. Unlike individuals, many corporations and foundations don’t require a deep, personal connection to make a substantial gift.

And yet many times when you start digging deeper to craft your proposal, you realize that the prospects on your list aren’t as good a fit as you originally thought. For example, maybe they are listed as giving nationally but have only ever made gifts in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Or maybe they give to education, but only scholarships and not program.

Early on in my Aspire Research Group LLC career I was not interested in generating corporate and foundation prospects lists. There were plenty of grant writers around who could do that very well – and write the grants too!

But later on I started getting calls from people who had received a long and very broad list from a consultant or sourced the list themselves using products like Foundation Center Online. Now they were facing 100 or more prospects with no idea where to start and the pressure of meeting a fundraising goal.

When it comes to individuals, there are some great tools for narrowing a list like this. We have wealth screenings, predictive modeling scores and often, some giving history to our own organizations. As the Giving USA research has made quite clear, individuals provide the clear majority of overall fundraised dollars and it’s not surprising that the industry has invested in developing great tools for individual prospects.

Nevertheless, corporate and foundation partners are important players for many reasons, not the least of which because they help us engage with the individuals they employ and sell services to. And starting with the letter “A” and working through to “Z” is rarely ever the best use of time and resources.

I wanted to help people prioritize their corporate and foundation prospect lists, but in a way that would give them a good return on investment. In other words, I needed a way to prioritize that wouldn’t take much time so I could charge less. So I got creative. Maybe you have done this too?

Simple Scoring Scores!

Whenever I take on a prospect ID or prioritization project now, I create a simple worksheet based on my first interview with the client. Then we walk through the worksheet together answering the questions about what a really good prospect should look like. A fundraiser might want a prospect who will give to a certain project, but I make sure we get specific.

“Gives to after-school education” becomes “Has made a gift to a similar initiative of $5,000 or more”. I will probably try to define “after-school education” more specifically too. Are we talking science, computer literacy, reading or all of them?

While we are going through the questions on the worksheet I might add or delete some of my questions as I learn more about the projects and needs. I also keep my ears open on which criteria are the most important. When we are finished with the questions I summarize and confirm which criteria are simply preferable and which ones will disqualify the prospect entirely.

An easy example is geography. If the foundation only makes gifts in New York City and the client organization is in New Jersey, the foundation is not a prospect.

The next step is to translate the worksheet answers into a rating legend. And by playing a little bit and giving some criteria extra weight – a higher rating value – I can get the prospects to sort out in a very obvious way based on the client’s funding needs.

By taking time up-front to determine what disqualifies the prospect and what is most important, I can zip right through the project. Doesn’t give where my client is located? Done with that one. Next!”

Filla, Jennifer. "Prioritizing Corp & Fdn Prospects." Jennifer Filla. December 9, 2014. Accessed December 19, 2014. http://www.jenniferfilla.com/blog.

All’s Well that Ends Well

Some of my prospect ID projects have gone stunningly well and others not so much. The difference has usually been the quality of communication with the client and how early I discover that what the client wants just doesn’t exist. I’m careful now to do an initial search and communicate quickly if I am struggling to identify prospects that meet the agreed criteria.

Your organization might have a straightforward relationship with corporate and foundation funders such as asking for a grant and getting a grant, or you might have many layers to your corporate and foundation relationships such as providing the funder with volunteering, cause-marketing, or fulfilling other needs.

If you are tasked with corporate and foundation research you know you have just as much opportunity to help create wonderful and rewarding relationships as with individual prospects. Maybe you have helped the frontline fundraiser connect with your organization’s vendors, sourced donor relationships with corporate foundation executives or leveraged your organization’s constituency in other ways to identify prospects.

However you do it, identifying corporate and foundation prospects is different from individuals. And as is usual when working with together with other humans, success often requires good communication matched with the creative application of skills!

Trusting Prospect Research

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:54:38 GMT

Our early December blog post comes from Margaret T. Johnson, Director of Client Services at Capital Development Services.

Coming from a consulting world, I have a different perspective than many of you, but I hope you find this blog helpful.

In one of my recent Prospect Research training sessions with a client, someone asked the question, “Can you really trust what you find?” followed by, “How do you know it is accurate?” Both are very good questions and ones that I am sure have come up in your conversations about prospect research. As prospect researchers, do you hear this from leadership and staff? Are they wary of your resources?

After the training session was over, I began looking for information that addressed her concerns in greater detail than I could offer. Jen Filla, president and founder of Aspire Research Group and founder of the new Prospect Research Institute, LLC, has a great perspective. She sums it up pretty well in this article (downloaded from http://www.nonprofitconsultantsconnection.com/knowledge-hub-nonprofits/can-you-really-trust-prospect-research-10-things-you-should-know):

(1) In-person research is a must

As a front-line fundraiser talking directly with donors, you are responsible for some of the most important prospect research your organization can do! You are the one who gets to ask donor prospects questions about why they give, what they love about your organization, what is going on in their family and so many other crucial questions.

Example: A donor prospect can look great on paper, until you visit and discover that the child has special needs, aging parents have run out of money for care and the wife has just cut her career back to care for family.

(2) Google really is good

Google and other search engines are an incredible source of information. Learning how to use search engines effectively has become a life skill. As a front-line fundraiser, you should be able to quickly find some basic information on your donor prospect. However, you will short change yourself and your organization if you do not get professional prospect research before asking for a major gift of $10,000 or more.

Example: A fundraiser had been engaging a donor for years and he was now on the board of trustees. When they were planning a campaign, she asked for an in-depth profile to help decide the size and type of leadership gift he might be capable of. Research discovered significant commercial real estate investments unrelated to the prospect’s primary business. The fundraiser was able to ask another board member who had made complex real estate gifts, to help cultivate and solicit.

(3) Peer Review has pros…and cons

Peer review – asking a select group of volunteers to review and rate prospects – can help you uncover personal information about prospects that formal research does not find, including great insights into a prospect’s personality. But we’ve all known prospects who impress people as wealthy when really they carry a lot of debt or still rely on money from their wealthy families. Peer review is one piece in the prospect puzzle, not the whole picture.

(4) Information is always as good as the source

One of the first rules of research is to scrutinize the source of information. Some sources are more reliable than others. It is important to ask your vendor and keep yourself educated on the sources being used in prospect research.

Example: A Google search on your prospect’s name might reveal a bio saying she serves on a local hospital’s board, but does she? Checking the hospital’s website and/or IRS tax form 990 is a better source. Or you could just ask her…(see #1)

(5) Prioritizing is not an exact science

Your organization has done a stellar job of managing its annual appeals and building its database. Now you have to figure out who among the 5,000+ records should receive event invites, specific appeals, or be asked for a major gift. You don’t want to start with the letter “A” and go from there. But recognize that prospect screenings and data mining efforts are not perfect.

