Prospect Development Favorite Things
Dear Diary,
I want to share some of my favorite prospect development resources, free and paid tools. It is not an exhaustive list, but it does include resources that I rely on, on a daily basis. Many of you like to review celebrity favorites’ lists or watch your favorite YouTube personality’s video on favorite products or rely on a favorite book or musical artist’s countdown lists. At this moment, I want you to cue on My Favorite Things Song by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers from the 1965 film of The Sound of Music, as I share a few of my favorite things.
(1) Iwave (now known as Kindsight) (paid) – We’re all familiar with Iwave and it deserves to be at the top of my favorites list. Iwave has been an amazing resource in my prospect research journey. The features that I enjoy: how Iwave lists philanthropic gifts that are also linked to public annual reports; real estate connected to the prospects – when you hover over the initial property if the prospect has additional properties then it is indicated. Sometimes seeing former titles attached to political gifts can confirm a prospect. Prospecting is an option through the “Donations” button.
(2) County Assessors’ Sites (free)– Notably you can find properties through Iwave or Donor Search or any other site, however, you can confirm property ownership through assessor sites. You can search for the state assessor site, or you can visit this Tax Assessor Site created by Christina Pulawski.
(3) ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer (free)– If you are a consistent Diary reader you have read about how I navigate nonprofit Form 990s, you can easily search for prospects that serve on a nonprofit’s board or for an organization’s recently filed Form 990s through ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.
(4) The Charity Commission (free) – In the same vein of navigating prospects that serve on a board or review of assets held and grants distributed, this is a tool specific to organizations in the UK. It is compatible with ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer and has become a gem for me.
(5) Hunter.io (Free and Paid) – This is a free and paid tool that allows you to search for a certain number of employment email addresses based on first and last name and company, you can also verify email addresses. The free function has a limited number of credits. Please note that it is also important to verify these email addresses outside of this tool.
(6) Investment Adviser Public Disclosure Website (free) – This is a resource similar to the SEC Edgar for publicly traded companies, the Investment Adviser Search allows you to review the latest filed ADV form on private equity companies. When you choose to search based on Firm, and fill in the name, click the entity name to continue, you should find the options to View Latest Form ADV Filed and the Part 2 Brochures. Why does any of this matter? Well, when researching a managing partner at a private equity firm, these two forms can provide information on the individual’s ownership stake in the firm and the most accurate amount of assets under management.
(7) Obituaries (free and paid) – When trying to map out a family, I would highly recommend searching for a family member or looking into an obit that keeps coming up in your results because that is a phenomenal way of confirming relatives.
(8) Lexis Nexis for Development Professionals (paid)– This is a helpful tool for hard-to-find information on a prospect, such as, birth date, relatives, and addresses. Sometimes the information has its faults, therefore, always verify through Google.
(9) Assessing Portfolios – These aren’t actual paid or free resources but past Diary entries on portfolio analysis that you may find helpful today - Helpful Pivot Tables and Charts for Prospect Development and Helpful Excel Charts for Prospect Development.
Again, these are just a few resources. We all know the bulk of this work is mainly done through Google. Thanks to curiosity, we’re able to piece together and complete all proactive and reactive needs.
Until next time,
November 15th!
