A retention crisis is quietly undermining the hard work of donor stewardship teams across the country. According to recent reports, the percentage of organizations prioritizing donor retention has dropped sharply. While this trend is troubling, it also reveals a powerful, often-overlooked opportunity: the chance to secure your organization’s financial future and stand out from your peers by mastering truly effective donor stewardship.

With the average donor retention rate hovering at a challenging 40%, the key to unlocking sustainable growth isn’t simply finding new supporters, but building authentic, lasting relationships with the people who already believe in your mission. This journey begins with understanding what modern donor care truly entails and developing a proactive, personal plan. For that reason, we’ll help you dive into donor stewardship by reviewing the following topics:

• What is donor stewardship?
• The relationship between donor stewardship and retention
• How donor stewardship fits into the cultivation cycle
• What to know about the donor pyramid
• Beyond the thank-you: active vs. passive stewardship
• When to steward your nonprofit’s donors: A helpful timeline
• Creating a comprehensive donor stewardship plan: 5 steps

With a better understanding of donor stewardship and a dedicated plan, you can make stewardship an ongoing, iterative process at your organization and consistently build enduring donor relationships.

What is donor stewardship?

Donor stewardship is the process of extending a relationship beyond the donor’s gift. The ultimate goal of donor stewardship is to encourage them to give again by building a deeper connection. Developing that sense of loyalty will make your fundraising efforts more seamless in the future because you’ll have a strong supporter base to tap into.

For stewardship to be effective, nonprofits must form mutually beneficial relationships with their donors. While nonprofits receive financial support, donors get to feel good about the impact they’ve made and join a community of people passionate about your cause. To build these relationships, nonprofits implement stewardship strategies that keep donors informed about the impact of their gifts and offer additional engagement opportunities.

The relationship between donor stewardship and retention

Donor retention is the percentage of donors who return to contribute to your organization after their initial gift. You can calculate your donor retention rate by dividing the number of donors who gave again this year by the number of donors who contributed last year, then multiplying that number by 100.

In recent years, donor retention has been declining, with an overall rate of 42.6%, down 3.5% from the previous year. There are costs associated with acquiring new donors, and when your donor retention rate is low, your organization has to continually maximize the time, effort, and resources it invests in donor acquisition.

Donor stewardship helps your organization conserve resources and build a more reliable donor pool. You need regular communication to remind donors of your cause and the vital role their support plays. With a dedicated donor stewardship plan, you can stay in touch with donors and ultimately retain them.

Additionally, retained donors are more valuable to your organization because they give more, more often, and are more likely to engage with your nonprofit in other ways. Given that 94% of recurring donors prefer to give to their causes of choice monthly, stewarding these donors helps you build a consistent community of supporters rather than a sporadic, constantly shifting list of one-time donors.

Lastly, you already have data on previous donors in your database or a constituent relationship management (CRM) platform. You can use this information to re-engage and steward these relationships, as you now know more about their interests and preferences. With a data-driven stewardship approach, you can meet donors where they are and personalize your communications to retain their support.

How donor stewardship fits into the cultivation cycle

Donor cultivation is the process of acquiring new donors and strengthening relationships with them. While donor stewardship is the last step in the cultivation cycle, it’s essential to understand each step in the process and how it informs your stewardship efforts:

1. Identification

The first step in the donor cultivation cycle is to identify potential donors. This step may involve reviewing your CRM for supporters who may be interested in donating, identifying previous or lapsed donors, or conducting outreach to entirely new supporters.

Some strategies for identifying prospective donors include:

• Prospect research. When you’re looking for potential major donors, conducting prospect research can help you determine supporters’ giving capacity and willingness to contribute. That way, you can focus your outreach on those who are most likely to make a significant contribution.
• Existing connections. Current supporters and stakeholders in your organization can help you identify people in their networks who may be interested in contributing to your cause. Ask your board members, major donors, and staff if they have any connections they can leverage.
• Surveys. Sometimes the best way to identify if someone would be interested in giving is to ask them. Send surveys to your supporter base asking them if they’re open to making a monetary contribution and what type of gift they would like to make.

In this stage, it’s crucial to emphasize your nonprofit’s mission and let potential donors know the impact their contributions could make.

2. Qualification

Now that you’ve identified potential donors, it’s time to narrow down that list further to prioritize those with the highest giving likelihood. Some factors you may assess to determine the most qualified potential donors are:

• Previous engagement. Potential donors may have interacted with your organization in ways other than donating, such as attending an event, volunteering, following your social media accounts, or signing up for your newsletter. These interactions demonstrate potential donors’ interest in your nonprofit and may indicate their likelihood to donate.
• Wealth markers. Identifying potential donors’ capacity to give is especially useful for determining who may become a major donor. These wealth indicators may include real estate ownership, stock holdings, and business affiliations.
• Affinity markers. Just because someone has the capacity to give doesn’t mean they’re interested in contributing. Affinity markers, such as political involvement and prior support for other charitable causes, help you assess the alignment between a potential donor’s values and your organization’s mission.

While some of this information may be stored in your CRM or found in public records, it can be helpful to work with a fundraising consultant or data provider who can acquire this data for you.

3. Cultivation

The cultivation step involves laying the foundation for a long-term relationship with prospects. Before soliciting a donation, introduce potential donors to your organization and invite them to get involved with:

• Educational materials. Allow prospects to learn more about your mission and work by providing them with educational materials. Send them introductory pamphlets, videos of your beneficiaries, and summaries of your services so they can become more familiar with your organization.
• Volunteer opportunities. When prospects volunteer with your nonprofit, they’ll receive hands-on experience with your cause. As a result, they may develop a connection to your mission and be more open to donating.
• Events. An event is a perfect opportunity for prospects to meet current donors and find out why they support your cause. Consider inviting prospects to your next fundraising or advocacy event so they can become immersed in your community and determine if they’d like to become more involved.

