During last year’s Apra Prospect Development (PD) conference, I found myself in several conversations during lunches and breaks about how to apply the great content shared in sessions in smaller shops that may have one — or less than one — person dedicated to prospect development. Inspired by those conversations, the Apra Content Development Committee recently put together a panel discussion featuring three such shops. For those who were unable to attend or would like a refresher, here are a few key takeaways:

1. Fully leverage the tools you have before adding additional ones.

There are many great research resources available, and it can be tempting to consider building a case for substantial investment. The group agreed that having one primary research tool is worthwhile — with a few clicks you can access aggregated information that would otherwise take a lot of time to gather from disparate sources. Using such a tool for regular batch screening is a valuable way to quickly segment donors and prospects.

Outside of that, we acknowledged that many customer relationship management (CRM) platforms are now offering integrated tools and ratings, and it’s helpful to coach gift officers to adapt to those tools and definitions as opposed to building out custom methodologies. This is especially true during the qualification stage, when preliminary information is sufficient to begin a conversation.

Speaking of conversations: no amount of data will substitute for a one-on-one meeting. Data points gathered from research serve as guides to prepare for conversations and inform prospect prioritization. It’s important to remind gift officers that visits still yield the most valuable details toward tailoring cultivation and closing a gift.

2. Empower team members to be self-sufficient.

Investing time in developing gift officer proficiency in entering contact reports and planned asks into the CRM — sometimes even pulling their own lists — reduces future requests for support and frees up time for other activities. Part of that investment is creating good documentation, like recording training videos to support future onboarding of new team members.

To incentivize data entry by gift officers, it’s important for the operations team to develop and regularly distribute reports or dashboards that provide helpful insights to the gift officers. For example, a report or dashboard widget showing past due activities helps formulate their “to-do” list.

3. Standardize methodologies for prospect research.

When covering various areas of responsibility or supporting numerous gift officers, it’s critical to build a common understanding of the process, timeline and outcome for prospect research. Clarify when and how research should be requested through a specific form, specify the format options for the output and the appropriate time in a relationship’s trajectory for each type of output and set standard timelines for completing research assignments.

Collegiality is especially critical on a small team, so it’s critical to build buy-in for the approach. Begin by consulting gift officers in determining the standard methodology; while the ultimate deliverable may not be identical to their personal preference, hopefully they will see their feedback reflected. Once an approach is drafted, it’s important to bring leadership in so they can help to support the standard practice within their team.

Related to this topic, the panelists also received a lot of questions from the audience about managing expectations in terms of identifying new prospects. Again, standardization helps here. For example, when working in an organization with a lot of data that could help support prospect segmentation, it’s useful to reach consensus on what data will best inform prospect affinity (e.g. how valuable is attending the gala versus purchasing a membership) and use that segmentation consistently to identify prospects; this criteria should be revisited from time to time. Another recommendation for standardization in support of prospect identification practices is to establish metrics and process around what is required in terms of outreach effort before disqualifying a prospect and requesting more prospects — 4-6 outreach attempts is typically appropriate, and these should be documented in the CRM.  

Based on the webinar’s attendance and level of activity in the chat, this is a topic that resonates within our community — I encourage small shops to find and connect with one another on PRSPCT-L or at Apra PD.

I’d like to offer special thanks to our panelists for sharing their wisdom and vulnerability: Chris Backes of CentraCare Foundation (St. Cloud, MN), Josh Parr of the Milwaukee Public Museum (Milwaukee, WI) and Susan Quinn of Lenoir-Rhyne University (Hickory, NC). We invite follow-up questions, commiseration and brainstorming! To dive deeper, you can find the on-demand webinar recording available on Apra University.

Katelyn Martin
Managing Director of Strategic Information Services, Campbell & Company

Katelyn Martin leads the strategic information services practice at Campbell & Company, where she and her team are focused on how clients can use data, systems and processes to help clients grow their relationships and their fundraising results at all levels of the gift table — and achieve greater mission impact.

Martin joined Campbell & Company 2013 as part of the Fundraising practice and leverages her experience as a frontline fundraiser to bring together the art and science of fundraising. She has deep experience serving a wide range of clients and client needs, from interim support to campaign counsel to prospect management process design. 

Martin’s experience prior to joining Campbell & Company in 2013 includes a unique combination of fundraising and consulting. Her direct fundraising experience focused on arts and culture and youth development, including positions with the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana and the Boston Children’s Chorus. As a consultant with The Hackett Group, a management consulting firm serving a wide array of Fortune 500 clients, Martin served as a trusted advisor and developed keen analytical skills that serve her well in applying rigor to her client work.

Martin graduated with a bachelor of music in arts management from Northwestern University, where she studied in the voice and opera program. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two children.