Top Donor Prospect Research Software to Fundraise
One of the best things about crowdfunding is the wide reach that campaigns can have. With social-friendly features and an emphasis on engaging visual design, the best crowdfunding campaign pages find their way far beyond your usual donor base.
Because of their reach, crowdfunding campaigns also usually tend toward a higher volume of low-amount donations instead of a low volume of high-amount donations. This format is one of the reasons crowdfunding is so popular with donors. But even with crowdfunding’s low average gift size, nonprofits can still find major gift opportunities during their crowdfunding campaign if they use the right prospect research tools!
Donor prospect research software allows nonprofits to identify major donor prospects within their supporters, based on wealth markers and philanthropic indicators.
Ready to take your crowdfunding to the next level with prospect research? Let’s explore the top 9 prospect research software for crowdfunders!
- Donor Prospect Research Software
- DonorSearch
- Double the Donation
- Donorly
- Prospect Visual
- NPO Authority
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy
- GuideStar
- FEC.gov
- Fundly Recommends
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- Prospect Visual
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- The Chronicle of Philanthropy
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- FEC.gov
- Donor Prospect Research Software
- DonorSearch
- Double the Donation
- Donorly
- Prospect Visual
- NPO Authority
1. DonorSearch
Prospect Research Software Overview
DonorSearch is a one-stop-shop for prospect research and wealth screening services. The company offers Integrated Search, which turns your list of donor names and details into a full report of those donors’ prospect information.
And if you don’t have a list of prospective donors, DonorSearch will generate a list for you of individuals who have supported your cause before in other campaigns.
You’ll never have to wait for results — DonorSearch will screen batches at any time over the course of your contract. Plus, if you’re crowdfunding for a health-related cause on the behalf of a healthcare institution, DonorSearch will screen patients overnight to look for potential participants in your grateful patient program.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
Prospect research isn’t an exact science. But DonorSearch reaches a 70% accuracy rate with its machine-generated results.
With the extra step of manual verification, though, DonorSearch’s prospect research results are 90% accurate. That level of accuracy is what sets DonorSearch’s prospect research process apart.
2. Double the Donation
Prospect Research Software Overview
Not all prospect research tools are all-inclusive — some of then are just pieces in your overall major donor strategy.
Take Double the Donation, a matching gift database that donors can search for their employer’s name to find information and forms related to their charitable giving programs.
When you encourage your donors to use a matching gift tool, you collect information that can be incredibly useful for in-house prospect research: employment information.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
Knowing where your donors work and what their job title is, especially if it’s a C-level position, can give you incredible insight into their giving potential. Your higher-earning donors have the means to support you with a major gift, and some companies have a reputation for being charitable!
As donors contribute to your crowdfunding campaign, the information you collect about them during the donation should go straight into your donor database for use later on. The more information you collect, the more targeted your solicitations can be for future campaigns.
3. Donorly
Prospect Research Software Overview
When it comes to prospect research, sometimes what your nonprofit needs is the personal touch. Donorly provides that personal touch!
Donorly is a nonprofit fundraising consulting firm that specializes in donor research. With their creative donor data solutions, your nonprofit will feel confident taking on large fundraising projects.
The consultants at Donorly can assist your nonprofit with projects ranging from capital campaign planning to board expansion, all based in a foundation of smart donor research.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
Donorly consultants know that major fundraising projects are intimidating, especially for nonprofits trying a capital campaign or similar major campaign for the first time.
But with Donorly’s donor research on your side, your nonprofit will have all the information you need to tackle even the most ambitious projects. With Donorly’s services, nonprofits have raised more than $100 million for their causes.
4. Prospect Visual
Prospect Research Software Overview
If you’re familiar with the feeling of getting lost under a pile of illegible reports, Prospect Visual could be the solution for you.
The software produces visual reports that illustrate the relationships between your prospects and the constituents you’ve already engaged with.
These visual reports are valuable for nonprofit fundraisers looking not just for potential major donors but for the major donors who are the most likely to actually respond to solicitations.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
One of the hardest things about prospect research isn’t even the research itself — it’s how to reach out to those prospects after they’ve been identified. Prospect Visual takes on that problem head-on.
