Why do you research donors? (Please note that this article is not about foundation research though it is mentioned briefly.) You are either trying to identify new donors or current donors who can give more than you realized. In addition, you are trying to find factors that should increase their motivation to give to your nonprofit such as giving to similar or related nonprofits, serving on a nonprofit board, knowing anyone affiliated with your nonprofit, and having interests, passions, and giving philosophies that would match up well with your nonprofit and its people.
While Google and other general search engines can be helpful, below are two specialized FREE websites that should provide a boost to you donor intelligence and benefit your fundraising efforts
A substantial listing of individual and corporate donations, you can search by Name/Business Name, State, and Charitable/Political/All giving and rank donation histories by Gift Year or Amount. Each result provides name of nonprofit beneficiary, Gift Amount Range, Gift Year, Gift Type, and Donor name(s).
Note: You cannot search by home address, so this product may be of less use for donors with common last names.
Note: You also cannot link to the original donor roll to confirm any donations details and will need to search separately.
A comprehensive listing of nonprofits and foundation tax forms, data go back to 2001. There are three ways to search: by Organization, People, or Full Text and an Advanced Search option (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/advanced_search) that consolidates these three ways of searching on one page.
To search by Organization, you can enter a name, keyword, or city in the search box and select by State, Categories, or Org. Type (by 501C_). To Search by People, enter an Officer (Board member, Director, etc.) or Employee name. Searching for Full-Text searches the text of all nonprofit forms to find that needle in the haystack.
For donor research, this website can help in the following ways:
· Find out if a donor served on another nonprofit’s board.
· Find out if a donor was a nonprofit executive (and if so compensation data will be available that may provide a clue about giving capacity)..
· Find out which foundations have given to nonprofits similar to yours. If it is a family foundation, perhaps a donor either through a donation (or foundation grant) may be willing to give to your nonprofit.
· Create a customized listing of nonprofits (and/or foundations) by area, category, nonprofit type or any or all of these.
Applying these two websites should enhance your understanding of a donor’s donation and nonprofit board history, if a donor has been a nonprofit executive, and locating similar or related nonprofits who may be a source for finding new donors.