Example: Sweet Charity was methodically working through its best-rated prospects from a recent wealth screening when a donor not on their list expressed an interest in a naming opportunity. It turned out that the donor held a middle-class job, but had a large trust fund as an inheritance. He had been well-stewarded by Sweet Charity for five years and when he read about the campaign in the newsletter he wanted to honor his parents.

(6) Donor Giving is Confidential

Every fundraiser is aware that a donor’s gift to your organization is confidential. We know to ask permission before sharing donor names and stories. Keep this in mind as you review results from database screenings and prospect profiles. Prospect research can only find gifts that have been disclosed to the public by the nonprofit or the donor.

(7) Private Companies are Private

Entrepreneurs are a very philanthropic group and usually own and operate one or more private companies. Private means that the shares or ownership of the company are not available to the public for purchase. It also means that the company does not have to share information, such as sales or profits. Really. Sometimes they do share, but most often we have to guess. It also means we don’t know how much of the company they own or what they sold their company for – unless they tell someone. And sometimes they do tell.

(8) Maybe you can find out stockholdings

Unlike private companies, public companies trade their shares with the public. So you might think that if someone owns shares of a public company we could find out, right? Wrong! Maybe we can find out. Stock ownership is reported only if the person is an insider: top executive, director, or owns 10% or more of the company stock. There are exceptions, but not too many.

(9) You get what you pay for

Many organizations want cheap research. Why should you pay a lot of money for research if you are not sure you will even get the gift? Because, when done well, you raise more money. If you know how to use a prospect screening effectively, every area of your fundraising could have improved results. Really, really. And if you hire a professional prospect researcher (i.e., researcher-fundraiser), you will get donor profiles that provide the kind of wealth and giving insights you need to maximize major gifts. Freelancers often don’t have the experience or the paid resources to give you what you need. How committed are you to using the information? Pay accordingly.

(10) Partnering with Prospect Research raises money!

So you invest in serious prospect research, but it still feels generic and not so helpful. Make sure that partnering is part of the purchase. Prospect research is most effective when research can answer a clearly defined question. That means discussing the project before work begins, during and after. Prospect researchers are fundraisers too and we want to raise money – get a “Yes!” – just as much as you do!

The Three C's

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 18:15:00 GMT

This is a repost of an entry originally shared on October 31, 2014.

This month’s post comes to us from APRA-C member Erica Lamptey, Development Research Analyst at Duke Medicine.

As a prospect researcher, I have come to value three competencies that facilitate the effective and efficient operation of a prospect research program: communication, collaboration, and customer focus.

A researcher has to successfully communicate both orally and in writing. Don’t be afraid to ask questions for clarification. You may know the who or what, but knowing the why behind a request allows you to focus your energy in the right direction and be purposeful and deliberate in your actions. Be diligent about producing an accurate product. In our profession, we are looked upon to be a reliable source of information.

A researcher must collaborate both within and outside his or her department. Each member of your department plays a role in identifying inconsistencies of procedures and ensuring the team stays abreast of projects in the pipeline. Research colleagues are an impetus for innovation and sounding boards. Developing best practices will enable consistency across your organization. A discussion around resources will allow access to products that may have ordinarily been out of reach.

The customer is the primary focus and the source of your day-to-day operations. Establish an open dialogue. Face-to-face visits are always good policy. Understanding the needs of your customer is critical. If you are able, attend meetings where your customers discuss their focus and goals. You should also host meetings that explain your services. Receiving and giving feedback is invaluable.

I believe when communication, collaboration, and customer focus are aligned, you will be strategic in your process and deliver a well-organized, thoughtful product, and your department will function as an integral part of your development office.

What we’ve discovered about discovery….

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 11:51:10 GMT

This month’s post comes to us from APRA-C members Tania Drummond, Director of Prospect Research at North Carolina State University, and Taryn Oesch, Prospect Research Analyst at North Carolina State University.

Last year at NC State, we embarked on an ambitious project: finding ways to emphasize and track efforts aimed at discovering potential new major gift prospects in order to build a longer-term prospect pipeline (a process often simply referred to as “discovery”). Prior to beginning work on our “discovery tracking system,” we didn’t have much of a strategic or systematic emphasis on discovery work. Some of our discovery efforts that were taking place were not being adequately recorded in our database, and we had no reporting in place to keep track of our findings and help inform future decision making.

Previous to last fall, discovery prospects were included in major gift officers’ (MGOs) prospect portfolios, identified with a status code of “discovery.” Rarely was there time to review discovery prospects as part of regular portfolio strategy meetings, and we weren’t specifically addressing discovery work otherwise. We felt the first thing we needed to do to create a greater emphasis on discovery work was to remove discovery prospects from major gift portfolios – where they seemed to get “lost” - and create separate discovery “pools” for each major gift officer on campus. Major gift portfolios would continue to be managed by Prospect Management, while the new discovery pools would be managed by Prospect Research.

In a collaborative process that included leadership in central development, Prospect Research, Prospect Management, and Information Services, we worked towards a date on which all prospects labeled “discovery” in our major gift officers’ portfolios would be rolled over into new discovery pools. At the time the pools were created, we also established a new contact report purpose code for discovery, and database programming was put in place that requires an outcome code on all discovery contact reports before they can be saved; outcome codes will allow us to track interactions with potential prospects and use that data to help us make determinations about what next steps should be taken with the individuals. Our tracking system also allows us to enter start and stop dates for when individuals are assigned to discovery pools, so we can eventually track how long individuals are in discovery and we can track when good prospects aren’t getting attention and perhaps needs to be moved to other development personnel. The system also allows us to note how the prospect was identified, so we can track which prospecting methods are providing us with the best results.

At the time the new discovery pools were created, the directors of Prospect Research and Information Services conducted training sessions for all major gift officers and involved administrative personnel; in the sessions, we detailed the creation of the discovery pools and the tracking system, explained related new processes and codes, and answered questions about who was now responsible for what. We explained potential benefits of the system, shared what we saw as next steps in the system’s development, and acknowledged where we knew we had challenges and unanswered questions that would need to be resolved as we moved forward. Finally, we discussed how the initial discovery pools, having been rolled over from prospect portfolios where they were not actively managed, were, in general, too large and likely contained some prospects that were not the best possible candidates for future major gift donors. We asked all gift officers to review their new discovery pools and notify Prospect Research of the names of individuals they would like removed from their pools. When that process was complete, we would know where we needed to start work filling pools with new discovery prospects.

