Asking for money can be intimidating for even experienced fundraisers, but it's obviously THE essential part of fundraising, so it's time to do our homework! Before approaching potential donors, it's crucial to research their interests, giving history, and capacity to give.

Prospect research in philanthropy is the practice of identifying, qualifying, and gathering information on prospective donors to prepare an ask for a charitable contribution. Professional fundraisers use this technique to find donors who have three specific things when determining if a person, business, or foundation is a good candidate for giving a gift to their charity.

Start with seeking to recapture your lapsed donors. Look at lists of those who have given in the last 5-10 years but not this or last year, and conduct a targeted giving drive or targeted mailing/email blast to this group. When you reach out, be sure to acknowledge their support in the past, and offer for them to join your new campaign/giving club while you introduce new perks that weren’t offered before…

We must act as Internet detectives to sort through all the information in cyberspace to get to the meaningful and accurate nuggets of information that will be useful in profiling a donor. Knowing the full name (with the middle name, maiden name and any generational names), last known address and birthdate of your prospects as well as any business affiliations they may have or have had will allow you to drill through the vast amount of data that is out there quickly and efficiently.