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How to Find a New Large Donors During the End-of-Year Giving Season

October 15, 2024 (4 min read)
Use AI-powered research tools to maximize your fundraising efforts at the end of the year.

Securing large donors can be a game-changer for nonprofits, providing substantial financial support and potentially opening doors to broader networks of philanthropy. As the end-of-year giving season approaches, including Giving Tuesday and charitable holidays, here are three key strategies to identify potential large donors, along with how solutions within our Nexis® for Nonprofits product suite provide the data and tools you need for each step.

1. Look for the prospect’s income and net worth

Why It Matters: High-income individuals and those with substantial net worth are more likely to make significant donations. Income refers to the annual earnings of a prospect, which provides a snapshot of their financial capacity to give year-over-year. Net worth, on the other hand, includes the total assets minus liabilities, offering a comprehensive view of their overall financial health.

Understanding both is crucial because timing can affect a prospect's ability to donate. For instance, a high-net-worth individual might have recently purchased a home or made other large investments, temporarily reducing their liquidity. Access to public records information can help track such asset purchases, enabling nonprofits to gauge the best time to approach potential donors.

How Nexis for Nonprofits Can Help: Nexis® for Development Professionals and Nexis® Wealth Navigator Powered by Aidentified offer nonprofits powerful tools to uncover key financial details about potential donors, helping them make informed decisions for targeted outreach. Nexis for Development Professionals provides access to over 90 million Donor Profiles, which include crucial data points such as an individual's income, net worth, and employment history.

Nonprofits can also tap into U.S. public records to see real estate and asset ownership and transfers—helpful indicators of net worth. Nexis Wealth Navigator complements this with detailed profiles on prospects, offering insights into their income, net worth, and connections to other high-net-worth individuals, empowering nonprofits to build stronger relationships with top-tier donors.

MORE: The best tools for wealth screening

2. Look at the prospect’s previous donation history

Why It Matters: A prospect’s history of donations can reveal their philanthropic priorities and their potential to give large amounts. By analyzing previous donation patterns, nonprofits can identify prospects who have consistently donated large sums to causes similar to theirs. This alignment ensures that the outreach efforts are directed towards individuals who are not only capable but also likely to donate at the desired level.

  • Alignment with donation strategy: Tailoring outreach strategies based on the prospect's average donation amount and supported causes can significantly increase the chances of securing a large gift. For example, if a prospect typically donates $10,000 annually to educational causes, a nonprofit in the education sector can approach them with a targeted proposal that matches their giving history.

How Nexis for Nonprofits Can Help: Nexis® for Development Professionals can help nonprofits uncover large donors that align with their cause by providing detailed insights into an individual's previous donation history. Through the giving history tab inside of Donor Profiles, nonprofits can see who donors have supported in the past and the amount they contributed.

This allows organizations to identify donors who align with their financial goals and mission. By analyzing this data, nonprofits can focus on individuals who have a history of donating at the levels they seek and to similar types of organizations, increasing the likelihood of securing large contributions from donors with a proven commitment to their cause.

MORE: Donor prospecting 101

3. See if a prospect works for a company and/or holds an influential role at a company with a history of matching gifts or donating

Why It Matters: Companies with a history of matching gifts or corporate donations can amplify the impact of individual donations. Identifying prospects who work for such companies or hold influential roles within them can lead to substantial contributions. Additionally, researching recent philanthropic activities of these companies can provide insights into their current giving priorities and potential for future donations.

  • Corporate matching gifts: Many companies offer matching gift programs where they match donations made by their employees to eligible nonprofits. This can double or even triple the impact of a donation.
  • Influential roles: Prospects in leadership or decision-making positions may have the authority to initiate or increase corporate giving. Understanding their role and influence can help tailor the approach to secure larger gifts.
  • Philanthropic activities: Staying informed about the company’s recent donations or participation in philanthropic events can guide nonprofits in crafting proposals that align with the company's values and current initiatives.

How Nexis for Nonprofits Can Help: Nexis+ AI and Nexis Wealth Navigator Powered by Aidentified empower nonprofits to uncover valuable opportunities through corporate matching gifts and influential connections. Nexis+ AI’s AI-driven company research tools surface key insights about companies, their executives, and relevant reports that can reveal potential matching gift programs.

With its document analyzer feature, nonprofits can upload documents like annual reports and potentially extract details about a company’s philanthropic goals or plans for gift matching programs—giving them a clearer picture of how to align with corporate giving initiatives.

Meanwhile, Nexis Wealth Navigator’s relationship mapping helps nonprofits identify individuals who hold influential roles within companies, offering opportunities to engage with key decision-makers who can advocate for or increase corporate donations. By leveraging these insights, nonprofits can tailor their outreach to maximize donations, tapping into matching gift programs and building stronger connections with companies that align with their mission.

Discover your next large donor

By focusing on these strategies, nonprofits can effectively identify and cultivate relationships with potential large donors and corporate donation programs, ensuring a successful giving season. All of our Nexis for Nonprofits solutions are designed to streamline and enhance this process, providing the insights and tools necessary to uncover and engage with high-potential donors. This giving season, leverage reliable data, AI, and other features within Nexis for Nonprofits to maximize your fundraising efforts and move your mission forward.

Contact our Sales team today to learn more about incorporating Nexis for Nonprofit’s research tools into your end-of-year donation strategy today!