Fast forward to almost a year later, and we’ve found that not many of our major gift officers have found the time to review their discovery pools, and we’ve not made as much forward progress in using this new system as we would like. The Prospect Research team came together and asked ourselves, what could we do to assist our MGOs in cleaning up their discovery pools gaining some traction on moving forward with tracking our discovery efforts? We decided to conduct a few manual reviews of discovery pools (exactly what we’d expected of our MGOs), and found it was a laborious, time-consuming task – no wonder many of them had not found the time to conduct the reviews themselves! We decided we had to come up with a way to speed the process; our solution was to divide and conquer and have our IS team produce a report with about 65 data points that allowed us to more quickly review indicators to help us determine if we thought an individual was a good major gift prospect.

We took the portfolio of one of our regional MGOs, whose discovery pool numbered over 300, and we divided it among the analysts on the team. Using our data point review, we made determinations about which individuals we felt should stay in or be removed from the pool and which might need the MGOs input to make that determination. The entire team then met with the MGO, and together we reviewed each individual one by one and made final determinations about who should stay and who should go. The end result was a pool that was “MGO-Approved” and with which she was comfortable working.

Our willing MGO who partnered with us to be the test case for our review was so happy with the outcome that she sent an email to her colleagues and supervisors recommending they all take the time to meet with us for the same review. She reiterated her comments in a monthly meeting of development officers, and we’ve since met with three more MGOs to conduct the discovery pool cleanup session and had requests from six more to schedule the sessions. While we still have a way to go to have this process done for all the MGOs on campus, we’ve reignited interest in the discovery tracking system and feel we’ve got some momentum in moving efforts forward.

So, what have we discovered on this path to creating a discovery tracking system?

· Change is hard for most people; expect change to take longer than anticipated or hoped.

· If the change needed is important to you, you may have to be a change agent; ask yourself what you can do impact the process in a positive way (and you may have to do this several times along the way until you get to where you want to go!)

· Collaborate and ask for help. We made forward progress again when the Research team worked together to come up with a possible solution to our problem and when we partnered with our colleagues in IS and development.

· If you can, find an advocate. The MGO who agreed to be our test case became a public, vocal and enthusiastic supporter. Her initial email to her supervisors and colleagues also went to our Vice Chancellor of Advancement; his immediate response was, “How can Research make this happen for everyone?” His support was encouraging to us in our efforts and served as encouragement to development officers to consider working with us (we work in a de-centralized organizational structure, so MGOs aren’t required to work with us or do this work themselves – we have to find ways to entice them to want to do this project with us!).

We’re far from finished with this project. But the development of the system, alone, has helped to increase discovery visits by MGOs, and, with team effort, we’ve managed to jumpstart stalled efforts so we can keep moving forward toward having a well-running, fully-functioning development tracking system.

Establishing and Promoting a Proactive Prospecting Process

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 16:59:07 GMT

This month’s post comes to us from APRA-C member Kristin Richardson, Director of Prospect Research Analysis at the University of South Carolina.

While trying to come up with an idea for this blog post, my mind raced over all the agenda items I review on a daily basis. From reactive requests to data analytics needs to improving our information and reporting, I was looking for that ONE thing that most of us probably encounter in our world that also can cause the most headache/heartache. What glared back at me is Proactive Prospect Leads (echo, echo, echo).

In my little corner of the higher education fundraising world, proactive lead profiles were sporadically distributed prior to my arrival. I was fortunate to come on board during a time of some pretty significant change in prospect development in my institution. My immediate supervisor was a newly hired Sr. Director of Prospect Development and was implementing policies and procedures for moves management; this position had not previously existed; rather, its responsibilities were being managed as time allowed by another Advancement Services team member. When I came on board, both my manager and I were determined to make proactive profiling and lead dissemination a priority. We thought, “How could fundraisers NOT want to have prospects handed to them, fully vetted?” We quickly came to the realization that we were way more excited than the frontline staff!

Of course, they didn’t tell us this at the start. I met with frontline fundraisers when I first came on board and talked about the goals of our division and how we were ready to support them. All seemed pretty excited about the possibilities of having new prospects to whom they could reach out. So we dipped our toes into the water and got ready to test proactive leads. I set monthly proactive goals for the two researchers on staff, plus myself. I created a spreadsheet to track the leads that we sent out. We “made the case” for each lead, reinforced it as needed, and had each lead signed off by leadership before we sent it out. With bated breath, I sent the first batch of leads out, quietly rejoicing that we were going to be instrumental in the forward momentum of this campaign.

Then reality hit. Seems that frontline staff were perfectly happy to keep their existing portfolios, thank you very much. They knew their existing prospects and felt like they could probably identify new prospects on their own. After all, we had reports and a dashboard to help them drill down by capacity, education, and giving to locate those prospects that would be a good fit for their unit. Of the handful of leads we sent out, only a couple fundraisers made attempts to contact the prospect. None of the proactive leads was added to a portfolio.

At this juncture, you may think we just threw our hands up and gave in. But no, we are way too invested to do that! We analyzed where some of the breakdown may have occurred and discovered the following: It was taking way too long to distribute the leads, it was manually taxing (we had to use in-house reports combined with good old fashioned researching on every single potential prospect to create a profile), and we didn’t really give each profile the appropriate level of fanfare when we sent it. We went back to the drawing board, so to speak. We lobbied and identified a better way to identify proactive leads. We purchased a proactive model from a vendor, formed a multi-unit committee to review how the model was derived, and developed policies on how this process was going to work. Then we reviewed – IN DETAIL – the lead identification and disbursement process to ALL the frontline staff. Ultimately though, it also became a priority for our new leadership. And with their backing, it has continued to be an issue that is front and center in our development shop.

Now that is not to say that each frontline officer jumps for joy when they get my email saying “We’ve identified a great lead for your division!”…but the response is drastically better than our first go-round. We are continuing to work on ways to improve communication with the frontline fundraisers and build more excitement around these leads. Some of our percolating ideas are monthly newsletters from Prospect Development, playing BINGO with the blocks corresponding to the steps in the process, and internally creating a more robust reporting system to give to leadership.

So though we may still have a long way to go, the path behind us is equally as long. We have made dramatic changes in the output of our shop. We have become innovative in how we use both our database and external systems to measure and track our proactive leads. We continue to try to build and maintain enthusiasm around proactive lead generation. I can honestly say I think we are in the midpoint of this journey towards proactive prospect nirvana. And it feels pretty good!

Disqualifying a Prospect

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:04:26 GMT

This month’s post comes to us from APRA-C member Lisa Ukuku, Director of Prospect Research, The Citadel Foundation.

