Tag Archives: prospect screening

Nonprofit Radio for June 21, 2021: Movement Messaging & Farewell, Maria Semple

My Guests:

Hannah Thomas & Morgan Fletcher: Movement Messaging

Expanding on the partnership theme two weeks ago, consider building a movement with orgs outside your direct mission. You’ll want cohesive, effective messaging and that’s where Hannah Thomas and Morgan Fletcher can help. Hannah is with Big Duck and Morgan is at Girls for Gender Equity. This is part of our 21NTC coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

Maria Semple: Farewell, Maria Semple

Maria Semple

Her first Nonprofit Radio was February 11, 2011. Soon after she became our prospect research contributor. Maria’s practice has evolved and this is her last show. Quoting somebody, nobody can identify: “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”

 

 

 

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Board relations. Fundraising. Volunteer management. Prospect research. Legal compliance. Accounting. Finance. Investments. Donor relations. Public relations. Marketing. Technology. Social media.

Every nonprofit struggles with these issues. Big nonprofits hire experts. The other 95% listen to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio. Trusted experts and leading thinkers join me each week to tackle the tough issues. If you have big dreams but a small budget, you have a home at Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.
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Nonprofit Radio for July 10, 2015: Reach The Rural And Marginalized & Discovery Visits

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

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Opportunity Collaboration: This working meeting on poverty reduction is unlike any other event you have attended. No plenary speeches, no panels, no PowerPoints. I was there last year and I’m going this year. It will ruin you for every other conference! October 11-16, Ixtapa, Mexico.

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My Guests:

Osvaldo GomezReach The Rural And Marginalized

Osvaldo Gomez reveals lessons learned as he used online, mobile & cloud technology to improve health care outcomes in hard to reach communities. He’s technology director at Upleaf. We talked at NTC, the Nonprofit Technology Conference, hosted by Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN).

 

 

Maria SempleDiscovery Visits

Maria Semple

These one-on-one meetings are critical to your prospect research. Maria Semple, our prospect research contributor and The Prospect Finder, makes sure you’re getting the most out of them. She also shares her recommendations for summer conferences throughout the U.S. that will help your research.

 

 


Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

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Nonprofit Radio for May 22, 2015: Linkage, Ability And Interest & Crowdfunding Legal Tips

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

Our Sponsor:

Opportunity Collaboration: This working meeting on poverty reduction is unlike any other event you have attended. No plenary speeches, no panels, no PowerPoints. I was there last year and I’m going this year. It will ruin you for every other conference! October 11-16, Ixtapa, Mexico.

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My Guests:

Marie SempleLinkage, Ability And Interests

Maria Semple

Introducing the LAI principle for rating potential donors. Maria Semple walks you through it. She’s our prospect research contributor and The Prospect Finder.

 

 

 

Gene Takagi: Crowdfunding Legal Tips

Gene TakagiGene Takagi is our legal contributor and principal of NEO, the Nonprofit & Exempt Organizations law group. He raises your consciousness about legal issues around the popular crowdfunding sites.

 

 


Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

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Nonprofit Radio for November 22, 2013: Empower Your Volunteers & What’s Their Style?

Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%

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Sponsored by RallyBound peer-to-peer fundraising for runs, walks and rides. Also sponsored by TBRC Cost Recovery, getting you money back from phone bill errors and omissions.

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My Guests:

Karen Worcester: Empower Your Volunteers

Karen and Tony at bbcon Karen Worcester is executive director of Wreaths Across America. They have grown their volunteer support enormously, by being hands off and supportive. (Recorded at bbcon 2013)

 

 

 

 

Maria Semple: What’s Their Style?

Maria 057 Low Res Color_crMaria Semple returns. She’s The Prospect Finder and our prospect research contributor. We’ll talk about the DISC assessment tool, to figure out whether your potential donors are dominant, influencing, steady or cautious. Plus, her 60-Second Style Stop.

 

 

 

 


Top Trends. Sound Advice. Lively Conversation.

You’re on the air and on target as I delve into the big issues facing your nonprofit—and your career.

If you have big dreams but an average budget, tune in to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.

I interview the best in the business on every topic from board relations, fundraising, social media and compliance, to technology, accounting, volunteer management, finance, marketing and beyond. Always with you in mind.

When and where: On Fridays at 1pm Eastern: Talking Alternative Radio

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Beware The Self-Serving “Objective” Report

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These things are in every profession, not at all unique to nonprofit fundraising. The seemingly objective research or report or white paper that advocates a course of action. You’ve got to ask who wrote it and what they have to gain if you adopt their suggestions.

The most recent that I’ve seen is from WealthEngine, which makes money when nonprofits (and companies) hire them to do prospect screenings. In simple terms, that’s a comparison of your constituents with a company’s proprietary database that measures wealth and income. You use the result to determine who your best fundraising prospects are for different types and amounts of gifts.

Prospect screening is part of prospect research, work that I very much respect and have written about.

WealthEngine emailed me a press release announcing their report on best practices in arts and culture fundraising. It suggests those institutions should devote at least 25% of staff time to prospect research. Here’s a quote from the press release:

Unlike hospitals’ grateful patient programs and universities’ alumni and parent screening processes, many arts organizations seem to overlook the value of systematic prospect research, relying instead upon less consistent means to fundraising like tapping board members or others closely associated with their mission. In fact, two-thirds of the survey respondents indicated that less than 25% of staff time is spent on prospect research.

That 25% figure really bothers me. These are the hardest hit nonprofits in the recession, and the most struggling even in good times. To suggest they should be spending 25% of their staff time on prospect research is to dangle a carrot they cannot reach. The biggest institutions like major dance and opera companies and world-class museums? Frankly, it’s a stretch for them, too. But they’re outliers in the arts and culture space. In the arts, the vast majority are small companies struggling to keep the lights on, get the next show up, meet salary and keep the theater rent paid.

It’s cruel to prompt a resource allocation that’s grossly unattainable to most of the sector.

I see its purpose as selling their wealth screening service. The more time a charity devotes to prospect research, the more likely it is to buy a wealth screening. Both are valuable enterprises. And there are precious few nonprofits of any size that can devote “25% of staff time” to these activities. There’s a good reason that two-thirds of the survey respondents spend less than that on prospect research. That’s all they can afford and that’s all these worthwhile allocations deserve.

I have not read the report. The press release was sufficiently annoying. I tried to get a copy, but I object to the demand for far too much information. To download a report like this, I think the publisher is entitled to name and email. WealthEngine wants address, phone number and annual contribution level. All are required fields on a non-secure site. But that’s an aside.

Know who writes these advocacy research reports and think about why.