1. Prospect Research Database

Your prospect research database is the source of truth for most of the key information you need to determine if a potential donor is a good fit for your organization’s needs. The best databases compile data from various sources—from government records to other nonprofits’ annual reports—to provide a holistic view of each prospect.

This comprehensive approach is important because, as DonorSearch’s prospect research guide explains, “just because a donor has the capacity to make a significant gift to your organization doesn’t necessarily mean they’d be willing to do so.” To this end, your database should provide you with three types of information on each prospect (also known as markers or indicators):

• Capacity indicators show whether potential donors are in a financial position to make a major gift. They include real estate ownership, stock holdings, business affiliations, and political giving history, among other wealth data.
• Philanthropic indicators demonstrate prospects’ charitable tendencies and include previous donations to your nonprofit or other similar organizations.
• Affinity indicators help you gauge donors’ willingness to support your particular organization. They include a strong connection to or passion for your mission, a history of nonprofit engagement outside of donating (event attendance, volunteering, board service, advocacy, etc.), and personal information like interests and values.

Make sure to choose a prospect research database that relies on trustworthy sources and updates its data regularly. This way, you’ll ensure you can always find the most up-to-date information on each individual and more accurately determine whether they exhibit all three types of indicators before considering them a viable prospect and creating a donor communication strategy.

2. Your Nonprofit’s CRM

At its most basic level, your nonprofit’s constituent relationship management (CRM) system is a place to store and organize your prospect research data. As soon as you’ve found a strong potential donor, create a profile for them and fill it in with everything you know about them so far. Then, throughout the cultivation process, have your team update this profile with additional information they learn through interactions with them for future reference.

However, your nonprofit’s internal database has a second purpose: to help you identify potential major donors within your existing supporter base. Segment your donors to find individuals who have made mid-level gifts and been active with your organization in other ways. Don’t discount lapsed donors in this process—they may still be willing and able to support you if you reach out to them directly.

Once you’ve found donors that meet these criteria, run their names through your prospect research database to learn more about their financial situation and broader philanthropic leanings. Since you have an existing relationship with these individuals, cultivation will likely be less time- and resource-intensive if they’re good candidates for major giving.

Some prospect research databases integrate with popular nonprofit CRMs, so check if your tools will integrate when shopping for a new solution in either category. Integrations allow you to automate your prospecting processes to screen new supporters when they enter your database and conduct research on existing donors with just a few clicks.

3. Corporate Giving Tools

According to Double the Donation, “A corporate giving database is a comprehensive resource that compiles information on corporate philanthropy programs. This technology helps nonprofits identify potential funding opportunities by providing details on individual companies’ program criteria, application processes, and contact information.”

While this solution plays a major role in your organization’s ability to receive funding via business partnerships, it can also provide a few insights to enrich your prospect research efforts:

• More in-depth information on potential donors’ business affiliations. The company contact information can be a jumping-off point for learning more about donors’ work histories, current roles (and corresponding salaries), and connections to other individuals at your nonprofit.
• Whether prospects’ employers would match their gifts. Although many companies have maximum annual donation matching thresholds per eligible employee, these are often quite high at large corporations. For example, Disney’s maximum match amount per team member is $25,000, and Microsoft’s is $15,000. Even if a potential major donor could only get part of their gift matched by their employer, that would still earn significant additional revenue for your nonprofit and help the donor make an even bigger impact.
• Corporate volunteerism opportunities to leverage for cultivation. For example, if you learn that a prospect’s employer offers paid volunteer time off (VTO), you could suggest they use that time to volunteer with your organization. Then, they can get a firsthand look at your work at a convenient time for them, which may help convince them to give.

If possible, integrate your nonprofit’s corporate giving tool with your CRM and your prospect research database to create a fully unified ecosystem for data gathering and storage.

4. Nonprofit AI Solutions

While the tools we’ve discussed so far allow your nonprofit to collect and track prospect research information, incorporating AI into your processes helps you analyze and act on that data. There are two main types of nonprofit AI solutions, and the most effective prospect research strategies incorporate both as follows:

• Predictive AI is trained to recognize patterns and trends in data and use that information to make projections and suggestions about future actions. After you conduct prospect research, predictive modeling tools analyze the data, rate potential donors’ giving likelihood, and prioritize your prospect list accordingly. This way, you can contact the strongest candidates first and work smarter, not harder, on outreach.
• Generative AI creates original content (text, images, videos, etc.) based on user prompts. Using the insights you glean from prospecting and predictive modeling, you can leverage generative AI to assist in developing tailored outreach materials across various channels. Plus, AI-powered prospect reporting tools will summarize the most important information on each potential donor into an actionable document for your team to reference as you build a relationship with them.

Remember that AI is meant to enhance your team’s efforts, not replace human work altogether. Treat predictive analytics as one factor in your decision-making rather than letting the tool make decisions for you, and carefully review all AI-generated content to ensure it aligns with your nonprofit’s brand and donors’ preferences.

The platforms above should form the foundation of your nonprofit’s prospecting toolkit, although other solutions in your tech stack may also provide helpful insights. Take stock of your current software, needs, and budget to determine if you need to invest in any new tools or upgrade your existing ones to find even more high-impact donors for your initiatives.