Personalizing your communications with prospects is also a powerful way to build relationships with them. Use data from your CRM to better understand your prospects and tailor your communications accordingly. For example, if a prospect recently volunteered with your nonprofit, thank them for their support and follow up with additional volunteer opportunities they may be interested in.

4. Solicitation

After getting to know potential donors and informing them about your organization, you can begin soliciting donations. When making your initial asks, keep these tips in mind:

Be specific.

Using the data you’ve gathered about your prospects, suggest a specific donation amount that aligns with their giving capacity. You should also be clear about what that amount of money will allow your nonprofit to accomplish. For example, an animal shelter might specify that a $100 donation allows it to restock its pet food supply for one week.

Appeal to prospects’ emotions.

Don’t be afraid to use emotionally charged language to show prospects why they should care about your cause and how they have the power to make an impact. Including a testimonial from a beneficiary or current donor can help make a prospect’s potential impact more tangible.

Mention matching gift opportunities.

Did you know that 84% of people say they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered, and 1 in 3 donors claim they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied to their donation? Informing prospects about matching gift opportunities in your ask can motivate them to donate and help you raise even more for your cause. Matching gifts occur when a company matches its employees’ donations to a nonprofit, usually at a 1:1 ratio. As a result, your nonprofit can double its donation revenue. Learn best practices for promoting matching gifts in the video below:

As the video states, raising awareness for matching gifts is key. Once potential donors know about the power of matching gifts, you can make the process easier by researching their eligibility or providing a matching gift database where they can easily find their employer’s matching gift policies.

If a prospect says “no” to your first ask, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed to garner their support. Continue cultivating a relationship with this individual until it’s appropriate to make another donation request. Even if they don’t end up contributing monetarily, they can still become an active member of your community by volunteering, attending events, and engaging with your content online.

5. Stewardship

You should begin the donor stewardship process immediately after a prospect becomes a donor. Follow these steps to kick off your stewardship efforts:

• Thank donors for their support. Show donors your appreciation for their contributions. To quickly and efficiently thank donors, automate a thank-you eCard to be sent to each donor right after they submit their donation. For larger gifts, you may send a handwritten thank-you note or call major donors to demonstrate your appreciation.
• Recognize your donors. Larger gifts may also warrant public recognition of your donors through plaques, donor appreciation events, or invitations to your nonprofit’s giving society. You can also recognize mid-level donors by creating social media or newsletter spotlights.
• Report on their impact. No matter the size of their donation, donors want to know that your organization is using their funds responsibly. Update donors on the specific initiatives you’ve allocated their donations toward, whether that’s a new program, supplies, a fundraising event, or something else entirely.

While these steps are a great start to donor stewardship, you’ll need a dedicated stewardship plan to sustain your donor relationships effectively.

What to know about the donor pyramid

The donor pyramid is a visual representation of different donor giving levels. Since first-time donors are likely your largest donor group, they occupy the bottom of the pyramid, whereas the few major donors you have reside at the top. When you understand which category of the pyramid each donor fits into, you can better steward them up the pyramid and increase their support.

The main categories of the donor pyramid include:

Prospective donors

Some organizations include prospective donors at the bottom of the pyramid to represent all potential giving opportunities. You may omit this group or narrow it down to those who have shown interest in your cause but haven’t yet contributed monetarily, such as volunteers, social media followers, or newsletter subscribers.

First-time donors

Most nonprofits place first-time donors at the bottom of the pyramid. While these supporters have demonstrated interest in your mission, it’s crucial to follow up with them immediately after their initial gift to show your appreciation and share the impact of their contribution.

Recurring donors

Recurring donors may give monthly, quarterly, annually, or on a varying basis. including directly through their payroll. You may create different segments for each of these groups and develop stewardship strategies depending on giving frequency.

Planned donors

Planned donors pledge gifts to be contributed to nonprofits upon their death. These bequests are typically sizable donations, so it’s important to show your appreciation for planned donors’ contributions.

Major donors

The top of the pyramid comprises major donors who make the most significant gifts to your organization. Depending on your nonprofit’s size and typical donation amounts, you may define your major gift threshold differently from other organizations.

To build your nonprofit’s donor pyramid, draw on supporter insights from your donor database. This information will help you determine which categories to include, roughly how many donors are in each tier, and how best to steward each group toward higher levels of the pyramid or toward larger commitments at their current tier.

Beyond the thank-you: active vs. passive stewardship

The most successful nonprofits are shifting their mindset from passive to active stewardship. Passive stewardship is reactive: the basic thank-you letter, the standard tax receipt, and the generic newsletter that follows a gift. This is compliance, not relationship building. While necessary, passive stewardship often leaves the donor feeling like a transaction has closed. Active stewardship, on the other hand, is proactive, ongoing, personalized, and seeks to honor the donor’s value to the mission beyond their wallet. It treats the relationship not as finished, but as just beginning.

Active stewardship focuses on creating unexpected, high-value, and deeply personal moments of appreciation. It involves leveraging data to anticipate a donor’s needs or potential for deeper involvement, and to reach out before you ever need to ask for another gift. The goal of this approach is to make the donor feel like a respected partner and a true difference-maker, which is the most powerful incentive for continued giving.

How to Use Challenge Grants as a Creative Stewardship Tool

One of the highest-impact strategies in active stewardship is the strategic use of Challenge Grants. A challenge grant is a large, pre-secured gift from an individual, foundation, or corporation that is usually contingent upon your organization raising a specific amount from other sources within a defined time period. Rather than simply using this grant as a fundraising hook for mass outreach, savvy fundraisers leverage the challenge grant as an unparalleled stewardship opportunity for the major donor who provided it.

