Where can I find information on cultivating donors?

Individuals represent the largest source of philanthropic funding. They are also the most consistent supporters of nonprofit organizations. Traditionally, one of the first steps in cultivating potential donors is finding out detailed information about them. The process of researching individual donors can be a long and difficult one. It will involve networking, making contacts, and checking various news sources. Before using the resources listed below, you might want to review the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement's (APRA's) Statement of Ethics and the Foundation Center's Prospect Worksheets for Individual Donors. The following resources may be helpful:

Electronic Resources on Donor Cultivation Include:

• Securing Your Organization's Future (condensed online version). Look at "Phase 4. Developing a Strategy to Secure Support from Individuals," for advice and strategies on obtaining individual support.

• The Foundation Center's Guide to Grantseeking on the Web (condensed online version). Look at chapter 6, "Online Prospecting for Individual Donors."

• Philanthropy News Digest, the Foundation Center's news compendium resource, is fully searchable and is archived back to 1995. Use it to look for media coverage of individual donors and their gifts.

• Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) offers Web resources for advancement research including Web collections, specialty pages, real estate assessment resources, and more.

• David Lamb's Prospect Research Page contains information on professionals and others.

• Portico is assembled by the prospect researchers at the University of Virginia. It includes sections on biographical information, corporate information, asset location and evaluation, public records, occupations, and salaries.

• Stanford University Development Research includes the "Prospect Research Engine," an indexed database of research links.

• The Internet Prospector is a gateway featuring a monthly newsletter and a collection of links and guides to research on individuals and companies. Includes a section on people searching, articles on strategies, links to address/telephone locators, and many biographical sites.

• FindLaw: West Legal Directory will sometimes include descriptions or citations of cases handled by an individual lawyer in its lawyer directory.

• Search Systems is a large directory of links to free public record databases on the Internet.

• Vital Records Information contains information on where to obtain vital records from each U.S. state, territory, and county.

• Opensecrets.org is the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics, with databases providing data about money in politics, including lobbyists, soft money, PACS, personal finance disclosure reports, and donor lookups, among others.

• Political Graveyard is a Web site providing information on more than 120,000 deceased politicians, judges, and diplomats. The database can be searched alphabetically, by offices held or sought, date of birth or death, leading political families, geographic location, awards received, cause or circumstances of death, and "disposition of remains."

• PRSPCT-L ("Prospect El"), the listserv for prospect researchers.

The following subscription databases are available for free use at Foundation Center Libraries:

• The Foundation Directory Online: Search the database of foundation profiles by individual name to find any affiliations.

• Waltman Associates' Donor Series: Database of contributions by individuals, foundations, and corporations.

• Waltman Associates' Directory of Directors: Database of nonprofit and corporate board members.

• Marquis Who's Who on the Web: Database of more than one million biographies.

Print Resources on Donor Cultivation Include:

• Bartling, Charles E. "The Psychology of Asking and Giving." Association Management 51 (November 1999) p. 55-60, 149.

• Boice, Jacklyn P. "The Case of the Disappearing Donor." Advancing Philanthropy 11 (January-February 2004) p. 20-6. Successful strategies for retaining donor loyalty and encouraging larger donations in a time of economic retrenchment.

• Boice, Jacklyn P. "More than Money." Advancing Philanthropy 10 (November-December 2003) p. 18-22. Techniques for soliciting potential minority donors and cultivating their continuing support. Includes several case examples and statistics related to Hispanic philanthropy.

• Burnett, Ken. Relationship Fundraising: A Donor-Based Approach to the Business of Raising Money. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2002.

• Cialdini, Robert B. "The Power of Persuasion." Stanford Social Innovation Review 1 (Summer 2003) p. 18-27. The author describes four behavioral responses, based on psychological studies, that he believes fundraisers can elicit to enhance the success of individual solicitation. He cites specific examples of organizations’ positive results from using these techniques.

• Cohen, Todd. "Charities, Donors Play the Name Game." Exempt (May-June 2005) p. 10, 12, 19. Discusses the practice of rewarding major donors by naming structures for them. Naming opportunities can range from entire buildings to individual seats in a concert hall.

• Dean, James C. "Donor Cultivation: The Art of Empathetic Listening." Fund Raising Management 28 (June 1997) p. 20-23.

• Dun and Bradstreet. Reference Book of Corporate Managements: America's Corporate Leaders. New York, NY: Dun & Bradstreet. Provides information on the officers and directors of approximately 12,000 companies with the highest revenues in the United States. Entries are indexed by state, by industry classification, and by principal officers and directors. Principal officers and directors are indexed by college or university attended and military affiliation.

• Fredricks, Laura. Developing Major Gifts: Turning Small Donors into Big Contributors. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers, 2001.