I recently saw a post in Prospect L (the online forum for conversation and collaboration about fundraising research) asking researchers to explain their process for disqualifying a prospect. One reply was that the prospect was discussed at a prospect management meeting, and if it was the consensus of the group, the prospect is coded “disqualified.” This process appears to be the best practice for many academic institutions: Allow the gift officers to cite any known information about the prospect, and make a group decision on whether or not the prospect should be cultivated at all. If the prospect is deemed to be someone who is not inclined to make a major gift, he or she is coded as such in the donor database. The prospect may also be coded “no contact” or “no solicitation” based on what information is known about the person.

… But a funny thing happened in our Research office. My co-worker and I were working on profiles that we call “bio briefs” for an upcoming event where top prospects and donors are invited to play golf with our college president. In this process, we only take a brief look at the prospect, their estimated wealth, and how much they have contributed to the college. My colleague noticed that one attendee had a note on his record requesting no solicitation. By protocol, the record should have been coded “no solicitation” and excluded from the invitation mailer. But the wonder of it all was that he accepted – even though he stated that he did not want to receive any mail from the college!

So, if his name had come up in a prospect management meeting, because of the note on his record, he would be someone who we would disqualify and code “NMGP” (“not a major gift prospect”).

Therefore, we have to consider what placing a prospect in this category means. When considering the guidelines for our database, the coding of “NMGP” would result in the following:

The prospect would not be contacted by a gift officer.

The prospect would be excluded from future wealth screenings.

The prospect would be excluded from annual and major gift solicitations.

Is this what we want…forever? I think as researchers, we should examine the amount of time a prospect is placed in a “disqualified,” “no solicitation,” or “NMGP” category. The life situations of prospects could change, and they may be inclined to have a relationship with an organization now while they were not before.

So the process of disqualifying a prospect should never be a permanent status. Just because at one time a prospect did not want to be contacted doesn’t mean that he may not later want to attend an event hosted by the college. It may just be a question of finding the right tool to engage the prospect: We have to find the right program of interest for the prospect. Where does he or she want to make an impact at the institution? Or, in the case of what happened at my organization, send an invitation to someone after he requested not to receive anything. And who knows: A prospect may be more inclined to make a gift to an organization after attending an event where he is made to feel “qualified.”

Keep the Statistics Descriptive at First

Apra Carolinas — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 20:08:37 GMT

This month's post comes to us from APRA-C member Patrick O'Toole, Associate Director of Advancement Services for Prospect Management at UNC-Asheville.

Data analytics has become an accepted portion of the prospect research profession. Many prospect development operations have conducted a variety of analyses trying to discern answers to the mysteries within our databases. When I speak with colleagues becoming involved with data analytics, I often hear the question, “Where do I begin?” Invariably, my answer is the same: Keep it simple.

When we first undertake data analytics, our heads are filled with great ideas. We want to create an omniscient predictive model that will point the way – exactly – to those individuals who will make a seven-figure major gift in two months’ time. And then we face the reality of making sense of our [often] messy data.

None of us would run a marathon for our first competitive race. It should be the same with data analytics. To help us learn the boundaries and abilities of our data – and to gain confidence in our analytic abilities – I encourage beginning data analysts to design and build a “data digest.”

What on earth is a data digest? you might ask. I gave it that name, because that’s what a former employer called a similar publication. You can call it a data book or a data compendiumundefinedwhatever makes you feel comfortable and confident. Essentially, this book is a collection of descriptive statistics that puts boundaries around your organization’s performance.

Few (if any) of these statistical snapshots should be complex. Instead, you gather in one place, and in a consistent manner, statistics around the number of donors you have each year, the median revenue you receive from each donor, how many new donors you had each year....You get the idea. Your data digest can morph quickly from a mere collection of numbers to a valuable planning tool.

A thoughtfully constructed data digest is great for discerning year-to-year trends. When we close the books at the end of each fiscal year, how much thought is given to comparisons with last year? With the year before? To longer-term trends? By doing nothing more than tracking year-to-year performance, you can enable your organization to better understand broader, troubling trends. For example: Your median revenue per donor has been decreasing, and your total number of donors is decreasing slowly as well, but you’re bringing in more money. This trend may point out that an increasing share of your fundraising is coming from an ever-smaller circle of major donors, demonstrating to your organization’s leadership that you must reach out to new potential major donors.

A data digest can also be used for benchmarking. If you build your data digest to mirror commercially available products, you can gain broader insight to peer performance. Perhaps the best known benchmarking resource is Blackbaud’s “donorCentrics” product. You can find simplified versions of this package online. With a bit of query creativity, you can mimic these products. By doing so, you can start to see how your organization’s fundraising performance stacks up against similar institutions.

Perhaps the greatest value I have found with data digests is providing a reality check during annual planning season. It is very easy for an enthusiastic – and misinformed – manager to say, “We’re going to receive gifts from 10,000 alumni this year!” If you can prove through the data digest that the previous all-time high was 5,000 alumni, and the ten-year average is 3,500 alumni, you can help keep annual goals within the realm of reality and possibility. I am NOT saying these will be easy conversations. I am saying that part of our function is to provide a rational voice in the room. If you have a solid data digest showing years-long performance and trends, it should help you to better influence outcomes.

I update my organization’s data digest annually after the fiscal year closes. Every year, I make improvements and add nuances and expansions. But every year, I maintain the tradition of building the data digest. I cannot tell you the number of times I have referred back to this set of simple, descriptive statistics. My data digest has proven to be invaluable, and I encourage all beginning data analysts to hone their skills by developing and maintaining one.

Tips on Researching Foundations

Apra Carolinas — Mon, 26 May 2014 14:25:45 GMT

This month’s post comes to us from APRA-C member Nancy Hillsman, the Assistant Director of Research and Stewardship for Foundation Relations at Duke University.

