Let's Get Organized!
We are lucky enough to meet with several different non-profit organizations every single week. Some are big and some are small; there are some more advanced than others when it comes to development. But despite size and experience, one opportunity for improvement almost always exists: the chance to get seriously organized when it comes to your prospects and data.
Everyone who works in development has had those days where you feel motivated to get some prospect meetings on your calendar. In that moment, is there anything worse than not knowing where to start? It is critical to take the time to lay out a plan for tracking your prospects -- see it as an investment in your development operation that will benefit you (and those who come after you) for years.
First, pull in your colleagues (if you have them) who help you input gifts or information, track data, and move prospects in to a portfolio. It is especially important to have support from someone who is computer savvy, if that person isn't you, so lists can be manipulated appropriately. Second, take a look at your database and wrap your head around how many records you have, how many of those are active, and whether you could be missing important people or critical pieces of information. The more you input, the more you and your organization can get out.
We always tell our clients that having well-kept information puts you at such an advantage over those who try to remember it all rather than write it all. Next, consider that you may have to spend some money to make some money. In this case, having your database screened for wealth capacity is hugely important and extremely beneficial to the process. It's great to work with a screening service provider who can walk you through all of the different fields that will be generated and be certain that you understand exactly what you are getting back. When you're making a list this detailed, don't forget the important pieces like class year for education, or service line for healthcare -- and be specific when it comes to where they live and what their giving history is. Those pieces can be so telling when it is time to review.
Having your database screened can feel overwhelming. It's costly, and it gets messier before it get cleaner. Trust that the process exists to pull to the top of your list those donors and prospects that you should be focusing on. However, we always caution not to put all of your eggs in one basket. Nothing can ever replace the information that people have about one another! Use those same colleagues, your executive director or president, board members and close volunteers to help you draft a list of names who you believe should be at the top of your "list." If you can get information about these prospective donors and even an introduction to them, you can't pass up the chance to have them make up a good portion of your portfolio.
So now what? You have hundreds or thousands of names in an Excel sheet with all sorts of fields filled in. And you have a word doc of twenty people who your peers insist you chat with. Great! You're ready to combine the two and make a portfolio. Take the very top five individuals from your wealth screen and put them at the top of your list. Fill in the rest (anywhere from 40 to 100 more names depending on your role) based on those people who have been recommended to you and those who make it to the top of the screened list. Start at the top (highest capacity) and work your way down.
Don't let this process overwhelm you! Take a few donors at a time and work through your relationships and the contact information you have to get a meeting. As people roll off of your list, use your data to fill your list back up! Remember, track everything you possibly can in your database -- the future you will thank you!