Instead of a stranger from a nonprofit staff cold calling to ask for donations, a familiar face makes the introduction. This approach increases the likelihood that your prospects will respond to you.
5. NPO Authority
Prospect Research Software Overview
Just because you’re a smaller nonprofit doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of comprehensive prospect research software.
NPO Authority is built for small nonprofits. Building off DonorSearch’s philanthropic databases and a number of databases of public records, the software presents executive-level analysis that’s easy for busy nonprofit staff members to make use of.
You can get anywhere from 100 to 1,000 records batch screened both mechanically and manually for a 90% accuracy rate.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
NPO Authority knows that smaller nonprofits might not have designated major gifts officers.
To make sure the organizations can still make use of their prospect research software, NPO Authority breaks its results down into an executive-level report.
6. The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Prospect Research Software Overview
Organizations just starting out with prospect research should visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy, an independent news website for philanthropic professionals.
The Chronicle maintains huge data sets on a variety of topics related to philanthropy, all available to search for free on their website.
Many of these searchable databases are useful for prospect research. There are the obvious choices: the list of charitable gifts amounting to $1 million or more and an annual ranking of the 50 most charitable individuals in the United States. But there are also lists of corporate giving programs that can be equally useful if you keep employment records in your donor database.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
Nonprofits dipping their toes into prospect research probably don’t need to go all-in with expensive software that produces reports and screens large batches of donors overnight. These free data sets are a good place to start.
The great thing about the Chronicle’s databases is that they’re reliable. The website is a trusted source of information for fundraising professionals, so their databases are sure to give you a solid foundation.
7. GuideStar
Prospect Research Software Overview
If you’re searching for philanthropic indicators about your prospects, you might want to check the database that houses the most information about nonprofits anywhere in the world, GuideStar.
GuideStar records key information about any IRS-registered nonprofit — which is a lot of nonprofits.
The website gives users access to forms 990, annual reports, contact information, staff listings, and more. Anything you need to know about a listed nonprofit’s operations is right there in the database.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
In prospect research, one of the most indicative markers of philanthropic inclination is previous or current involvement in a nonprofit.
If a prospect has donated, volunteered, sat on the board, or worked at a nonprofit before, they’re more likely to give charitably than someone with the same wealth status who has no such history.
GuideStar places that information at your fingertips!
8. FEC.gov
Prospect Research Software Overview
Did you know that individuals who donate at least $2,500 to a political campaign are 14 times more likely than the average person to donate to charity?
By searching FEC.gov, you can find records of major political donations and incorporate those potential major donors into your solicitations.
FEC.gov is the website of the Federal Election Commission, which was established in 1974 to maintain transparency in the world of political campaigns. On the website, anyone can search for donations by candidate name, committee name, or individual contributor name.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
Because political contributions are so indicative of philanthropic potential, there’s nothing better when undertaking your own prospect research than a database of these contributions.
And it doesn’t get more official than the Federal Election Commission!
9. LinkedIn
Prospect Research Software Overview
Taking on prospect research is so much easier when you have free information about your prospects at your disposal — especially when that information is continually updated by the prospects themselves! LinkedIn is your source for this important information.
A prospect’s LinkedIn profile can tell you where they’re located, where they work, what their job title is, what causes they care about, and who they’re already connected to.
All of this information helps you build a prospect profile, but maybe most importantly for your outreach is their network. If you discover that one of your existing donors is already connected to a prospect, you can ask that donor to reach out to your prospect on behalf of your organization.
Why We Love This Donor Prospect Research Software
When a donor contributes to your crowdfunding campaign, you might not see much more than their name, the amount of their donation, and maybe their location. With LinkedIn, that’s all you need to find out more.
Whether you’re looking for an all-in-one prospect research software to handle the entire process for you or some free platforms to do it yourself in-house, the resources on this list should help you identify the next major donors!
If you’re looking for even more information about prospect research, check out these awesome additional resources:
- 90+ Companies that Donate to Nonprofits. Find your next major donor from within the ranks of the most charitable companies across the largest industries in the world.
- Prospect Research Ultimate Guide. Become the resident prospect research expert in your organization after reading this ultimate guide from Double the Donation.
- Prospect Profile Templates. Learn how to craft the most useful prospect profiles with these free templates from DonorSearch.
