Prospect Research for Fundraisers: The Essential Handbook

Full of quality content, delivered as promised. I am very happy

Wish I had bought this a year ago - great book for a beginner prospect researcher. So useful.

THE most helpful book I've read in my beginning a career in prospect research!

Robbe Healey, former chair of the AFP board, writes in her introduction to this book: "Using an expert researcher...can be the difference between flat and growth -- and is always more economical!"If you have never engaged in prospect research or have done so at the level of Google and other internet searches, you need to read this book co-authored by Jennifer Filla and Helen Brown.As a frontline fundraiser, knowing how to access research and applying it can be an incredible boon. An understanding of how research fits into your gift cycle, and how to be more strategic in your solicitations, can make a huge difference in your rate of success. And this book helps you think through how to convert the data and research into learning keys to open avenues of cultivation to your prospects - the people that will fund your mission.A website adds to the value, where you can find links and templates, along with continued opportunities -- an essential resource!

Don't let this one stay on your "to read" list for too long or unread on your bookshelf. Jennifer Filla and Helen Brown have presented a concise book with a wealth of information. From the beginning overview to the final appendices, they tie everything to the three categories that research supports: prospect identification, qualification and relationship management. This book will provide executives, development staff and board membership with a context for how to use prospect research and with practical ways to do basic things like how to "Assess the Scope of Your Profile Needs." For those who have been sitting on the sidelines or thinking Google search can do everything you need to those organizations that have a research program, there is something for all.

Authors Jen Filla and Helen Brown are pros by every measure, from the work they've done throughout their careers to the leadership they've provided to our associations. But deep knowledge and great character doesn't always translate into readable or interesting prose. This time, I'm very happy to say, it definitely DID! Prospect Research for Fundraisers is a great read. The content is terrific. And it's a great teaching tool for the field. Go out and buy this book. Or better yet, get your office to buy it. However you get it in your hands, make sure it's read by your front line fundraisers. This may be the book that at last bridges the parts of the development office that have too often been either in different mindsets or even different zip codes.

This book is an excellent resource and a "must read" for development offices of any size.By following the steps outlined in this new handbook donor research is demystified and easy to implement. Helen and Jennifer guide the reader through the process of using research techniques to answer important questions like:- Why do prospect research in the first place and how does it fit into my daily work?- Do we have enough donors and prospects to reach our campaign goal?- What is the best way to engage the donors we already have?Additional tools on the companion website make this a unique and helpful resource.

This book will transform the way you think about prospect research. Until now, you've probably viewed prospect research as a single function tool. With this book you can arm your nonprofit with a super-duper multi-tool to identify capable and interested donors, board members, track donor progress to reach major gift goals and more.

Helen Brown and Jennifer Filla have written the book I have been waiting for. It's the book that talks to fundraisers about research. Prospect Research for Fundraisers: The Essential Handbook (The AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series) ' (Wiley, New Jersey, 2013) is a clearly-written, comprehensive, efficiently-designed book. Its mixture of straight talk, real examples and models makes it easy to read and immediately useful.In the eight chapters and 216 pages of the hardback edition the book covers the how and the why of identifying new prospects, the different levels of research, relationship management, ethics and the law and international research. Crucially for its intended audience of fundraising leaders the book also explains how to improve the management of prospect research, and lays out future trends such as a move toward mapping relationships between prospects and donors - a trend that we at Factary have focused on with Factary Atom.By including real case studies and personal comments (one researcher confesses she started an online newsletter to "... be more social..."), Jennifer and Helen create empathy in their reader, and drive home the message about management. We can believe that things need improving when "Mary" admits to having "... never created a process document..." for data entry, with the result that her successor had to live through a "... reporting nightmare that took months to untangle." Now we truly understand why it's important.The models - especially, for me, the models of donor relationship management - are insightful. They are also clear and simple, benefitting from Helen's superb track-record as a trainer. This is years of experience summarised; we benefit from the beauty of its simplicity.'Prospect Research for Fundraisers' is a good size, in hardback. This is not a trite comment - much of the focus in the book is about making information accessible. Even the most hard-pressed fundraiser will find it easy to slip a copy into her bag or coat pocket for bed-time reading.Put one on the pillow of your favourite fundraiser, today.[Helen Brown is a director and shareholder in Factary, co- founded by Chris Carnie. Helen was not consulted on the content of this review.] Prospect Research for Fundraisers: The Essential Handbook (The AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series)