Selling Anonymous Donor Info – for or against?

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Today the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether or not to uphold Vermont’s law against selling prescription info to data mining companies. It’s a privacy issue with parallels to nonprofit fundraising – or is it? SCOTUSblog has a wonderfully readable account of the case.

In Vermont, when drug stores fill a doctor’s prescription they are required to record the doctor’s name and address, the name, dosage and quantity of the drug, the date and place where the prescription was filled, and the patient’s age and gender — but not patient name and address. Drug stores are required to keep this digital information and they make money selling it to data mining companies who sell it to the pharmaceutical industry who use it for marketing drugs. But the information is also available to insurance companies, medical research institutions, and law enforcement authorities. Vermont law keeps the information from the data mining companies, but not others.

So once again we have personal data, which many in the public perceive as being ill-used or over-used by huge corporations like big pharma, but which is also being used for important public benefits like disease tracking, clinical trials and law enforcement. Can we say no to one user and not another? Do we give up the benefits to keep the info completely private?

Although this case might seem far removed from the world of not-for-profit fundraising, it isn’t. Blackbaud is a huge corporation with the dominant market share of donor database software – Raiser’s Edge. And they are moving their customers online, which means Blackbaud holds the keys to your donor data. They conduct lots of useful fundraising industry research including their Index of Charitable Giving. Where do they get the info?

“Each month, we draw actual giving statistics from the databases of thousands of participating organizations using a variety of fundraising systems to determine how much revenue was raised in the prior month.”

I’m not sure if that means that they use their clients’ data with permission or whether they collect data from clients and non-clients. Does it matter? Nonprofits are providing their donor information to Blackbaud for research – but stripped of identifying information. Is it restricted to freely available research studies or do they also use it for commercial purposes? Does that matter?

In March of 2010 I wrote about Google’s use of “data dust”. I suggested we should be able to use our own “donor dust” to help create a better experience for our donors. But it makes me uncomfortable to think of the possibility of Blackbaud sweeping up our collective donor dust and then reselling it for profit or using it for their own marketing.

The question shares many similarities with  the prescription drug case in Vermont. There will be good and meaningful uses for following fundraising trends gleaned from a corporation’s clients’ donor data, but is it legal and is it ethical?

Estimating Hedge Fund Manager Compensation

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Kate is detailed and thorough and I know you won’t be disappointed with her first article on Estimating Hedge Fund Manager Compensation. We have added it to Aspire Research Group’s library of free articles here.

Kate Rapoport officially signed on in March as our new research associate. From time to time she will write about solutions to various research questions she encounters.

She wrote her debut blog post about Millenial Donors. Check it out here.

Research 101 Workshop in Tampa

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Want to know where to look for information online? Do you wonder if you are asking for the largest gift amount appropriate? Maybe you want to understand how prospect research fits into fundraising and how to leverage it to maximize your fundraising?

APRA Florida has teamed up with the Nonprofit Leadership Center of Tampa Bay to answer your questions with a Prospect Research 101 course the morning on the first day of the APRA Florida annual conference on May 19, 2011. Click here for more info about Research 101 and click here for more info about the conference.

I am so excited to be presenting the Research 101 Workshop with my friend and colleague, Debbie Menoher, Director of Research for the University of Florida Foundation. During her tenure, UF completed an $850 million dollar capital campaign, and UF is currently in a $1.5 billion dollar campaign.  She is also one of the founding members of the APRA Florida chapter!

The conference and workshop will be held at The Children’s Board in downtown Tampa. Workshop cost is $59 and conference is $125 for two days. The theme this year is The New Philanthropists: Prospecting in the 21st Century.   

I will be presenting at the workshop and attending the conference. If you are in Florida, I hope you will too!

Yes! You Can Still Raise Major Gifts Without a Wealth Screening

Focused Fundraising, Fundraising Analytics, Major Gift Teams, , , , , , ,

I sat next to Heidi Shimberg, VP of Development and Marketing for the Glazer Children’s Museum, at the Suncoast Chapter meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in March. She told me an amazing story. In September of last year the Glazer Children’s Museum held its grand opening. Only six months later, they have a whopping 6,000 members!

