Dear Colleagues,

While searching for topics to include in the November edition of Fundraising Talks, I saw a number of articles on identifying major gift prospects. For many of us, this is not a new skill. However basic this skill may seem, sometimes identifying major gift prospects can feel as complicated as rocket science. In this letter, I'd like to return to basics and highlight an article by  Capital Campaign Master's blog titled,  "ID Your Top Campaign Gift: 5 Places to Look" . This article provides great information on where to look for major gift donors--a valuable reminder as many of us head into an upcoming campaign. 

Your donor and alumni database is the first place you should look to identify major prospects: current and consistent donors are most likely to become major donors. Take the recent $219 million gift from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to the University of Maryland, College Park as an example: Jim Clark was a long-time donor to UMCP and his foundation continued giving after his death. In the same vein, donors who have donated to other nonprofits are more likely to be a donor at your institution. You can find lists of donors who have already given to other nonprofits by looking through those nonprofits' annual reports, websites, or other publications. You may also find major gift donors in your geographic location or local community, through current or past volunteers or leadership members at your institution, and through the new generation of philanthropic leaders in your community. 

We hope you can use the information provided in this newsletter to quickly identify some of your major donors, and remember that sometimes, our best prospects are our current donors.  As always, please feel free to reach out to us with questions, comments or any assistance with prospect research!

Best Regards,

Sapna and USM Advancement Research Team