Here’s an example from Charity Navigator:

Instead of seeing the major donor’s contribution as a mere transaction, you position them as the Lead Partner and the hero of the resulting campaign. This strategy honors the donor by giving them public credit (if they desire) for inspiring hundreds of smaller gifts. It re-engages them not with an ask, but with a celebration of their power to multiply others’ generosity. This is a creative, high-impact stewardship touchpoint because it shifts the focus from their past gift to the future impact they are actively helping to create. This active acknowledgment deepens their loyalty and strengthens their bond with your organization far more effectively than a standard thank-you ever could.

When to steward your nonprofit’s donors: A helpful timeline

Timing a stewardship touchpoint is just as critical as the message itself, transforming a routine communication into a high-impact relationship builder. By identifying the specific moments when your donors naturally think about your mission, their giving history, or their overall philanthropic capacity, your organization can foster deep loyalty and set the stage for sustained support without issuing an immediate ask.

In an active stewardship model, there are several crucial times when a personalized, non-solicitation outreach will yield the best results. These include:

Immediately After a Contribution Is Made

The first 48 hours after a donation are arguably the most vital period for stewardship. This is when the donor’s sense of generosity and connection to your mission is at its peak, and your response must be swift, warm, and highly personalized. While automated thank-you emails are essential for acknowledging the gift immediately, they should be supplemented with a more tailored follow-up tailored to the gift size or donor segment.

For major donors, a personal call from a board member or executive director within one business day signals that their support is deeply valued at the highest level. For all supporters, the initial thank-you must not only confirm the transaction but also connect their specific dollar amount to a tangible outcome, closing the loop on their generosity and fulfilling the initial promise of their gift. Plus, it’s a great time to mention the matching gift opportunity!

Following Attendance at an Event or Volunteer Shift

Any instance of engagement, monetary or otherwise, should trigger a stewardship follow-up. When a donor attends a mission-focused event, such as a facility tour or workshop, or when a supporter volunteers their time, focused communication is necessary. For event attendees, this might be a follow-up email with photos or a short video recap that highlights the specific impact of the programs they learned about. For volunteers, a personalized thank-you note from a beneficiary or a staff member directly acknowledging the value of their time is priceless.

Time is often considered more valuable than money, and stewarding an individual’s time and talent is critical for nurturing a relationship that can lead to deeper financial support or a sustained volunteer commitment. This immediate, mission-centered follow-up ensures the positive feeling of their engagement is preserved and linked back to your cause.

During Key Relationship Milestones

Relationship milestones provide perfect, non-ask reasons to reach out and celebrate the donor’s enduring partnership with your cause. These are organic, predictable points on the calendar that can be leveraged for deeper engagement.

Consider recognizing the annual anniversary of their very first gift, using that occasion to send a retrospective impact report detailing all they have helped accomplish since joining your community. Celebrating their birthday or sending a personalized note when they move up a giving tier are also excellent opportunities to demonstrate that you see them as an individual. These milestone communications reinforce the long-term value of their loyalty and commitment, making the donor feel like a cherished member of an exclusive inner circle.

When You Get a Data Update

In the era of active stewardship, utilizing advanced data tools to monitor changes in a donor’s profile is a powerful, non-intrusive way to initiate relevant outreach. When you receive an update from your prospect screening tools or data enrichment services that indicates a change in a donor’s life, particularly their employment data (such as moving to a new company, receiving a major promotion, or reaching C-suite status), this is a prime opportunity for a relationship-focused touchpoint.

Instead of immediately soliciting a larger gift, your team should send a congratulatory message celebrating their professional achievement. This gesture is purely relational, demonstrating genuine interest in their success. Crucially, this updated employment information is invaluable for internal use: it allows you to refresh your donor profiles, uncover potential workplace giving opportunities, such as corporate matching gift programs or volunteer grants, at their new employer, and segment them for relevant, corporate-centric communications down the line. Leveraging this data transforms a passive record into an active insight, positioning your nonprofit to maximize future support when the time is right.

Creating a comprehensive donor stewardship plan: 5 steps

A systematic approach to donor stewardship ensures no donor gets left behind and that your team knows exactly how to uphold donor relationships. To create a donor stewardship plan, follow these essential steps:

1. Determine your donor stewardship goals.

The beginning of any plan should start with goal creation, and donor stewardship is no different. Goals developed using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goal framework make it easier to measure the success of your stewardship plan.

For example, your nonprofit may want to grow its recurring giving program. Here’s how your team could incorporate each element of the SMART goal framework into your objectives:

• Specific. Our fundraising team will reach out to first-time donors to introduce them to the recurring donor program and demonstrate how recurring gifts will maximize their impact.
• Measurable. Our goal is to convert 20% of first-time donors into recurring donors.
• Achievable. Given that 57% of donors are enrolled in a recurring giving program and that 10% of last year’s first-time donors became recurring donors, this is a challenging yet realistic goal.
• Relevant. Growing our recurring donor program will enable us to build a more consistent revenue stream for our nonprofit, empowering us to better serve our beneficiaries and fulfill our mission.
• Time-Bound. Our goal is to convert these donors to recurring donors by the end of the year. We will start communicating with first-time donors next week and track monthly progress.

Other common goals may include increasing your donor retention rate, bolstering your major gift fundraising, or improving your post-event outreach. No matter your goals, setting clear objectives helps your team stay on track and establish progress benchmarks, so you can make adjustments as needed.

2. Segment your donors.

While reaching out to each donor individually would be ideal for stewardship, it’s often unfeasible. When you segment your donors into relevant groups, you can personalize the donor stewardship process more efficiently.

Common ways to segment donors include grouping by:

• Donation amount
• Donation frequency
• Donation recency
• Engagement level
• Communication preferences
• Demographics

Then you can reach out to each group with communications and engagement opportunities that will resonate with them. For example, you may create a special newsletter for monthly donors that informs them about upcoming events and volunteer outings.