Her fundraising dilemma? To do a wealth screening on 6,000 people would put an unhealthy bulge in the budget. “So why not filter your list and send a smaller number of records to be screened?” I suggested to Heidi. She had thought of that, but when you are brand spanking new, what do you filter by? She felt that if she filtered by wealthy zip codes or addresses, she might miss some “hidden” prospects. It troubled her.

As I was driving my cat to the veterinarian the next morning, my conversation with Heidi was on my mind. Then the light bulb went off. Heidi might not need a prospect researcher on staff, but she sure needed a prospect research strategy. She was averaging 1,000 members a month!

When there are no big dollars in your budget how do you get smart – and still get big dollars in gifts?

Depending on the amount of pressure to raise funds, Heidi has some fun choices.  She could go for the wealth screening and decide on a fundraising strategy for cultivating people with known wealth – maybe joining a special society as a first step and/or one-on-one meetings. Armed with the wealth screening she knows exactly who can give and won’t waste any time approaching members who can’t give.

Or she could swing wider and filter her list by addresses, making a first contact without any real wealth information. Cultivating more people in small groups instead of one-on-one would allow her to find “hidden” donors in her community. Ask the Benevon people about that one. It works.

I can hear you calling me to account. “But Jen, you have not addressed Heidi’s concern about missing the hidden prospects in her member list!” Well here’s the answer. Without a giving history to the Glazer Children’s Museum or any other history (like event attendance etc), Heidi cannot know a crucial piece of information – affinity, or how close someone feels to the museum. It’s just too new. You can’t screen for that on a newborn list. What she can do is methodically approach prospects while developing her entire member list.

Going from “A” to “Z” contacting 6,000 members is foolish. Heidi knows this. Picking 1,000 and working them in small groups will have Heidi training another gift officer next year when her well-stewarded member list, which has also been solicited for unrestricted operating dollars, gets filtered again for the next 1,000. And since she started with her best prospects, she can now feel better about having a trainee cultivating the “B” list. By year five there isn’t likely to be a “hidden” prospect, especially because now there will be money in the budget for a wealth screening on a well-kept donor/member database!

If we could all start out with the very best prospect research tools, so much more could happen. But that’s not reality and it doesn’t have to stop a fundraiser like Heidi from exceeding her major gift fundraising goals.

Aspire Research Group wants to see you succeed. If that means a one or two-hour consult to brainstorm for a mean-and-lean strategy, we’re all about it. Call us today! (727) 231-0516 or email jen at aspireresearchgroup.com.

Florida Prospect Research Conference

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This year the APRA Florida conference will be in my hometown – Tampa! Click here for more info on the conference. Registration is now open! And none too soon as the conference is May 19 and 20, 2011. Our theme is: The New Philanthropists – Prospecting in the 21st Century.

The Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) does an incredible job of keeping us prospect researchers well educated and it thrills me to have an active chapter here in Florida. This year I am serving as the chapter president and it has been a privilege to get chest deep in association waters. 

So I know it’s true when I say that our conference committee is going to bring you excellent speakers and fantastic networking and problem-solving opportunities. If you are in Florida, I sure hope to see you in Tampa in May!

Spire2 Added as New Resource Partner

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It takes a community to support a nonprofit organization or academic institution and Aspire Research Group is pleased to announce that Spire2 has been added to our Resource Partners. As a fundraiser, you have many needs and want an expert that gets results. Spire2 is just such an expert:

  • Designs and develops direct mail campaigns that get opened
  • Creates email communication programs that convert strangers into friends
  • Develops websites that don’t just tell people about your mission, but become part of the way you are reaching your mission

Prospect research is most effective when you have a donor acquisition strategy as well as a strong annual campaign for unrestricted dollars. Data mining for major gift prospects works best when your database is full of well-cared donors and prospects. Spire2 can help you get you get there.

