As an added bonus for our clients, we have begun offering monthly workshops on various fundraising topics. Heading into a campaign and don’t know where to start? Attend our session “Campaign Management.” Not sure how to research within HIPAA regulations? Listen in on our workshop “Is Your Research HIPAA Compliant?”

Workshops are open to current clients only and are free. A link to the workshops can be found here: http://www.wealthengine.com/pub/workshops.jsp 

Sign up for one (or more) of our great workshops today!

We’ll be exhibiting at Fundraising Day, Maryland on May 15th in Towson, MD and AHP Rockies & Southwest from May 15th - 17th in San Antonio, TX.

Stop by to say hello and give the money drum a spin! We’d love to meet you!

Some of you use only our online product – FindWealth Online (FWO).  But for clients who sign up for our Access Manager product by sending us a list of names to screen in one big file, there are often questions about how those results factor in with the FindWealth Online results.  Can the data differ?  Should it?  The databases we use for the FWO results are the same as the ones we use for the Access Manager results.  Therefore your ratings and data should come out the same.  Here are the two main exceptions: 

1. Difference in lookup info – Believe it or not, any small changes in the client name or address can turn up very different information in your results.  Therefore, make sure that you’re searching the exact same name and address for both products.
2. Data changes over time – If your screening data (in Access Manager) is a year old, it stands to reason that your clients may have moved, gotten married, sold stock or made other financial changes.  Trust the more recent, online data first, in these cases. The only other possible difference is that Access results are sometimes based on more detailed information (FindWealth Online doesn’t require a spouse name or a street address for results, but they help to add to the rating). The more information we have on a prospect, the higher the rating. As the confirmed details increase, the Quality of Match goes up. 

So, I want to know - how long do you usually wait before you consider data “outdated” or in need up an update?

When you get your screening file back, it’s a lot of information! So what comes first? Who are your biggest and best prospects? The answer is – it all depends. Your top prospects are up to you – and determined by your goals. Do you want top prospects for a specific campaign? Event? Donor group (such as Annual Fund)? You can base results on anything from campaign goals to bulk mailings and even tailor them to special events.

Some Examples:
1. “Top Alumni from the Class of 1977”
2. Wealthiest prospects for zip code 20006
3. Top prospects who have already made donations in the past of under $500

If you want a list for your annual fund, you could focus on prospects that are most likely to give. Create a list of previous donations OR prospects who have only mid-level ratings and therefore would not be ideal for a major gift ask. Just want a list of your wealthiest prospects? Sort your Estimated Giving Capacity in descending order. Your screening results are returned to you with our idea of your best prospects already at the top of the pile. We sort them starting with the highest possible P2G score (1-0) and then sort by Estimated Giving Capacity. If this works for you, you can pull your best 10 or best 100 prospects right off the top!

Rebecca Farber (Client Service Dept.)

I am asked this question quite frequently and the simple answer is yes! WealthEngine data can be integrated into many Donor Management Systems or Client Relationship Management Systems. For a list of the most common systems WealthEngine data can be integrated with, please click the following link: http://www.wealthengine.com/pub/integration.jsp.

If your system is not listed on this site, most likely our data can still be integrated as long as there are fields available into which you can import and your system recognizes file types of Excel (.xls), comma-separated value (.csv), or text (.txt).

If you are interested in integrating your WealthEngine data into your DMS or CRM, please contact us at 301-215-5980, option 3 or info@wealthengine.com.

I was recently asked how to strategically choose 10,000 records from a database of 50,000 records for electronic screening. I advised looking at a combination of factors, explained below. I am curious, though, what factors your various organization use to segement your data for screening? Please share your thoughts with us!

Some things I recommend:
Do you already know some of your constituents very well? If so, you may not need to screen these names. The overarching value of the electronic screening will be to help you segment the screened records into subsets- major gift prospects, annual fund prospects, etc. If you already know certain individuals are major gift prospects, you probably don’t need to verify that with a screening. If you know they are major gift prospects, but have no idea how much you should ask them for, you may include those in order to refine the “ask” amount.

Once you have decided who to exclude based on your prior knowledge of their wealth or intentions for your organization, you will need to decide which to include. Your best chance for fundraising success will be from well-timed, well-articulated asks to people who already have an interest in your organization or mission. So look to your database for clues to affinity and interest. Factors such as giving history, volunteer service, means of entry into your database (donors, clients, special event attendees, list acquisition, etc.), may all be good indications of affinity or interest.

Once you have selected all the likliest candidates based on affinity factors, you may want to look at demographic factors such as proximity to your location and possibly including wealthy zip codes over less wealthy. If you do decide to screen prospects who are geographically removed from your headquarters, be sure you have the resources and infrastructure to cultivate them.

Those are a few ideas I had, but please share with us what criteria you consider important to review before selecting the names you are going to submit for a screening.

Happy Prospecting,

Sally

A recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy featured major gift donors Barbara and Donald Jonas. The article quotes Mr. Jonas saying, “‘We were looking for an uncrowded beach, something that we could be very deeply involved in, because that’s what we wanted to do, not just to write a check’” (Feb. 21, 2008, p. 7). Many donors feel the same as Mr. and Mrs. Jonas in that they want to fund something that is meaningful and has an significant impact - a cause where they have some control in the outcome. Mr. and Mrs. Jonas decided to fund the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence to combat the nursing shortage and healthcare issues in New York City.

Organizations can learn from Mr. and Mrs. Jonas by providing their donors with significant opportunities to become involved in their organization and include them in decisions relating to the money they contribute. It’s also important to inform donors of any significant changes to a program or plan to ensure that the donors have the opportunity to designate their funds to areas they are most interested in. By allowing this flexibility and these open lines of communication, organizations will ensure donors will continue to be involved for years to come.

Work sited: “Sale of Artwork Finances Couple’s Commitment to Nursing.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy, February 21, 2008, p. 7.

We’ll be exhibiting at the Christian Management Association Conference at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion in Dallas, TX, April 21-23, 2008. Stop by to say hello and give the money drum a spin! We’d love to meet you!

If you don’t have time to attend one of our group training classes, you can now be trained  on your own time!

Just log into your FindWealth Online (FWO) account, go to the help section, and you will now find training demos for FWO, PinPoint, Access Manager 100, and Access 200.  

Claire B. Logue

Did you know that WealthEngine provides not only Lexis-Nexis real estate data, but also a second resource through DataQuick? DataQuick can be accessed via your FindWealth Online account and allows for expanded search terms such as searching by site address vs. mailing address. It also allows you to search on address alone with no name attached. This is very handy for those properties that might be held by a corporation or in trust.

DataQuick also allows you to view comparables of properties. This is a great tool for those searching for real estate in California or New York where the assessed values may be much lower than their true market value. 

To access DataQuick, sign into your FindWealth Online account at www.wealthengine.com and select the DataQuick link. Once there, enter your search terms and see what you can find!

Do you have a success story of using DataQuick? If so, share it here (please leave prospect names out to protect confidentiality).

Have more questions or suggestions, give us a call at 301-215-5980, option 3 or post your thoughts here! We would be happy to hear from you.

Caroline Oblack