3. Develop an outreach cadence.

Using your segments, create an automated outreach cadence that keeps donors’ shared characteristics in mind. New donors should receive more in-depth information about your organization and mission that they may not have received in the initial cultivation process. Then you can automate more targeted communications to your segments to streamline donor stewardship.

By integrating your email marketing software with your donor database, you can create personalized campaigns based on donors’ interests and current stewardship stages. For instance, during the cultivation stage, you may send prospects within a ten-mile radius of your organization’s headquarters information about in-person events and engagement opportunities in their community.

Top Tip: Automating High-Value Touchpoints

Beyond scheduled campaigns, the most efficient and scalable forms of active donor stewardship involve automated systems that deliver immediate, high-value information. A prime example is implementing automated corporate matching gift alerts through Double the Donation. When a donor makes a contribution, they are immediately prompted to check their eligibility for a matching gift, and follow-up emails are automatically sent based on the employment data they provide.

This approach positions Double the Donation’s matching gift alerts as an incredible, automated stewardship touchpoint for three reasons:

• First, it maximizes the donor’s impact without an extra gift, instantly doubling the value of their support and making them feel powerful.
• Second, it’s a value-add service that costs the donor nothing but a few minutes of their time, increasing their positive experience with your brand.
• Third, it generates hundreds or thousands of dollars in “free” revenue for your organization.

This is a donor stewardship win-win: the supporter feels appreciated for their amplified impact, and your nonprofit benefits from the increased revenue, all driven by a hands-off, automated system. It transforms a simple donation acknowledgment into a valuable financial partnership opportunity.

4. Offer additional engagement opportunities.

To maintain relationships with donors, you’ll need to offer engagement opportunities other than simply donating. While you may already have general fundraising events and volunteer opportunities planned, take the time to develop additional opportunities for donors to engage with your cause, such as:

• Cause-related workshops and speaker sessions
• Meetings with beneficiaries
• Tours of your facility
• Exclusive major donor events
• Fundraising event planning committees

When you share activities with your donors that are unaccompanied by a donation ask, you prove to donors that you’re committed to providing them with a positive experience with your nonprofit. Through a variety of engagement opportunities, you can build a strong community of supporters and advocates for your cause.

5. Collect feedback.

You can (and should) measure progress using the key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals you identified early on in the stewardship process. However, qualitative data, such as donor feedback, can give you insight into what your donors enjoy about your stewardship efforts and what your team could improve.

Send regular surveys to your donors to gather feedback about your donor stewardship plan. The questions you may ask include:

• How often would you like our nonprofit to communicate with you?
• Is our current communication frequency too little, too much, or just right?
• What engagement opportunities have you most enjoyed?
• What additional engagement opportunities would you like to see offered?
• What thoughts can you share about the matching gift process from your perspective?
• Is there anything else our nonprofit can do to improve your experience with us?

Analyze your team’s responses with donors to identify insights you can apply to your donor stewardship plan. For donors with multiple ideas or many points of feedback, consider calling them to learn more about their experience and gain a deeper understanding of the efficacy of your stewardship efforts.

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Wrapping Up & Further Reading

With a comprehensive, active donor stewardship plan in hand, your nonprofit can build strong donor relationships, increase donor retention, and earn more funds for your cause. Whether you’re trying to grow your recurring donor program, acquire more challenge match leaders, increase corporate matching gift participation, or follow up with event attendees more effectively, a dedicated plan will help you reach your goals and steward donors to higher levels of the donor pyramid.

To learn more about key elements of the donor stewardship process, check out these additional resources:

• Donor Retention: A Comprehensive Guide + 6 Strategies. Donor retention is the driving force behind donor stewardship. Learn more about how to calculate donor retention and why it’s essential.
• Nonprofit Basics: The Donor Pyramid. When you develop a donor pyramid, you can more easily steward donors to higher engagement levels. This guide presents tips for personalizing your donor pyramid to your organization.
• Donor Recognition: When & How to Acknowledge Supporters. Recognizing your donors shows your appreciation and strengthens your relationships with them. Dive deeper into donor recognition strategies with this guide.

If your nonprofit is looking for a way to maximize its fundraising efforts, there’s one avenue you might not be paying enough attention to: prospect research.

Regardless of your organization’s size, gathering the right donor data via prospect research can have a huge impact on your nonprofit’s revenue. These funds can help you serve your mission, fund important projects, and work toward your goals.

In this guide, we’ll outline several important pieces of information you’ll need to successfully leverage prospect research, including:

• The Basics of Prospect Research
• Employment Data: The Most Powerful Piece of Modern Fundraising Intelligence
• Other Data Points to Gather During Prospect Research
• Primary Uses of Prospect Research
• How Matching Gifts Can Aid in Prospect Research
• How to Research Donors and Other Constituents
• Types of Prospect Research Tools and Software
• Fueling Your Prospect Research With Double the Donation

From learning the basics to soliciting your first prospects, a thorough understanding of prospect research can be a game-changer for your organization. Let’s get started!

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The Basics of Prospect Research

What Is Prospect Research?

Prospect research is a process performed by a nonprofit’s development team to gather data about donors, volunteers, and other supporters. The process analyzes each individual’s giving capacity, motivations, and affinity for the cause. It helps determine an individual’s ability and desire to support that specific cause, as well as how to appeal to their interests.

Key factors nonprofits look for during prospect research include past giving, wealth markers, business affiliations, and philanthropic tendencies. Nonprofits can also use software or turn to prospect research companies to gather this data.

Wealth Screening vs. Prospect Research

You may have heard the term wealth screening in conjunction with prospect research. While the two terms are often used interchangeably, wealth screening is only one component of prospect research.

Wealth screening analyzes a donor’s financial profile, including real estate and stock holdings, as well as political giving. While it’s an essential part of prospect research, this only indicates an individual’s ability to give.