Foundations need a little research love, too. Since that’s what our office does, I wanted to pass on an overview for those who may not deal with foundations on a regular basis but may bump into them once in a while. In researching that topic, I came across a very good article on the Arthritis Foundation website. They said it so well that I offer their wisdom:

“How to Research Foundations”

Research is key to your success. But even when you've done the research, you must be able to read between the lines.
Always compare a foundation’s stated purposes, mission and guidelines to the actual grants distributed and grant-making patterns.
Even guidelines that seem explicit need to be read as if you are an investigator with the attitude of "this is what they say they are interested in funding, but is this really what they do?" Ask yourself:
- What is the foundation’s overall mission and purpose?
- What does the foundation say it does? What are its guidelines for developing an application?
- Does the mission match the guidelines?
- How are the grants actually made?
- How do what it says it does and funds compare to what it actually does and what it actually funds?
- Can the discrepancies between what the foundation says it does and what it actually does and/or its mission be explained? Review other available information, such as backgrounds on its board members to develop your best guesses about the reasons behind these exceptions or discrepancies.
- How can I use this information to develop specific strategies for approaching each foundation?
Review foundation publications and materials with an eye to where the decision-making authority is within the foundation. A few foundations clearly spell out their review procedures, but most do not. Building lasting relationships with the “right” people is key to being funded.
If it’s not spelled out, ask how the decision-making process works when you speak with a foundation program officer or director. Use that information so you’ll know with whom you need to formulate a lasting relationship.
Always think of alternative ways to approach a foundation if you are turned down, but also realize that some foundations may not let you reapply for a period of time after you’ve been turned down. Nevertheless, keep them on your mailing list and find other strategies to remain visible to them.
Too many grant seekers send applications to foundations that have no interest in supporting their causes. Research is critical to avoid this mistake.
The more time you spend analyzing prospective funders and understanding each one you have initially targeted, the better will be your chances of developing strategies for successfully approaching them for grants. Each piece of information you collect about a given prospect helps you form a picture of that particular prospect.
After you’ve found the basic information, you then need to put the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that makes them meaningful for you and for the (foundation) so that they can become the basis for specific fund-raising tactics for that source, and for the other sources being explored. Again, strategy and relationship-building are key ingredients to successful fund raising through grants.

How to Research Foundations (2014). Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http://www.arthritis.org/toolkit/supporting-programs/tip-sheets-2-11/research-foundations/

Book Review on Score!

Apra Carolinas — Tue, 20 May 2014 19:01:34 GMT

Score!

By Kevin MacDonell and Peter Wylie

Why did I read Score! cover to cover? First, because it was invariably readable. The writing is clear, clever, and conversational. Truly, I found myself reading it on my day off even. Score! defines its goal upfront in the subtitle - Data-driven Success for Your Advancement Team. Success – that one word should make constantly striving development team members take notice. The book makes its point well: non-profits are missing reams of opportunity if their alum or donor statistics are not captured, mined, analyzed, modeled and confidently presented with the specific intent of informing the work of raising money more effectively. Finally, I kept reading it because I believe this book arrived when our institutions it most. Institutional data is a core asset, not to be neglected or squandered, but used to great advantage. Some know that already, but need this nudge to ask others to take notice.

Data analytics to this pair of authors, and now even more so to myself, is ripe ground for reaping the healthy rods of information grain. MacDonell and Wylie ask - and make the case – for the non-profit prospect researcher to farm this rich field and advocate for data’s thoughtful place at the strategy-making table. They repeatedly speak of its worth to both sides of the room, the decision-makers and the data research analysts. Strong logic to use data’s logic.

These two authors bring multiple decades of experience in statistics (Wylie has a PhD in the subject) and in the field of non-profit development. They’ve successfully navigated the years of growth in our data swamped age and have taken the helm here to show us in all the small to large shops of concerned non-profit workers how to smartly rudder through. They provide essential instruction in both hard and soft skills needed to let the data speak. Their years of interactions with clients as they consulted on this subject allow them to write about best and worst instances of data care. Chapters of case studies for work in annual fund, major giving, and planned giving provide practicums in the application of data modeling for those fields. After these, one feels like having steered the channel oneself and adequately ready for a beer with Captains MacDonell and Wylie.

The writers swap authorship of sections and sometimes within a section. This technique allows for multiple stories for personal insight and the depth of a second angle, and thankfully, this never seems padding for equality’s sake but for the richness. It’s another indication of the smart presentation of what could be a mind-numbing subject if inexpertly crafted. I was continuously grateful that the writing spoke with the easy tone of a fine professor to a colleague. I entirely appreciate the stories data tell and try to tell them myself, but MacDonell and Wylie relate their advocacy with a knowing grin that pulled me in to their enjoyment. I only hope to do as well.

Score! is an instruction manual for us in the data rich research departments and for those in strategic planning positions. The soundest message I took is that we researchers can’t be retiring statistic geeks, though the inclinations may be there, but confident, walking instruction manuals ourselves. The use of data analytics is crucial and skills to view and model can be self-taught. Score! will remain a smart read for non-profit development staffers for a long while. It’s not one for the reference shelf, but one that must be shared.

Book review by

Susan Bridgers, Director of CFR Prospect Research, University Development, UNC-Chapel Hill

Using Your Human Resources

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 14 May 2014 18:17:57 GMT

How many of us prospect researchers believe we’ve finished the profile and that we’ve researched and found all the information “out there” to have a full view of this prospect – then find out there is a big piece of the puzzle missing: their mother is sick, and the prospect is paying the hospice bills, or they’re in debt, they’re paying alimony, etc.?

We realize that there is only so much information available on the World Wide Web or in wealth screening software. Is the profile ever really complete without using your human resources to add their perspective? Let me clarify: When I mention human resources, I do not mean the personnel department at your institution, I mean your people resources: your staff, your major gift officers, your board members, your executive director, your volunteer leadership – the folks that actually sit down with the prospect during cultivation visits.

I presented at a workshop on prospect research last week, and a question was raised: How do you engage your people resources to create a more complete profile? This question created a great brainstorming session, and several suggestions bubbled to the surface. The below suggestions on how to better communicate came from not only prospect researchers but development personnel as well.

1. Software Journal Notes: Use them! Ask staff and MGOs to update the software system with pertinent information that they learn on their site visits.

2. Contact Reports: Ideally, this information will be uploaded in the software, but if not, ask MGOs to provide complete, detailed information. Review their contact report and make sure it includes all the information you’re looking for.

3. Bi-weekly Calls or Meetings: Have a set call every other week with the MGOs to discuss upcoming visits and past visit outcomes.

4. Stress Importance: Continue to communicate to development personnel the importance of their feedback and knowledge. They may be surprised that what they know or don’t know will help guide your research.

At the end of the workshop, it was agreed that a full profile of a prospect cannot be completed without the people resources. Their insider knowledge and understanding of the prospect is vital to forming a complete profile. Be sure to use them!

This post was written by Margaret T. Johnson, Director of Client Services at Capital Development Services.

Why We Do What We Do

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:52:43 GMT

According to APRA, prospect researchers direct their energy towards identifying new donor prospects, maintaining and programming databases, researching individuals, corporations, and foundations, and, as we know, more. We have been described as resourceful, diligent, and adaptable.

By the nature of the job, we have to expect the unexpected and adjust accordingly. We keep abreast of new technology and techniques to improve our efficacy. We attend professional training to "stay on our toes." We collaborate with colleagues to keep ideas flowing. We are always learning and improving.

