The
Art, Science, and Magic of Prospect Research / by Patrick O’Toole, UNC
Asheville
I
am a sole prospect researcher. My colleagues are continually amazed that I am
able to discern the value of a prospect after studying a selection of data
points. Having practiced our profession for nearly a decade, I have learned
that there are equal measures of art and science in making these appraisals. I
have also come to learn that there is … in the eyes of my colleagues … a bit of
magic. By embracing the “magical-ness” of our work, we can bring a bit of fun
to what we do.
Georges
Seurat was a French painter who is best known for using a technique known as
pointillism. If you study one of his paintings, such as A Sunday Afternoon
on the Island of La Grande Jatte, you will see the picture is composed of
thousands of shaded dots. When viewed up close, the picture makes little sense.
From a distance, however, this neo-impressionist masterpiece delights. It is
the same with prospect research. In our work, we discover small subtly shaded
dots about a prospect. Our work becomes artful by seeing these points as a
whole. We draw conclusions from each point and are able to paint a coherent
picture for our gift officers.
A
good example of this is a line I often hear is, “His house is worth half a
million dollars!” Taken in exclusion, that data point is intriguing: The
prospect was able to purchase a $500,000 home. As prospect researchers, we need
to look more closely. Check the mortgage records: What was the debt-to-value
ratio? What is the prospect’s estimated annual income? Did the prospect
recently sell a home elsewhere and use the proceeds to purchase this one? In
short, we need to connect the dot of a home’s assessed value with several other
dots to determine a prospect’s liquidity. We have all heard the phrase “house
rich and cash poor.” As prospect researchers, we must prove or disprove this
notion with every prospect. Are they living within their means? Do they have
the capacity to make a gift to our organization?
When
evaluating prospects, our gift officers must also share their intended goal.
Determining annual giving capacity is different than determining major gift
capacity. Annual giving is sometimes referred to as “checkbook giving.” It is
the type of philanthropy that is governed by how much is comfortably available
in a prospect’s checking account. This usually is driven by a prospect’s income
and discretionary spending. Drawing on resources like The Chronicle of
Philanthropy and documentation from the Internal Revenue Service,
prospect researchers are able to determine estimates of these values. I have
cautioned gift officers that an intriguing prospect might own a fine home and
two nice cars, but their income is only middle class, they have three children
in their teens, and their discretionary income is minuscule. We create magic
when we draw all of these data elements together and suggest that the gift officer
pursue an annual gift that is respectfully within the prospect’s ability to
contribute. Better it is to build relationships for the future than to alienate
a prospect with a too-big, too-fast ask amount.
Prospect
researchers can create even bigger magic when few … if any … data points are to
be found. For several years I was the prospect researcher for a major medical
school. I learned that physicians are masters of disguise when it comes to
personal data. I learned later that attorneys share this trait. Often, their
personal assets are held in trust. These professionals do this to ensure their
assets are not in jeopardy if they ever face a lawsuit. As prospect
researchers, we often cannot find or confirm anything with
physicians and attorneys, but we are able to offer learned interpretations of
what we do not see. Granted, we cannot deliver an estimate of
wealth that is accurate to two decimal places, but we can offer hints, clues,
and ideas. We are trained professionals, and we are used to seeing clarity
inside these murky situations.
It
often comes down to trusting your intuitions. I cannot count the number of
times I have worked through all of the usual resources on a prospect and
thought, “Something more is there.” It is feeling beneath the surface—a
sensation that we are somehow not seeing as full a picture as we could. Once
again, that is where the artful magic of our profession comes into play. There
is no one right way of doing what we do. Each of us draws on personal ability
and experience to create our answers. Yes, we have standardized resources for
reference, but the way in which each of use approaches and uses these resources
is unique and … dare I say … magical. Each of us in prospect research is more
than the sum of the information in our databases. We are the ether that draws
all of this information together and makes sense of it.
As
prospect researchers, we have unusual abilities. We are inquisitive. We are
diligent. We are resourceful. We are able to size up prospects we have never
met from a variety of data sources that mean little to our colleagues. I would
like to say that more often than not we are closer to right than wrong in our
assessments. To our co-workers, this all appears to be magical. Embrace that
perception. We are magical. We have a unique set of skills,
and we bring great value to our organizations. Prospect researchers are the
forward-looking guides that help to steer their organizations toward goals.
So
when one of you gift officers marvels at a research profile you have prepared
and comments that you must be magic, just smile.
