Once upon a time, eons ago (in the early 2000s) and in a land far, far away (Boston), a hospitality professional stumbled into the world of fundraising. Well, not really stumbled; it was more like wrestling with life’s big questions like “What do I want to do with my life? Where do I want to make an impact?” and trying to figure out how to answer them. Thanks to a very good friend, I entered the world of higher education and development and started making an impact right away with my roles in donor relations and the annual fund. Development was the right place for me.

What I most enjoyed about my first development job was all the learning I had to do. Our development office had drawers upon drawers of manila folders and all of them were filled with donor information, endowed fund information, institutional history, donor correspondence and the like. I read hundreds of files to learn about our institution and our generous donors, and I asked questions of my colleagues to learn more. This was my first development research project! All this knowledge informed my work and gave me the confidence to excel in my roles at my institution, which ultimately led to raising funds to benefit students, faculty and staff.

I spent 13 years in frontline fundraising positions before moving to a development operations position focused on prospect research and data at Menlo School, an independent school for students in grades 6-12 in Atherton, CA. This move was unexpected, but absolutely the right thing for me. Research has always come naturally to me; I find it rewarding to learn about others and their backgrounds, motivations and community connections. Most importantly, I love tying prospect research to our institution’s fundraising initiatives so that we can do our work effectively and make an impact.

Transferring My Fundraising Expertise to Prospect Research

My foundational experience as a frontline fundraiser for annual gifts, major gifts and planned gifts has helped me to become a better researcher because I know what donors look like, sound like and act like. I know what makes them excited about my institution and excited enough to support it in any way possible. I know how to start a conversation, tell stories, listen to the donor and the topics they care about, share my institution’s priorities and pick up on tangents to see where things go — all while strengthening the relationship the donor has with our institution. Now, when I research alumni, families or anyone else, I put my fundraiser hat on and think, “What research would help a gift officer further the relationship?” I endeavor to provide that kind of data and more in my research profiles so that our fundraisers can strengthen relationships with their donors and make the best use of their time together to impact our institution in a positive way.

Here are several ways that my frontline fundraising experience has helped me become a more valuable researcher:

1. Relationship focus and effective communication. Fundraising is all about relationships and keeping the lines of communication open. The more personal data you have on someone, like children (names, ages, etc.), their educational background and their hobbies, the faster you can build a personal connection with them. People love to talk about themselves. I know this from the hundreds of conversations I’ve had with alumni, parents and grandparents. Once you get someone talking, they will keep talking if you ask the right questions. That’s where research profiles come in handy. The profiles are chock-full of information — and institutional history — that can help fundraisers keep the conversation and the relationship moving forward.
   
   When we were contemplating the renovation of our maker space on campus about five years ago, we started the process with construction plans, a project budget and a prospect list. I proposed that our Head of School approach a long-time and extremely generous donor (who was not on the prospect list!) to see if they’d give to this project, because I knew that we had built a solid relationship with them while their sons were students at our school. I provided him with the family’s capacity, giving history and recent philanthropic endeavors, and he took the ball and ran with it. He had built a strong, comfortable and genuine relationship with this family for 5+ years with frequent stewardship, so it was natural for him to approach them about this project. They immediately said “yes.” The power of the relationship, ongoing communication and solid research were a perfect combination and resulted in a six-figure gift.
2. Action-oriented approach. Fundraisers are all about action. With this in mind, I have developed an approach with relevant information and insightful analysis in a digestible format. My research profiles contain suggested ask amounts and areas of support at the top, family information in the middle and philanthropy at the end. It is easy for our fundraisers to locate what they need and how to use the information in the profile. For example, in the early part of our recent capital campaign, we approached a very generous and wealthy family for a substantial gift. We had done the research on them and knew that they had established a dean’s fund at a higher ed institution on the East Coast, so we pitched a similar idea for our school. By being action-oriented and using the research at the beginning of the solicitation meeting, we were able to secure a seven-figure gift that much faster.
3. Trust your gut. All the research in the world will help you get an objective picture of the donor, but nothing beats frequent interaction and active listening — and sometimes it’s the “good listening” that results in a solution. I had a personal experience with one such family around 2018, who I had worked with for several years on annual fund and campaign activities before the pandemic. They had made a generous six-figure commitment to our campaign, but they had not specified the purpose or allocation of their gift. Fast forward to 2020, and we still did not have an allocation and we had to deal with the pandemic. During many Zoom meetings over the course of the pandemic, we discussed a number of their ideas and several of the school’s priorities, but unfortunately, nothing was matching up. I continued to brainstorm ideas and do additional research. After two years and many conversations, we came up with a brand-new idea for the donors, which was based on a combination of many ideas rolled into one. We trusted our instincts when we pitched this idea, and the donor agreed wholeheartedly.
4. Look for connections. As a frontline fundraiser, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about our donors, but not from the donors themselves. What do I mean by this? During a typical donor meeting, a donor and I will inevitably talk about others in our community who could be good volunteers or generous supporters of our school. This data informs my work with this donor, for now I know how connected and knowledgeable they are within our community, and helps me learn about other people who can likely help our cause. Now, as a prospect researcher, I do the same thing: I look for connections that our donors have with others in the community. This type of research is invaluable and gives a fuller picture of the prospect. For example, I always see which parents have served on their kids’ school boards or parent-teacher organizations (PTOs), where people attended college and the timing and organizations for which they have served on boards where I know other community members are involved. These connections help us fill volunteer roles and determine who might be the best solicitor when the time comes for a major solicitation.

Embracing the Change

Sometimes life takes a turn that you don’t expect, and amazingly enough, you end up enjoying the new situation more than the old one. I can confidently say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my eight-plus years as a prospect researcher. My skills as a fundraiser come in handy every day when I’m researching and analyzing data and make an impact at every turn, helping our fundraisers, volunteers and leadership raise much-needed funds to benefit our organizations and our community.

Vidya Kagan
Director of Development Services, Menlo School

Vidya Kagan has worked in development for 20 years, specifically in higher education and independent schools. She started her career in Harvard Law School’s development office, where she was responsible for annual giving, reunion fundraising, volunteer management, donor relations and events from 2002-2008. She moved to Noble & Greenough School in 2008 as the director of annual giving for three years and as the director of major gifts and campaigns for two years. Her responsibilities included leadership solicitations, campaign planning and volunteer management.

Kagan joined Menlo School’s development team in 2013 and is responsible for advancement services, which includes their Salesforce implementation and administration, prospect research and gift processing, along with annual fund and major gifts work on occasion. She has volunteered for and presented at many industry conferences and webinars, and has written articles related to data, databases and research. Kagan has collaborated with iWave, Salesforce, Cloud for Good, aasp, CASE, AFP and Women in Development (Boston, MA).