Prospect research goes a step further and uses both wealth and philanthropic indicators to determine a donor’s willingness and capacity to give. This provides nonprofits with a complete picture of each donor and helps make more informed solicitations. We’ll explore the complete range of data you should collect in the next section.

Who Uses Prospect Research?

A variety of organizations use prospect research to boost revenue and drive more meaningful relationships. These include:

• Educational institutions: Thorough research can pinpoint alumni and parents with a strong financial capacity and a history of philanthropy. Educational institutions can then tailor fundraising appeals to promote scholarships, facilities upgrades, and special programs.
• Healthcare organizations: Prospect research helps identify donors with personal connections to specific medical causes or who have previously donated to health-related initiatives. This allows these organizations to focus on potential donors likely to fund state-of-the-art equipment or patient care facilities.
• Arts and cultural organizations: Arts organizations can identify patrons with a keen interest in the arts and a history of supporting cultural initiatives. This information is crucial for targeting campaigns for exhibitions, performances, and educational workshops.
• Environmental groups: These organizations can identify donors who are passionate about conservation, climate change, or specific regional environmental issues. Effective prospect research can lead to targeted campaigns that resonate deeply with donors’ values, driving funding for crucial projects and advocacy efforts.
• Faith-based organizations: Prospect research helps identify individuals who have shown generosity to religious or spiritual causes, enabling faith-based organizations, such as churches, to personalize solicitations for funding new facilities and mission work.
• Advocacy groups: Prospect research helps uncover supporters who are financially capable and deeply committed to specific causes like civil rights, education reform, or health policy. This insight helps mobilize resources for lobbying and public awareness campaigns.
• Greek organizations: Fraternities and sororities can use prospect research to connect with alumni who have fond memories of their membership and might be interested in funding scholarships and chapter house renovations.

Prospect research can help all of these organizations (plus others!) become more focused in their outreach.

The Value of Thorough Prospect Research

40% of B2B salespeople say prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process. When it comes to fundraising, nonprofits experience that same exact pain point. Prospect research can be incredibly helpful in sourcing and qualifying leads to avoid wasting time pursuing individuals without the affinity or capacity to give.

Beyond time savings, here are the most important benefits of researching supporters:

• Improved Fundraising Efficiency: Prospect research helps nonprofits identify the most promising donors, focusing efforts on those who are most likely to contribute.
• Tailored Appeals and Marketing: By understanding potential donors’ giving capacity, nonprofits can tailor asks to different supporter segments based on individual wealth indicators and giving history.
• Better Supporter Relationships: Comprehensive prospect research enables nonprofits to understand supporters’ interests and passions, enabling personalized communication that resonates with each individual’s values and helps retain support.
• Strategic Planning: Insights into supporters’ capabilities and preferences help nonprofits plan their projects more effectively.
• Finding Your Next Challenge Match Leader: While many nonprofits view prospect research simply as a way to fill a pipeline with individual donors, the most strategic organizations use it to find partners. The ultimate win is identifying a high-capacity donor who is willing to leverage their gift as a Challenge Match to inspire other donors as well.
• More Reliable Data: Prospect research helps nonprofits gather comprehensive, accurate data on potential donors, including phone numbers, demographics, wealth indicators, and philanthropic interests. Reliable data is crucial for making informed decisions and staying connected with supporters.

Prospect research is essential for nonprofits looking to optimize their fundraising initiatives and build lasting relationships. Make sure you’re working with reliable tools and companies to gather supporter data, and you’ll set your team up for success.

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Employment Data: the Most Powerful Piece of Modern Fundraising Intelligence

While real estate and stock holdings have traditionally been the “gold standard” of wealth screening, employment data has emerged as the single most valuable data point in modern fundraising.

Why? Because knowing where a donor works provides a dual layer of financial intelligence that no other data point can offer:

• It Reveals Immediate Capacity: Job titles and employers are direct proxies for income and disposable assets. A Director at a Fortune 500 company or a Partner at a major law firm signals immediate major gift potential without needing to dig through property tax records.
• It Unlocks Corporate Wallets: This is the hidden value. Employment data tells you exactly which donors are eligible for matching gifts, volunteer grants, and even sponsorship programs. When you identify a donor who works for a workplace giving company, you are effectively identifying a donor whose gift can be instantly doubled or tripled, with even greater partnership potential down the road.

In today’s landscape, employment data is the bridge between individual giving and corporate philanthropy. By prioritizing employment information in your prospect research, you aren’t just assessing a donor’s personal checkbook; you are assessing their ability to direct corporate funds to your mission.

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Other Data Points To Gather During Prospect Research

Since prospect research involves collecting both wealth and philanthropic indicators, it’s important to understand the common data points under each umbrella.

1) Philanthropic Indicators

Philanthropic indicators represent an individual’s willingness to give to your organization. These include:

Previous Donations to Your Nonprofit

Past giving is the best indicator of future giving because it means the supporter is interested in your cause and has already contributed. Prospect research helps uncover prior donations so your organization can reach out again.

Donations to Other Organizations

If your donors are philanthropically minded, they probably aren’t only giving to your nonprofit. Let prospect research unveil past giving to organizations with causes similar to yours.

Nonprofit Involvement

Giving isn’t the only indicator of an individual’s philanthropic mindset. With prospect research, you can identify other forms of nonprofit involvement, such as advocacy, volunteerism, and board membership.

Personal Information

Collecting personal data will give you a more holistic understanding of each donor and how to connect with them on a deeper level. Craft more targeted appeals and deliver those appeals successfully by gathering this donor data:

• Full and preferred name and title
• Gender
• Marital status
• Contact information, like email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses
• Hobbies and interests
• Dates of birth

Much of this information can be collected online or through data appending services, helping you identify ideal prospects.

