Finding New Donors
Every year, charities lose supporters through natural attrition and therefore need to replace them just to stand still. If they wish to grow their income, the number of new prospects obviously needs to exceed those being lost and so becomes a larger task.
The way to find new donors is via prospect research, which can cover individual donors (and especially major donors), as well as trusts & foundations and companies.
Prospect research has become a specialist field in its own right and is a key part of fundraising success. So what are the key issues to think about?
Start with your own records
The first point to make is that you should maximise any existing contacts you may have before spending time and money looking for new ones, on the basis that you are more likely to get a gift from a former donor than from a completely new one.
So look back through your files. Are there any former donors who could be reactivated? If a trust gave to you five years ago, it may be prepared to give again if your work still fits its criteria and – crucially – if you have maintained some level of contact with it. If not, you will need to re-engage with it (for example by sending a recent impact report) before you start to seek a gift. The same goes for individuals and companies who gave in the past – can they be reactivated?
Trusts & Foundations
When seeking new trust prospects, there is a wealth of options to finding potential matches and the first aim should be to create a long list that you can then filter down to the best prospects. Places to look include:
Trusts that fund similar causes to yours – check their annual accounts and websites to see what you can learn about who funds them
Search engines – a basic Google search can unearth a surprising amount of useful information about who funds what
Paid for directories, such as those from the Directory of Social Change
Subscription services – there are several that charge an annual fee to provide details of funders and especially of newly registered ones
Bespoke research from an agency (such as Wootton George Consulting)
Database screening – there may well be trustees of trusts & foundations on your database of individual donors, through whom you can identify a trust prospect
Major Donors
This is a more specialist area of research, but one which can pay off handsomely, even for smaller charities if conducted well:
Start by considering your existing database. Have you had any major gifts before? If so, who from? Can you engage with them again?
Having your database externally screened can throw up some interesting results, including people you did not know to be wealthy. This will need to be done by an agency or specialist researcher but is usually a good investment. We can help with this if needed
If you already have some major donors, can they introduce you to other wealthy people? It pays to get to know them and to nurture them. Ask their opinions and find out what you can about their networks
As with trusts, can you identify who gives to similar causes? They may be open to an approach from you, if it is done well and by the right person
You can also commission cold research from an agency (such as Wootton George Consulting) to identify wealthy people with an interest in your type of cause. Any results should then be shared within the charity (with trustees, senior staff etc) to identify any personal links, as well as checking if any existing major donors know any of those identified
Consider running an event to which you can invite new prospects (as well as your best donors). Key considerations here are who signs the invitation (a wealthy or famous supporter will pull in more people than the charity itself) and the location (can you find somewhere interesting or unusual to tempt people to come?)
Be sure to find out as much as you can about your prospects by profiling them. What is their interest in your cause and what evidence is there of previous donations to charity? This will allow you to make a more realistic judgement about how much you should ask them for. After all, you would not want to ask for £10,000 if they could give you £100,000
It takes time and effort to build a pool of major donors, so it is not a quick fix, but over time it can be very worthwhile.
Clearly, any research needs to be compliant with data protection legislation, especially if sensitive information is to be collected or stored. You will also need to ensure your privacy statement allows you to do this and that, at the first contact with prospects, you give them the chance to opt out of any further contact. Any research findings should be used as soon as possible, as it can quickly become out of date. You should also only keep it for a limited period and then delete it.
Companies
Research into companies is another specialist area that can prove rewarding if you get it right.
Before embarking on this, consider first why any company would want to support your charity. What’s in it for them? This will help inform your research. While there is still an element of charity involved, much corporate support is an extension of marketing and brand management, so be aware of your potential value to companies, especially if you have a large donor base of individuals that they may wish to reach or influence. Ways to find corporate prospects include:
Networking via your trustees and warm contacts – who do they work for and who do they know?
Local knowledge – which major companies are located near to your charity and what is their CSR policy?
Directories, such as that produced by the Directory of Social Change
Bespoke research from an agency (such as Wootton George Consulting)
Online research, including basic search engines
Due Diligence
Before accepting gifts – and especially large gifts – you will also need to ensure that the source of funds complies with your charity’s ethical policy in relation to donations. So where did the money you are being offered come from and how was it obtained? Every charity will have its own policy criteria (or should have) about what it will accept and what is off limits. Common bars include tobacco, gambling and pornography but may also include weapons manufacture, fossil fuels, or other practices that harm the environment. This all needs to be thought through before you start to approach prospects for support, otherwise you may face the embarrassment of having to return a gift.
In summary, prospect research is a core foundation of effective fundraising. It is an investment in your future results and, whether you undertake it all yourself or bring in external support, it will normally repay itself many times over.
If you need help with prospect research, whether with trusts & foundations, major donors or companies, please do contact us on 01903 723519 for a free initial chat. We’ll be happy to help.