Call or email Jeff James at Spire2 today and ask him about my favorite story – how he helped Wheaton College reach out to its young alumni, who are now giving at the same percentage as the general alumni population. Call 630-462-2567 or email jjames at spire2.com. You won’t be disappointed!

Are You a Leaky *Nonprofit* Corporation?

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I’m often a little behind reading my subscription to the Economist, but I keep chugging along because they have so many brainy articles on things that often relate well to nonprofits and fundraising. Their article in February on The Leaky Corporation is no exception.

If you are awake then you are likely to have heard something about WikiLeaks in the past few months. Most recently WikiLeaks is threatening to leak documents from a bank that will expose wide-spread corrupt practices. As the bankers are sweating, the Economist discussed the myriad of options out there to protect data. But ultimately the suggestion was to decide what information is most critically private and focus on protecting it.

And what is more critically private than your donors’ personal information and giving history? Universities and hospitals have regulated layers of must-have data security, but thousands of nonprofit organizations do not. And more and more donor databases are hosted online. Even so, I would argue that the threats are more mundane than hackers. It is the accidental leak that poses perhaps the greatest threat to nonprofit organizations.

What hits the news harder than a laptop stolen that contained database or spreadsheet files full of names, addresses, social security numbers and other private info? But how about the university professor who posts a spreadsheet on a public server he thinks is private? Or the staff member who emails sensitive information to the wrong email address?

In my research I have found nonprofits who posted their confidential board list – the one with cell phone numbers, spouse names and more – on their website or attached to their public IRS Form 990. Out of pity and horror I emailed one webmaster suggesting they remove the file. I did not use the private information in my prospect profile.

There are thousands of examples of accidental errors, but what can you do to prevent them? Educate! Educating your staff and volunteers and then routinely reminding them goes a long way. Open discussion about something as simple as deleting old spreadsheet exports from your servers could avert disaster.

Consider purchasing a secure, online space for board members to view important documents instead of email and discuss the safety of any documents they download.

Establish one day a year devoted to security education and data storage clean-up so that everyone is talking, cleaning up old files, and reassigning files to safer storage space – online or offline.

Whatever you do, I hope you will seriously get thinking about your data security. Every time you hire a new employee, engage a new board member, or buy a new piece of software you face a certain degree of risk.

Aspire Research Group is committed to ethical fundraising and prospect research. Why not check out our fun, 7-minute video on ethics in prospect research? Click here.

About Those Millennial Donors

Discussion, Focused Fundraising, , , , ,

By Kate Rapoport, Aspire Research Group, Prospect Research Trainee

Researchers and historians have given a name to the generation born after 1981, the Millennial generation. The first generation to come of age in the new millennium, this group has become the focus of a great deal of research. How does the Millennial generation think, shop, live, give? A great deal of early work on this generation assumed that the most important thing about the age group was their experience with and immersion in all sorts of technology and social media. However, further research is bringing to light a truth that shouldn’t be so shocking. Despite all the technology the Millennial generation is surrounded with, interpersonal relationships and face-to-face meetings are still crucial to the decisions that this group makes.

A point that 2010 Achieve and Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates’ study, Millennial Donors: A Study of Millennial Giving and Engagement Habits found is that while giving via mobile/text and social networks is an up and coming way of soliciting gifts, 91% of Millennial donors are at least somewhat likely to respond to a face-to-face request, but only 8% are likely to respond to an email request. The personal touch and a specific project are still the best way to reach the Millennial generation.

So where does this information leave professionals at non-profit organizations? Research into Millennials’ habits gives us some suggestions about ways to focus an ask. In 2008, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University for Campbell’s & Company conducted a study called Generational Differences in Charitable Giving and in Motivations for Giving. One finding from this study stands out: the Millennial generation gives their money when they feel that it will help make the world a better place. They care less about what influence they will have on an organization and more about making a difference.