2) Wealth Indicators

Wealth indicators represent an individual’s ability to give to your organization. These include:

Real Estate Ownership

The quality and quantity of real estate someone owns are wealth indicators your fundraising team should pay attention to. Individuals with notable real estate have large giving capacities that you can capitalize on in your nonprofit’s fundraising initiatives.

Business Affiliations

Prospect research can help you detect existing business connections among your donors. This research includes details about a donor’s career, such as salary estimates, which can indicate wealth and ability to give. You may also discover information about a donor’s employer’s corporate giving program, which can provide insights into potential matching gift opportunities.

Stock Ownership/SEC Transactions

Knowing about a contributor’s stock ownership can give you even more insight into their wealth and capacity to donate to your organization.

Political Contributions

Chances are that an individual who has made sizable donations to a political campaign also has the giving capacity to donate major gifts to your nonprofit. By using prospect research to target this group, you can focus on winning over prospects with the potential to make generous contributions.

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Primary Uses of Prospect Research

Prospect research can impact several areas of your mission. Let’s explore common ways nonprofits use the data they gather.

Major Giving

Prospect research is the perfect tool for identifying major gift prospects hidden in your existing donor database. It can help you uncover past giving and involvement and track giving patterns that may predict major giving.

For instance, you might have a faithful donor whose contributions have steadily increased over the past five years. With prospect research, you can examine that donor’s history and figure out the best strategy to ask for a major donation.

Capital Campaigns

A capital campaign is a long-term fundraising effort that’s usually tied to a large project, such as the construction of a new building or the development of an endowment.

Capital campaigns typically rely on a set number of major gifts during the “quiet phase” before fundraising is opened to everyone in the “public phase.” Prospect research can help uncover ideal donors for both the quiet and public phases.

Challenge Matches

A challenge match (wherein a major donor pledges a large sum contingent on the nonprofit raising an equal amount from other supporters) creates urgency and excitement. Prospect research can be vital for identifying a lead donor for this strategy by uncovering individuals who not only have high financial capacity but also a leadership profile and deep affinity for the cause.

Identifying these “Challenge Match Leaders” is a powerful way to turn a single major gift into a revenue multiplier for your entire campaign, far exceeding the value of a standard one-time donation.

Annual Giving

Annual giving is what keeps your organization’s wheels turning. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to complete your day-to-day operations.

While your organization likely already asks all supporters to contribute to your annual fund, you can now search for new annual donors via prospect research tools. In addition, you’re more likely to uncover potential supporters by looking into someone’s past giving to organizations that align with your own.

Corporate Giving Opportunities

Prospect research is instrumental in identifying and understanding potential corporate partners whose philanthropic interests align with your nonprofit’s mission. Collecting employer data also helps pinpoint untapped opportunities. Examples include:

• Matching gifts: Many companies match their employees’ donations to eligible nonprofits. Knowing where your supporters work can help you identify match-eligible donors, so you can follow up and double those individuals’ contributions.
• Volunteer grants: Businesses also provide volunteer grants to nonprofits where their employees volunteer regularly. Prospect research can help pinpoint these opportunities.
• Volunteer Time Off: Tons of companies offer their employees bonus PTO to participate in volunteer activities with organizations like ours. Use prospect research to identify volunteers (or prospects) who work for companies with these programs.
• In-Kind Donations: Companies can provide non-monetary support in the form of goods or services. Prospect research helps identify potential donors who can offer in-kind contributions relevant to your nonprofit’s needs, such as technology, office supplies, or professional services.

Once you identify these opportunities, your nonprofit can reach out to supporters who are eligible to participate in their companies’ corporate giving programs.

Planned Giving

Identify donors who are in a position to make significant long-term commitments, such as bequests, trusts, or annuities.

Researching a donor’s financial background and giving history enables your nonprofit to tailor conversations about legacy opportunities that resonate on a personal level, helping you secure future funding and ensure the donor’s lifelong engagement with your mission.

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How Matching Gifts and Prospect Research Work Together

Matching gifts and prospect research are both powerful strategies that, when combined, can significantly enhance your fundraising efforts.

As mentioned, prospect research helps identify donors who are affiliated with companies that offer matching gift programs, potentially doubling their donations without requiring extra effort from the donors themselves. This synergy not only boosts your fundraising capacity but also deepens donor engagement, as donors feel their contributions have a greater impact.

Here are some key ways that matching gifts and prospect research can work together to dramatically increase your fundraising success:

• A matching gift search tool can help you identify corporate and individual prospects from a list of people who have already made matching gifts to your nonprofit.
• Matching gifts can encourage prospects to give more to your organization by inspiring them to double their impact. In fact, one in three donors is more likely to donate if a match is offered.
• Prospect research and matching gifts can grow your corporate engagement efforts by pinpointing companies with generous programs.
• Focusing on individuals with matching gift potential doubles the value of that donor’s potential support.

To manage this strategy effectively, consider using specialized tools like  Double the Donation Matching. This software simplifies tracking and verifying matching gift eligibility and submissions, ensuring you make the most of every donation opportunity.

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How to Research Donors and Other Constituents

Once you’ve decided to perform prospect research, you might be wondering where you should start. Here are the general steps you can take to gather supporter data.

1) Choose your prospect research method.

Your first step is to plan how you’ll approach your research process by asking yourself about your fundraising goals, current strategies, and timeline. Once you understand what you need out of your research, choose one of these methods:

• Do It Yourself: For smaller or newer nonprofits with tighter budgets, a do-it-yourself prospect screening approach is a good option. Use free or low-cost prospect research tools to examine donors’ giving and philanthropic histories.
• Prospect Research Consultants: Prospect research consulting firms are extremely valuable resources for nonprofits. They offer advice and comprehensive screenings for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes.
• Prospect Screening Companies: Every prospect screening company is different, but most compare your donors against a variety of databases to create a comprehensive profile for each supporter. This will help your organization track, sort, and evaluate all of your supporters.