Being in healthcare, there is a sense of purpose for what I do. I am helping to identify someone who will support a research lab where scientists are working on curing a debilitating disease. I can find that one person hiding in our database capable of making a transformative gift that will inspire others to give. The new building on campus funded by philanthropy will be an invaluable resource as we train our medical and nursing students to better serve the community.

On days when our work may seem tedious, we have to remember we are working for the greater good. Dig deep and know that the time you invest now may one day mean someone could see another birthday, a child's pain could be eradicated, and a scholarship recipient could go on to be the leader of the free world.

I want to say thank you for the hours you invest and the sacrifices you make. I appreciate it. The service you provide is vital. Keep up the good work!

This post was written by Erica Lamptey, Development Analyst at Duke Medicine.

Get AMPED!

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:51:26 GMT

Get AMPED!

(Academic and Motivational Professional Education and Development)

But I don’t have time to attend a seminar or go to a conference!

Our department is cutting our budget……….. AGAIN!

Is it really that important?

Above are the excuses that often accompany invitations to conferences, seminars and other professional development opportunities that come your way every month.

Instead, the following questions are what ought to be asked of yourself and your supervisor:

How can I improve my skills and raise the bar in my job if I don’t add new skills to my ability to help my department?

Would our budget allow for necessary upgrades to technology? If so, am I less important than the technology we use?

Am I working harder instead of working smarter?

If you are a goal setter, what are your goals and how do you intend to get there? If you’re not one of THOSE people, how do you go about learning any new skill? Sometimes it’s online training, sometimes it’s taking a class, right? As a kid or a parent, we’ve all said or heard the phrase “practice, practice, practice.” But practice what? We had to learn it first, and that meant getting the education we needed to understand what it was we needed to practice and how. Why is it that when we become “adults,” we forget that very fundamental process in learning and think we know it all when we know that no one does know it all?

In 2012, Deloitte, a leading consulting company, did the unthinkable in a downturned economy. They invested in professional development tools for their employees despite the economic challenges in order to come out on top in their field when the economy turned around. They saw it as necessary as upgrading their security and technology.

You were hired because you are a valuable asset to your organization. To remain a valuable asset, you need to consistently take stock in what you have to offer and create a check list of skills to add to your cadre of abilities. What is it that you need to learn to take yourself to the next level? What is the next level? It’s okay if you don’t know. Find out through professional networks and colleagues. That’s where networking pays off in spades!

How do you go about getting AMPED? This is where no size fits all. Don’t start with time and cost, because you will inevitably sell yourself short and wind up with less than desired achievements. Rather, start with the skill set you wish to develop and seek out the closest match to your needs. Being aware of the fact that not all budgets are created equal, find other resources for paying for more expensive AMPED opportunities. Remember the adage “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Now, more than ever, there are scholarships and work reimbursements from HR and various other sources. Check them out! Many professional development chapters offer scholarships and assistance to those organizations that are struggling the most. ALWAYS ask about discounts! It never hurts to find out if there are ways to use discounts to pay for things.

When you think about the opportunities that are offered to you, keep in mind these questions: How can I personally connect to other attendees and those who are educating me? Will there be time to network and build my community of colleagues outside my office? How can I use the skills I learn to assist my organization?

Building your community of colleagues is essential in keeping yourself on the road to continual improvement. It’s like having a swimming buddy. The deeper you get into building your network, the more you’re surrounded by professionals and leaders in your field and the more skilled you will become at navigating your future.

Once you’ve developed your plan of action and where to invest your dollars to guide your future, step out and get…………………… AMPED!

Writer’s personal preference for getting AMPED:

APRA International Conference
APRA-Carolinas and APRA-VA chapter meetings that involve networking time as well as education
One-on-one collegial meetings that happen ad-hoc

This post was written by Tracey Martin, APRA-Carolinas board member and Prospect & Research Coordinator for Duke University's The Fuqua School of Business.

Walking a Mile in the Donor's Shoes

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:50:41 GMT

I took a course on public administration ethics last semester as part of my MPA (Master of Public Administration) program at NC State. One of our assignments was to critique the code of ethics for an organization, and I chose to critique APRA’s code.

Since starting in the prospect research/fundraising field three years ago, I’ve been fascinated by the ethics associated with fundraising in general and prospect research specifically. Obviously we are bound by practicality; there is some information we just can’t reach. But we also have more “wishy-washy” ethical dilemmas: Just because we have access to a piece of information, should we report it? The explosion of social media further complicates this question; for example if someone has his or her Facebook page public, can we use information from that page in our reports?

For those who haven’t looked at it recently, APRA’s Statement of Ethics can be found at http://www.aprahome.org/p/cm/ld/fid=110. It is pretty simple when compared to some of the other codes I looked at in my class; the code of ethics for the International City/County Management Association, for example, has 12 tenets and a five-page document expanding on them with guidelines. I personally like the APRA Code’s simplicity; you can, after all, micro-manage someone’s behavior, and I’ve always felt that being too specific when setting ethical standards can increase the likelihood of leaving something out. Better, I think, to provide broader guidelines and help professionals understand that ethical behavior often includes making judgment calls that can’t be predicted.

This notion is especially relevant in fundraising and prospect research. Even the most specific statement in APRA’s code (“Members…shall only record data that is appropriate to the fundraising process”) is arguably too broad; after all, what data is appropriate, and what data isn’t?

In my paper, I argued that this lack of specificity is necessary in prospect research. Part of the “art and science” of what we do is that our research process does not look the same for each prospect. The data we record in our reports just prior to an ask may not be appropriate to include in our reports at the identification stage of the fundraising cycle. These types of decisions are what make us data analysts rather than data reporters. APRA cannot dictate what type of data is appropriate at each stage of the fundraising cycle and for each prospect because each prospect is different.

Interestingly, since I turned in my paper, APRA has posted a Social Media Ethics Statement on its website. This statement is more specific than its broader ethics statement, perhaps because social media is still relatively new, and everyone – not just prospect researchers – are still trying to figure out its implications. The statement provides some specific behaviors to avoid. For example, APRA members “should not ‘friend’ or be ‘friended’ or enter into personal relations with prospects or donors in the conduct of their work.” It is ethical, therefore, to use LinkedIn to find information about prospects, but it would be unethical to “connect” to a prospect for the sole purpose of seeing information that is private.

These new frontiers are not only exciting in their implications for what information we find and how we use it to raise funds for our institutions; they are also interesting from an ethical perspective. What types of information are appropriate to use for fundraising purposes, and what standards have we adopted in our use of that information? As social media becomes more and more of a presence in our personal and professional lives, what impact does that presence have on us, personally and professionally? One helpful guideline I like to use is: In a grand alternate universe where I am a wealthy philanthropist, if a prospect research analyst at my alma mater were doing X, would I find it intrusive? Or would I find it to be a normal part of fundraising?