This finding is supported by the 2010 Millennial Donors study, referenced above, which found that over 55% of Millennial donors are likely or highly likely to respond to being asked to give more to a specific project, while the same 55% are unlikely to give to a general, non-specific request. These studies indicate that when approaching a Millennial donor, one needs to have a specific project that the donor would be interested in. If what you need are unrestricted operating funds, make the request sound like a project – limited time-frame, measurable objectives and a dollar goal.

If you want to identify Millennial donors for a targeted campaign, contact us at Aspire Research Group and we can help you add ages to your donor records. And be sure to check out our expert Resource Partners too!

You can reach us at (800) 494-4132 or (727) 231-0516 in Florida, or jen at aspireresearchgroup.com.

When in Rome… speak Italian!

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During Jay Goulart’s presentation he told us “language is key!” And then he told us that we could say it like Martin Luther King Jr. – I have a DREAM – or we could say it like a professional – I have a list of measurable objectives. Which language do you speak?

This entertaining presentation was to the AFP Suncoast chapter on February 15, 2011 and Jay is Director of Advancement at the Academy at the Lakes. He has definitely presented to groups before and even has a website to prove it: www.jaygoulart.com.

Jay said something else that really made an impression on me. He painted a picture. Imagine yourself going to the dealership to buy a car. In order to get your car you have to purchase the tires, engine and body – all from separate people at the same dealership. What a hot mess that would be!

Now imagine yourself wanting to give to an organization, but in order to become a donor you have to give to annual fund, holiday drive, and capital campaign – all separately. We need to build jointed, holistic relationships with our donors. It’s okay if they have to first talk to sales and then financing and then delivery, but let’s make them smooth and understandable transitions.

Jay said lots of other stuff too, but, hey, not everything sticks – even when it’s only thirty minutes or less. If you’re reading this Jay, I’d be curious what you felt was the most important message in your presentation and whether I mentioned it.

Thanks for the great presentation Jay! And I hope you folks in the Tampa Bay area will be sure to join me at the next AFP Suncoast chapter meeting on March 15, 2011.

Solicitation Approach for Distressed Donors

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[Jan 2011 E-Newsletter Article]
I recently had the opportunity to meet up with Suzanne Nixon, State Director of Development for Devereux in Florida. We had such an interesting conversation that I asked her if I could share some of it with Aspire Research Group readers. Wouldn’t you know it, she said yes. Thanks Suzanne!

ARG: You have a lot of small and family business owners and other donors who have suffered with shrinking income and assets. Have you changed your solicitation approach with these donors?

Nixon: Yes, and I can give you an example. Some of Devereux Florida’s best and most passionate donors have found themselves struggling to meet their own and their peers’ expectations of giving. Thankfully, fundraising is not accounting so I have been able to help some of our donors reach a desired giving level by “stacking” their gift. One donor was able to make a gift by adding together several resources. She included a smaller than typical personal gift, adding that to one from her business and a third one from her family foundation. I was able to recognize her gift under the combined amount, which put her in a much higher giving level than any one of those gifts alone.

ARG: When do you use prospect research? 

Nixon: We are in a campaign to build a gymnasium and after my campaign cabinet has a brainstorming session I request a solicitation profile on the top four or five prospects that have surfaced. These are prospects my cabinet members already know, or know someone who knows them. Getting a solicitation profile at the identification stage makes sense for me because I have so little time. I need to know right away whether the prospect is philanthropic and what size gift might be possible. The solicitation profile gives me all the information I need to plan a strategy for cultivation or to disqualify early. When I’m ready to solicit for a gift I just ask for a profile update.

About Devereux:

The Devereux Foundation helps empower children and adults with intellectual, emotional, developmental, and behavioral challenges to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives. Devereux is a nationwide organization, headquartered in southeast Pennsylvania, positively impacting the lives of tens of thousands of individuals and families each year.

Devereux Florida operates nearly 50 programs in 38 counties statewide and is the largest non-profit provider of these services in the state of Florida. In 2012, we will celebrate 100 successful years nationally and 25 years of service in Florida.