Make sure you know exactly which data you need to collect and how quickly you need to collect it, so you can pick the right method.

2) Form a prospect research team.

If you’ll conduct prospect research in-house, you’ll need to build an effective prospect research team of individuals with complementary skills. The following roles are critical to your team’s success:

• Director: This individual leads the team, sets strategic goals, and ensures alignment with your nonprofit’s broader objectives. They oversee the entire research process and ensure the team has the necessary tools to conduct research.
• Prospect Researcher: This team member is responsible for gathering data about potential and current supporters. They’re tasked with creating detailed profiles by digging into donor data using various sources, such as databases, public records, and social media.
• Data Analyst: A data analyst focuses on interpreting data and trends from donor databases and external sources. They help the team understand giving patterns and identify potential high-value donors.
• Development Officer: This individual uses insights from prospect research to cultivate and maintain donor relationships. They are typically involved in direct fundraising efforts and use data-driven strategies to approach potential donors, secure donations, and nurture ongoing donor relationships.
• Legal/Compliance Officer: Given the sensitive nature of handling personal data, having someone knowledgeable about legal and ethical standards is crucial. This team member ensures that all prospect research activities comply with privacy laws and ethical fundraising practices.

Each role focuses on a specific aspect of the prospect research process, contributing to a comprehensive approach. While the structure of your team may vary, this suggested structure supports targeted fundraising efforts and helps build a robust foundation for long-term supporter engagement.

3) Clean up your data.

Before conducting prospect research, clean up your data to ensure the process runs smoothly and yields more accurate results. A few ways to maintain proper data hygiene include:

• Identifying and removing duplicate records within your database
• Standardizing data entries to maintain consistency across your database, such as by using uniform formats for dates, addresses, phone numbers, and names
• Identifying and removing outdated or irrelevant information that no longer serves your fundraising strategies
• Removing lapsed donors from your records
• Scanning your database for typos

Your data doesn’t need to be perfect, but cleaning it up as much as possible will optimize your system for prospect research.

4) Check for accuracy.

Once you’ve actually conducted prospect research, verify the accuracy of the data gathered. This step involves cross-referencing information from multiple sources to confirm details such as contact information, philanthropic history, and financial capacity. Some prospect research companies will have an accuracy-check process, such as manually verifying appended emails and phone numbers.

Ensuring data accuracy helps prevent miscommunication and fosters trust by demonstrating diligence and respect for each prospect’s information. It also optimizes the efficiency of subsequent outreach efforts by reducing the time spent on addressing inaccurate or outdated information.

5) Analyze and make a plan for leveraging your new data.

After integrating the new data into your CRM, be sure to sift through the results to identify the most promising prospects by analyzing factors such as giving capacity, alignment with your nonprofit’s mission, and likelihood of giving. Based on this analysis, create a detailed plan for how to best use this data for outreach.

This plan should outline who to approach, the best ways to reach out to them, and the right time to do so. It involves deciding whether to meet someone in person, invite them to a special event, send them a personalized letter, or connect through online platforms based on their preferences and past donations.

During this stage, you’ll want to segment your supporters based on shared characteristics.

These may include:

• Donation Level: Group donors based on the amount they contribute, such as major, mid-level, and low-level donors. This allows for tailored communication strategies that recognize the level of support.
• Workplace Giving Eligibility: Targeting donors who qualify for matching gifts, volunteer programs, or payroll giving is a great way to make the most of your supporters’ uncovered connections. Be sure to use the information you’ve gathered (such as employer name and program guidelines) to further personalize your outreach.
• Donation Frequency: Identify who gives regularly versus those who donate sporadically. Regular givers can be approached for recurring giving programs, while sporadic givers can be encouraged to give more consistently.
• Geographic Location: Segmenting donors by location can help organize local events, understand regional interests, and tailor communications that resonate with local community values or needs.
• Interests: By understanding what specific projects or aspects of the organization’s work a donor supports, nonprofits can tailor outreach to reflect donors’ interests.
• Type of Support: Differentiate between types of supporters such as volunteers, advocates, corporate sponsors, and individual donors.
• Demographics: Segmenting based on demographics helps choose messages and outreach strategies that are more likely to resonate with different groups.
• Communication Preferences: Some supporters may prefer digital communication, while others might value traditional mail or personal calls. Segmenting by communication preference ensures supporters receive information in the way that is most accessible and engaging to them.

An effective plan ensures your team knows exactly what steps to take to engage each prospect, turning potential interest into actual support. From here, put your plan into action and start reaching out!

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Types of Prospect Research Tools and Software

While the prospect research process may sound daunting, there are several prospect screening companies and platforms that nonprofits and educational institutions can use. Let’s explore a few recommended services and tools.

Data Enhancement

Also called data appending companies, data enhancement services improve the quality and depth of existing donor databases by pulling additional information, such as:

• Contact information like email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers
• Demographics like ages, birthdates, and geographic location
• Employer data like company names and role titles

These services leverage external data sources to fill in gaps and update outdated information within your database. This ensures your nonprofit has accurate, comprehensive profiles for each prospect.

Prospect Research Database

Prospect research databases are specialized tools that provide access to a wealth of information on potential donors, including personal backgrounds, giving histories, wealth assessments, and affiliations.

These databases compile data from multiple public and proprietary sources, allowing fundraisers to quickly gather detailed insights about prospective donors’ capacity and propensity to give. Using this type of prospect research tool helps nonprofits identify and prioritize high-potential prospects.

Corporate Giving and Prospecting Software

Corporate giving software is designed to help nonprofits identify potential corporate donors. This type of software typically includes features for researching matching gift programs and volunteer grant information. Here are two types of tools that are most helpful:

• Matching gift databases contain information on companies that offer matching gift programs. They store requirements for employee eligibility, nonprofit eligibility, and donation amounts. Plus, they provide relevant submission information such as available forms and deadlines.