It’s a cliché for a reason: Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can be very helpful. And in a profession that is all about raising funds to promote the public good, having that kind of empathy is a good idea anyway.

This post was written by Taryn Oesch, Prospect Research Analyst at North Carolina State University.

Are You My Donor?

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:49:42 GMT

Ok, I know I am telling my age, but when I was young, I remember my elementary school teacher reading (what I thought was the dumbest book ever) Are You My Mother, to the class. It was about a baby bird that hatched while his mother was away. He had fallen from his nest, so he sets out to look for his mother and asks everyone he meetsundefinedincluding a dog, a cow, and a planeundefined"Are you my mother?" The contrasting pictures in the book of the most unlikely animals standing beside the tiny yellow bird were the most bizarre thing ever to me. I couldn’t understand why the little bird would think that the other animal could be his mother when it looked so different than he did.

Now years later, working in fundraising, I find that I am the little bird asking almost the same question when presented with an unknown nameundefined“Are you my donor?” Some names seem to be of the most unlikely individuals. I stare at the piece of paper, or email and wonder why I am being given this name; they did not graduate from this school, they did not grow up in this community, they do not work in this community, they do not have relatives who graduated from this school, they do not give to us, they do not look like our donors.

However, I follow due diligence and find a formal name and residential address, find out their last employer and position title, run a wealth screening, confirm any philanthropic giving to other organizations, create a profile, search for news articles, and, of course, search for the ever illusive photo. Seconds, minutes, hours, and sometimes days later, I have my finished product. A nice, neat, detailed profile on the prospect. I email the finished product to my colleague with my professional opinion noted about this individual and even suggest what level of giving this person may be able to produce.

In the process of this endeavor, my passion for research comes out. I find that I am obsessed with finding evidence that this person is indeed a prospect. I want the answer to the question to be “YES, I am your donor!” I just can’t have wasted time and energy on someone who is not a prospect, right?

I wait seconds, minutes, hours, days to hear back from my colleague. I stop him in the hallway, “Have you contacted the prospect yet?” Nothing…I get nothing except that I’ll let you know. He does not seem to see the urgency in this situation or even remember who I am talking about. Soon I am involved in other research requests, more traditional prospect research, and I forget about my suspect.

Then one day out of the blue, the gift officer bounces into my office and says, “Hey I got in touch with that prospect. I’ve scheduled a visit for next week!” Well, I am as happy as when I delivered my first child! My plight is over and I can rest easy. My life is good!

But wait a minute? Does this mean I have gotten the answer I wanted to my question? No, but what I’ve finally come to realize is that every recommendation of a prospect should be considered a potential donor. I had to stop thinking as I did when I was younger. Just because the two pictures look different doesn’t mean that they are. The prospect may not look like my other donors; their characteristics may not “mirror” our top donors, but so what?! Isn’t that part of prospect research… to find out?

I challenge you to take a deeper look at some of the people whom we sometimes leave at the bottom of the drawer. Tier 3 prospects, non-donors, non-graduates, one-time donors, students who attended the evening or graduate programs, individuals not currently in the database, oh and yes, parents. You may find that someone you considered a “tiny little bird” may actually return to the nest as one of your top donors.

This post was written by Lisa Ukuku, Director of Prospect Research at The Citadel Foundation.

The Art, Science, and Magic of Prospect Research

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:46:43 GMT

I am a sole prospect researcher. My colleagues are continually amazed that I am able to discern the value of a prospect after studying a selection of data points. Having practiced our profession for nearly a decade, I have learned that there are equal measures of art and science in making these appraisals. I have also come to learn that there is … in the eyes of my colleagues … a bit of magic. By embracing the “magical-ness” of our work, we can bring a bit of fun to what we do.

Georges Seurat was a French painter who is best known for using a technique known as pointillism. If you study one of his paintings, such as A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, you will see the picture is composed of thousands of shaded dots. When viewed up close, the picture makes little sense. From a distance, however, this neo-impressionist masterpiece delights. It is the same with prospect research. In our work, we discover small subtly shaded dots about a prospect. Our work becomes artful by seeing these points as a whole. We draw conclusions from each point and are able to paint a coherent picture for our gift officers.

A good example of this is a line I often hear is, “His house is worth half a million dollars!” Taken in exclusion, that data point is intriguing: The prospect was able to purchase a $500,000 home. As prospect researchers, we need to look more closely. Check the mortgage records: What was the debt-to-value ratio? What is the prospect’s estimated annual income? Did the prospect recently sell a home elsewhere and use the proceeds to purchase this one? In short, we need to connect the dot of a home’s assessed value with several other dots to determine a prospect’s liquidity. We have all heard the phrase “house rich and cash poor.” As prospect researchers, we must prove or disprove this notion with every prospect. Are they living within their means? Do they have the capacity to make a gift to our organization?

When evaluating prospects, our gift officers must also share their intended goal. Determining annual giving capacity is different than determining major gift capacity. Annual giving is sometimes referred to as “checkbook giving.” It is the type of philanthropy that is governed by how much is comfortably available in a prospect’s checking account. This usually is driven by a prospect’s income and discretionary spending. Drawing on resources like The Chronicle of Philanthropy and documentation from the Internal Revenue Service, prospect researchers are able to determine estimates of these values. I have cautioned gift officers that an intriguing prospect might own a fine home and two nice cars, but their income is only middle class, they have three children in their teens, and their discretionary income is minuscule. We create magic when we draw all of these data elements together and suggest that the gift officer pursue an annual gift that is respectfully within the prospect’s ability to contribute. Better it is to build relationships for the future than to alienate a prospect with a too-big, too-fast ask amount.

Prospect researchers can create even bigger magic when few … if any … data points are to be found. For several years I was the prospect researcher for a major medical school. I learned that physicians are masters of disguise when it comes to personal data. I learned later that attorneys share this trait. Often, their personal assets are held in trust. These professionals do this to ensure their assets are not in jeopardy if they ever face a lawsuit. As prospect researchers, we often cannot find or confirm anything with physicians and attorneys, but we are able to offer learned interpretations of what we do not see. Granted, we cannot deliver an estimate of wealth that is accurate to two decimal places, but we can offer hints, clues, and ideas. We are trained professionals, and we are used to seeing clarity inside these murky situations.

It often comes down to trusting your intuitions. I cannot count the number of times I have worked through all of the usual resources on a prospect and thought, “Something more is there.” It is feeling beneath the surfaceundefineda sensation that we are somehow not seeing as full a picture as we could. Once again, that is where the artful magic of our profession comes into play. There is no one right way of doing what we do. Each of us draws on personal ability and experience to create our answers. Yes, we have standardized resources for reference, but the way in which each of use approaches and uses these resources is unique and … dare I say … magical. Each of us in prospect research is more than the sum of the information in our databases. We are the ether that draws all of this information together and makes sense of it.