• Hall, Holly. "Power of the Purse." Chronicle of Philanthropy 17 (17 February 2005) p. 7-10. As more women become wealthy from their own success, nonprofits should develop strategies for cultivating them to be donors or board members. The article provides examples of these self-made women philanthropists and offers tips on approaching them.

• Havens, John J. and Paul G. Schervish. Wealth Transfer Estimates for African American Households. Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College. Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. [2005?]. Also available online.

• Hodiak, Diane L. and John S. Ryan. Hidden Assets: Revolutionize Your Development Program with a Volunteer-Driven Approach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2001.

• Hogan, Cecilia. Prospect Research: A Primer for Growing Nonprofits. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2004.

• Hudson, Michel. "An Introduction to Prospect Research." Grassroots Fundraising Journal 22 (January-February 2003) p. 7-10.

• Johnson, Stephen P. "Best Practices: Asking the 'Philanthropic Question.'" Journal of Gift Planning 9 (1st quarter, 2005) p. 16-23. This is the transcript of a panel discussion with gift advisors and planned giving specialists about their work and their approaches to prospective donors.

• Jones, Jeff. "Prospect Research: Got Facts?" NonProfit Times 18 (1 March 2004) p. 1, 6, 10. Provides tips for researching potential individual donors using the Internet. Sidebar lists popular free and fee-based Web sites. Also available online.

• Klein, Kim. "Donor Fatigue: Causes & Cures." Grassroots Fundraising Journal 24 (May-June 2005) p. 12-5. Klein opines that donor fatigue is real, but not to be confused with fundraiser fatigue. She outlines the sources of donor fatigue and how development staff can avoid this complaint.

• Klein, Kim. "Getting Over the Fear of Asking." Grassroots Fundraising Journal 20 (March-April 2001) p. 4-8.

• Mirenda, Ron. "Uncovering Hidden Wealth for Your Nonprofit, Especially in Emerging Minority Markets." Nonprofit World 21 (July-August 2003) p. 7-9. Techniques for prospect identification, and subsequent cultivation, among ethnic groups.

• Newman, Diana S. Opening Doors: Pathways to Diverse Donors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2002.

• Nichols, Judith E. Pinpointing Affluence in the 21st Century: Increasing Your Share of Major Donor Dollars. Rev. ed. Chicago, IL: Bonus Books, 2001.

• Panepento, Peter. "Connecting With Generation X: Charities Look for New Ways to Reach Out to the Under-40 Set." Chronicle of Philanthropy 17 (31 March 2005) p. 33-5. Notes that members of Generation X, often defined as those born from 1965 to 1981, are donating less to charities than previous generations. The article explains how nonprofits are getting Generation X donors and volunteers more involved with their organizations.

• Roth, Stephanie. "Evaluating Your Individual Donor Program." Grassroots Fundraising Journal 20 (November-December 2001) p. 8-11.

• Sargeant, Adrian. "Relationship Fundraising: How to Keep Donors Loyal." Nonprofit Management & Leadership 12 (Winter 2001) p. 177-92.

• Sargeant, Adrian and Elaine Jay. Building Donor Loyalty: The Fundraiser's Guide to Increasing Lifetime Value. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2004.

• Smith, Bradford, Sylvia Shue, Jennifer Lisa Vest, and Joseph Villarreal. Philanthropy in Communities of Color. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999.

• Social Register Association. Social Register. New York, NY: Social Register Association. Published annually.

• Solla, Laura A. The Guide to Analyzing Wealth and Assets. Freeport, PA: Laura A. Solla.

• Solla, Laura A. The Guide to Prospect Research & Prospect Management. Freeport, PA: Laura A. Solla.

• Sturtevant, William T. The Continuing Journey: Stewardship and Useful Case Studies in Philanthropy. Chicago, IL: Bonus Books, 2001.

• Whelan, David. "Money in the Middle." Chronicle of Philanthropy 16 (15 April 2004) p. 21-3. Provides examples of how nonprofits are targeting mid-level donors who donate more than basic members at organizations, but give less than major donors.

• Wylie, Peter B. Data Mining for Fund Raisers: How to Use Simple Statistics to Find the Gold in Your Donor Database (Even If You Hate Statistics). Washington, DC: Council for Advancement and Support of Education, 2004.

For other books and articles on donor cultivation, try searching our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature (CNL), the Center's bibliographic database. You could start searching on the subjects "Fundraising--donor relations", "Fundraising--individual solicitation", "Individual giving", or "Philanthropists", or try the term "donor cultivation" in the keyword field.

Many of the books and articles found through CNL can be located in Center Libraries and some Cooperating Collections. It is best to call ahead to verify a specific library's holdings.

To learn more about cultivating individual donors, attend our Prospect Research Basics, a free one-hour class.

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