• Volunteer grant databases provide details on companies that offer grants to nonprofits where their employees volunteer. This prospect research tool stores records of individual companies’ programs, including volunteer hours, employee and nonprofit requirements, and instructions, along with links to application forms and deadlines.

Additionally, corporate prospecting software like Double the Donation leverages existing donor data to uncover hidden corporate potential. By uploading your current donor list for a quick employer append screening, the platform instantly identifies which of your supporters are eligible for workplace giving opportunities that can significantly grow your organization’s revenue. This transforms your standard donor list into a high-value prospect list, allowing your team to prioritize outreach to donors whose contributions can be immediately doubled, maximizing both individual donor value and overall fundraising efficiency before a major gift ask is even made.

These prospect research tools can help your nonprofit identify donors and volunteers eligible for their companies’ philanthropic programs. Plus, they can help you identify companies that offer generous corporate giving initiatives, which can open the door to strategic partnerships.

Donor News Alert Services

Donor news alert services are platforms that monitor and report news about prospective donors. Your nonprofit can use a platform like this to stay informed about donor activities that signal a willingness or ability to give. Even more importantly, these insights help nonprofits build deep, meaningful relationships with their donors, which may yield significant gifts in the future.

For example, these platforms monitor obituary data, meaning they can notify your nonprofit when a prospect or donor’s loved one passes away. Your fundraising team can then reach out with heartfelt condolences on behalf of your organization. Prospects will likely appreciate this personal outreach and attention to detail, and may be more willing to support your organization in the future.

Insightful Philanthropy is our recommended donor news alert service for its extensive information sourcing and timely notifications. This platform relies on 14,000 news and information sources from more than 200+ countries, and even taps into historical donor data from up to 40 years ago to give nonprofits a complete picture of their prospects.

Your Nonprofit’s CRM

Your nonprofit’s CRM is a fundamental tool for managing donor interactions and tracking engagement history. It stores critical data such as donation records, event attendance, volunteer activity, and communication preferences, which can be leveraged to build stronger relationships with supporters.

Effective use of a CRM helps personalize donor interactions and streamline fundraising activities, making it easier to cultivate and steward donor relationships.

SEC Investment Records

SEC investment records provide information about the investment activities of individuals and institutions, which can be particularly valuable in assessing the financial capacity of potential major donors.

By examining public filings such as insider trading reports and stock holdings, nonprofits can gauge prospects’ wealth level and philanthropic capacity. This is especially useful for identifying high-net-worth individuals and understanding their investment behaviors.

Predictive Modeling Solutions

Predictive modeling solutions use statistical techniques and algorithms to analyze historical data and predict future donor behaviors. These tools help nonprofits anticipate which prospects are most likely to donate, their expected donation amounts, and optimal times for solicitation.

Wealth Screening Tools

These tools help nonprofits assess potential donors’ financial capacity by analyzing data points such as real estate ownership, stock holdings, past charitable contributions, and other publicly available financial information. That way, you can focus on prospects with the means and propensity to give significantly.

As a top recommended prospect research service, DonorSearch blends philanthropic and wealth metrics so your organization can make informed decisions about prospects and plan effective outreach. Plus, the company offers a few choices of tools when it comes to conducting prospect research:

• Charitable giving database. DonorSearch’s charitable giving database is comprehensive and constantly growing, housing tons of useful philanthropic data.
• DSGiving search tool. DSGiving is a free prospect research tool that offers access to a smaller-scale version of DonorSearch’s philanthropic and political contributions data. Simply type in an individual’s name, state of residence, and gift type, and the tool will pull useful data.

DonorSearch helps your nonprofit learn more about your donors and create comprehensive donor profiles. Because the tools analyze philanthropic and wealth indicators, they yield more qualified leads for nonprofits to pursue.

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Fueling Your Prospect Research With Double the Donation

Double the Donation is a leading fundraising tool for nonprofits, providing a range of matching gift solutions. Our complete automation platform can give your nonprofit the ability to maximize donations with matching gifts, volunteer grants, payroll giving, and more without lifting a finger.

Here’s an overview of our solution:

• Double the Donation Matching: Using Double the Donation’s matching gift fundraising software, organizations can uncover valuable matching gift prospects by collecting employer information within the donation process. From there, the solution screens for matching gift eligibility and populates the appropriate forms and guidelines for submitting a match. Plus, Double the Donation Matching offers a real-time employer appends add-on that instantly scans donor records and automatically supplies company information if available. Check out this video for a closer look:

• Double the Donation’s Workplace Giving Insights: This powerful new module takes your donor list and provides in-depth prospect research data focused solely on corporate giving potential. It screens donors’ employer affiliations to reveal which companies offer matching gifts, volunteer grants, and other workplace giving programs, transforming a scattering of individual donors into a prioritized list of corporate revenue opportunities.

Want to learn more about how our cutting-edge technology can support your prospect research and drive greater fundraising results? Reach out to our team for a free demo to see the complete platform in action!

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Wrapping Up

Prospect research is an invaluable strategy that equips nonprofits with the insights needed to target donors effectively. By harnessing the power of detailed data analysis and strategic donor segmentation, your organization can unlock new opportunities and maximize the impact of its fundraising efforts.

If you’re looking for more information about prospect research, check out the additional resources below:

• Top 15 Prospect Research Tools for Clever Fundraisers. Interested in getting started with innovative prospect research solutions that can help power your next initiative? Check out this list of our top recommendations.
• Prospect Research and Matching Gifts: The Inside Scoop. Learn more about how prospect research and matching gifts go hand-in-hand. Discover key insights and best practices for making the most of these two opportunities.
• How to Collect, Manage, and Use Your Nonprofit’s Donor Data. Are you getting the most out of your nonprofit’s donor data? Here’s what you can do to maximize your organization’s data-driven fundraising potential.