ARTICLE
3 Reasons Why Nonprofits Should Batch Screen Their Donor Database
Topics -
You’ve spent a lot of time filling your donor database with constituents. They’ve pledged. They’ve made gifts. They’re making recurring gifts, volunteering, Tweeting about you non-stop. They’re the best advocates and supporters you could hope for.
Ever wonder which ones are waiting for you to ask them for more?
Odds are you have more than just a few who are ready to pull out their checkbooks for more than what they’re giving now. It’s your job who figure out who those people are, and that’s exactly what a batch screening for philanthropic behavior and wealth capacity is for.
A batch screening may feel like a big ticket expense, but think of it as one of the absolute best investments you can make on behalf of the cause and the people you care about.
Note: This is an older but still helpful video. Read more about our new look here.
With that in mind here are three really great reasons for running a batch screening on your database:
1. Identify unknown major gift, capital campaign
and legacy giving opportunities
Simply put: a batch screening uncovers the secret giving power of your current constituents.
That woman who has been giving a recurring $25 monthly gift for three years? She already knows who you are and loves what you do. And it turns out she’s got $50k if you’d just ask.
Or the man who wrote you a check at your last event for $400? A batch screening just might tell you that he’s ready to write the next check for something with several more zeros at the end.
You get the idea. These are people you don’t need to convince to give you that major gift. You just need to know who they are, and a batch screening will solve that without breaking a sweat.
2. Time-consuming to screen individually
An annual subscription to wealth screening for nonprofits, like DonorSearch, is a no-brainer for fundraisers who care about major gifts (which should be all fundraisers).
These tools allow you to individually research whether a constituent has given to other nonprofits like yours, served as a foundation trustee and given to political campaigns (all of which can be great indicators of future philanthropy). They’re great if you know who to research, and what to do with the information you uncover.
An annual or semi-annual batch screening allows you to screen a large portion or all of your donor database at once, taking the guesswork out of who to screen individually. Plus, the work is done for you and on your schedule, meaning you can get other important tasks done while your database is being mined for potential.
3. Enhance the value of your donor database
The raw data from batch screening can be imported right back into your database, instantly bulking up the amount of useful data stored.
Want to send an email campaign to your new major gift prospects? How about have your team brush up on all the donors they’re sitting with at your gala on Friday? Or what about reports based on your donors’ potential, not their actual activity? Done. Done. Done.
In the same spirit of donor retention, we believe in knowing just how big those retention opportunities could be. That’s exciting stuff, right?
So if you’ve never invested in a batch screening of your donor database, now may be the perfect time!
Get a Database Health Check with Bloomerang!
Comments