As prospect researchers, we have unusual abilities. We are inquisitive. We are diligent. We are resourceful. We are able to size up prospects we have never met from a variety of data sources that mean little to our colleagues. I would like to say that more often than not we are closer to right than wrong in our assessments. To our co-workers, this all appears to be magical. Embrace that perception. We are magical. We have a unique set of skills, and we bring great value to our organizations. Prospect researchers are the forward-looking guides that help to steer their organizations toward goals.

So when one of you gift officers marvels at a research profile you have prepared and comments that you must be magic, just smile.

This article was written by Patrick O’Toole, UNC Asheville.

New Blog

Apra Carolinas — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:45:23 GMT

Dear APRA-Carolinas Members:

On behalf of our organization’s Board of Directors and the members of our Communications Committee, I welcome you to the new APRA-Carolinas blog. For those of you who are, like me, long-time members of this community, you may remember a time when we communicated primarily by newsletter….and I’ve been around so long, that I can remember when the newsletter was a hard copy, printed and mailed! Today, our communications are in step with the times, and this blog on the APRA-C website is one way in which we’re updating how we can readily share information with each other.

In general, we hope you’re regularly visiting the APRA-Carolina' website; there you will find information on who’s leading our organization, a schedule of events and meetings, information about job openings and resources used in our work, and, perhaps most important, contact information for your fellow APRA-Carolinas members, so that we can more easily interact with each other, support one another and share information that can help each of us to work more effectively and efficiently.

As we move forward with our new blog, we anticipate you may eventually see lots of different types of information shared in this space, from opinion pieces and writings that share thoughts and ideas about our profession to case studies that detail others’ experience from which we can inform decision making in our own research offices. We've gathered a team of volunteer writers who come from research operations large and small and in different types of organizations; our plan right now is that they’ll be sharing, at least once a month, information with you that they think you’ll find interesting, entertaining and helpful. And though we have a group of volunteer writers, we welcome submissions from anyone in the APRA-Carolinas community who has information she/he wants to share; simply contact me or one of the members of the Communications Committee to participate (our contact information is on the website). We plan on soon sending a short survey to the membership to also ask for your input into what topics we should address, so you’ll also have an opportunity there to tell us what you’d like to see in this space.

Among the things I've enjoyed about being a part of the Prospect Research community is observing how giving a community it is; read the responses to questions and requests for help on PRSPCT-L, watch how many hands go up at an APRA International Conference workshop when a colleague asks for assistance or guidance, or reach out and directly contact an individual colleague at another institution or organization and see if you don’t get, as I always have, a warm welcome and a helpful exchange of information. As APRA-Carolinas continues to change and grow, I hope we continue to also grow in our local chapter that sharing and supportive community, and I believe our communications with each other play a big role in making sure that happens. So I invite you to visit this space regularly and join us in the conversations here!

Tania

Apra Carolinas Untitled page

Publishing Prospect Management: Ruthie Giles talks about writing her new book

Meet the 2026 Board

Reflections on the Apra PD 2025 Conference

What We Learned from You: 2025 Membership Survey Highlights

A Strong and Growing Membership

Community Spirit: Networking and Engagement

Ready to Pitch In

What You Value Most

Training Priorities: What’s on Your Radar

Satisfaction Across the Board

Looking Ahead

Planned Giving Prospects: Where Data Meets the Road

How Prospect Development Can Help Power Your Giving Day

Searching Smarter

The Importance of Paying it Forward

Steps to Advance Your Prospect Research Career

Meet Our 2025 Board

Apra Carolinas 2024 Fall Conference in Review

2024 Professional Development Scholarship: Apra PD Experience

2024 Professional Development Scholarship: Apra PD Experience

"We Are Experts at Becoming Experts": My Experience at Apra PD

“We are experts at becoming experts”: My Experience at Apra PD

Apra Carolinas 2024 Membership Survey Results & Key Takeaways

Accelerating Prospect Development: Crafting a Custom AI Chatbot

Meet the 2024 Apra Carolinas Board!

Road Trip Grant (from the other side of the desk)

Prospect Research: Our Rookie Year by Michele Cheek and Jenny Bunn

Q&A with Cindy Boccabello, Apra Carolinas Professional Development Grant Recipient

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing prospect development?

Have you attended an Apra PD conference prior to this year?

Why did you choose this conference?

Did you have a favorite session?

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

Did anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

Would you recommend that the next recipient of the scholarship use their funding on this conference?

Is there anything that you’d like to implement at your organization as a direct result of attending this conference?

Apra Carolinas Membership Survey Results 2023

Member Spotlight: Angie Herrington

How long have you been an Apra Carolinas member, and what has been your most meaningful experience with the chapter?

What do you like most about Prospect Research?

Describe your professional journey and what the trajectory of your career has looked like. What drew you to make the transition to your current role with The Helen Brown Group?

What are some of the challenges that come with working in more of a consulting role versus a standard Prospect Research shop? Alternatively, what aspects of the role are stimulating?

What are the most valuable skills for prospect researchers to develop?

Thinking back on your career history, share about a time that you hit a “roadblock” while conducting a research project. What was it, and how did you move through it?

Tell us something fun about yourself that others might not know!

How to Love Your Fundraisers - And Have Them Love You Back

Share your stories

Establish a relationship

Why it works

What you get

Suggested Outline

Meet the 2023 Apra Carolinas Board!

Q&A with Apra Carolinas Professional Development Scholarship Winner, Kelly Kemp

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been doing prospect development?

Have you attended an Apra PD conference prior to this year?

Why did you choose this conference?

Did you have a favorite session?

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

Did anything unique stick out about this conference as compared to others you’ve attended?

Would you recommend that the next recipient of the scholarship use their funding on this conference?

Is there anything that you’d like to implement at your organization as a direct result of attending this conference?

Foundation Research & 990s

Foundation Research Tools

Digging into 990s

Foundation Profiles

Apra Carolinas Membership Survey 2022 Results

To Infinity and Beyond! …or maybe, to the for-profit sector

Apra Carolinas Mugshots

Apra Carolinas Mugshots

Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors are Revolutionizing Giving by Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody

Cyber Security – Why, When, and How

Interview with Professional Development Scholarship Winner: Bridgette Holley, Hope International

The Interview

Donor Advised Funds & Why They Are In The News

What is a DAF?

DAF grantmaking

What is changing?

Why should you care?

Looking forward

“We are experts at becoming experts”:
My Experience at Apra PD