PROSPECT RESEARCH 101
How to Do Research Using the Internet

Written by Tara Dimick
Chris Keeshan Associates

Prospect research is a critical part to the success of a major fund raising campaign. The research helps the organization’s committee learn about the prospect so they are able to decide who will make the ask, how to approach the prospect when making the ask, and thereby turning the cold call into a warm call.

When researching a prospect, the goal is to gain information in the following areas:  full name, contact information, family, age, education, career, income, involvement, interests, comments about the prospect and comments by the prospect.

Web Search
Perform a web search using any search engine. A commonly used search engine is www.google.com.

Type a prospect’s name or the company you are looking for and use quotation marks to tighten the search. If you know the city or state, use that as well. An example is: “Scott Livingston” + “Omaha.” This will give you zero to millions of hits or links that you can click on and find out more about the prospect. If an article says the following: “said Scott Livingston, president of Livingston, Inc.” You now know where he works, the position he holds and that he has a strong connection to the company, either family owned or he is the founder.

After you have found various links with “Scott Livingston” + “Omaha,” you can now search “Livingston, Inc.” + “Omaha” using a search engine. This may lead you to a company web site.

If the search words you use do not create a response, you can broaden your search by using only a last name, not adding the city or changing the city to the state.

Industry & Company Web Sites
Industry web sites have been created to help consumers and members of the industry. An example is www.martindale.com which gives you information on attorneys. This information includes the law firm he or she works for, birth, education, associations, clients and more.

Company web sites are for clients and consumers. Many of these web sites have bios on the top level executives. If the prospect you are looking for is the president of the company, you may discover insight on the prospect’s contribution history by looking at the company’s foundation and/or corporate giving.

Contact Information
You can find contact information using www.whitepages.com, www.anywho.com and many others. These web sites serve as a phone book for the United States. The information includes: name, address, city, state, zip and phone number. It may also provide a spouse’s name, and connect you to sites that will provide the prospect’s age.

Newspaper Archives
Archived newspaper articles are an excellent source for prospect research. Many times due to the high status of the donors that you research, you may find an article dedicated to the prospect or the prospect’s company.

Not all newspaper sites are free, some ask for a fee per article or ask you to be a subscriber, but many allow access to their archives free of charge.

If you don’t know the newspaper’s site, use a search engine. For example, go to www.google.com and type in “Topeka” + “Newspaper” and you get www.cjonline.com.

Search the newspaper’s site for the archive. Follow this link and use the archive like a search engine. Newspaper articles about a prospect can provide you information about the prospect’s career, involvement, interests, comments about the prospect and comments by the prospect. Comments may reveal a glimpse of the prospect’s personality.

Limitations of Prospect Research
Limitations of prospect research include the use of public information sources only and respect for the prospect.

Best of luck on your researching endeavors.

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