The ultra-wealthy continue to have a high propensity for giving. Total philanthropic giving by individuals, institutions, and public foundations globally reached a monumental $810bn in 2022. More than $500bn of that was contributed by individuals. Donations from the ultra wealthy account for 38% of all individual giving.
To prepare for changes in the giving landscape, fundraisers must identify new wealthy and likely donors. The details are in the data. A deep understanding of existing donors’ capacity, propensity, and intent to give is critical to running successful campaigns. These deep insights help to effectively engage those prospects in strategic and impactful ways.
WealthEngine empowers fundraisers to create that impact and drive results.
“WealthEngine provides advanced wealth identification and prospect research to fundraisers who are otherwise left in the dark”
Tessa Zak, Client Success Executive at Altrata
Zak works with leading education and healthcare organizations as they modernize their screening methods. “We’re already helping both commercial and nonprofit organizations elevate their campaigns, expand audiences, decrease acquisition costs, and increase their revenue.”
This process provides insight into screening your data to find donors with a high capacity to give. We share how Altrata offers solutions that streamline this process and can maximize the benefits of wealth screening beyond uncovering data.
A modern approach to screening donors
Wealth screening enables development offices, gift officers and other fundraisers to verify and understand notable characteristics and trends among prospective donors. With holistic screening data, fundraisers can determine what is an appropriate ‘ask’ for any of these individuals. “Screening donor lists should be part of your game plan for reaching donation goals,” says Zak.
“With the right tools, fundraisers can categorize prospects and determine how they might engage each group successfully.”
Tessa Zak, Client Success Executive at Altrata
Modern wealth screening tools can help these teams identify ‘hidden gems’ as well; unknown wealthy donors who are likely to give to their cause. “You can identify who is statistically more likely to give a larger gift amount no matter their history of giving,” Zak describes. “WealthEngine’s insights help fundraisers determine the best ways to approach those new prospects.”
Altrata’s WealthEngine product features one of the largest consumer data sets ever created. Fundraisers can use this data to improve their topics, scope, and communication methods for potential donors. In doing so, organizations can maximize the return on their fundraising efforts across their donor networks. The WealthEngine platform informs fundraising strategy, decision making, campaign planning, and other types of engagement as well.
Wealth screening success across sectors
Altrata’s customers across industries are finding success by leveraging best practices for using the platform. Here we share insights from four industries where organizations have maximized the benefits of wealth screening:
- Nonprofits: WealthEngine empowers nonprofits with powerful campaign modeling and predictive tools. Fundraisers can convert screened lists into roadmaps to meet their fundraising goals. These include personalized strategies based on donor wealth, giving history, lifestyle, and other factors. Nonprofits also can visualize who is connected to their existing constituents, or whom they should target for each level of gift.
“We’ve found that nonprofits can make fundraising somewhat of a science,” says Zak. “Screening allows them to fully understand what someone could afford to give now or over a five-year period, and how to connect with them in ways that drive results.”
- Healthcare organizations: Hospitals with Grateful Patient Programs (GPP) routinely screen patients to identify those with a high capacity to give. Altrata helps fundraisers at these organizations determine who those patients are and the best methods for engaging them.
Specifically, WealthEngine helps healthcare organizations segment their patients into tiered segments. Then, fundraisers can determine the best communication methods and ‘asks’ for each segment. WealthEngine also helps hospitals verify data about new potential donors from patient or staff referrals.
- Universities: Higher education fundraisers must screen both alumni and alumni’s families for potential major gifts. But as the alumni population mature and acquire more wealth over time, there is a strong need for solutions that help you maintain accurate date on this segment. maintaining accurate data on them can be difficult to track and maintain.
Altrata helps these fundraisers screen donor lists based on a wide variety of attributes including but not limited to age, affinity to the institution, family relations, relationships, and net worth. Visualizing these elements enables fundraisers to develop the right messaging, methods, and ‘asks’ for each individual.
- For-Profit companies: Beyond fundraising, Altrata’s WealthEngine solution also helps for-profit organizations identify, archetype and engage with wealthy individuals using WealthEngine’s proprietary Prospect, Modelling and Analyze insights. Businesses who are looking to engage with new wealthy clients and leads need detailed intelligence on these individuals to build an informed strategy. Intelligence on a wealthy individuals’ personal interests and hobbies, wealth and asset ownership, business affinities not only ensures that you are targeting the most qualified leads but enables these organizations to build a robust lead pipeline and a successful engagement plan.
Four steps to a more modern wealth screening process
The accuracy of your data can be the difference between a large gift and no gift at all. Fortunately, there is a process that can help. Here we share the details of each step.
1. Determine whom to screen, and how often.
Determine the specific groups or individuals that you’d like to enrich the intelligence you currently have. For example, higher education fundraisers may wish to establish separate lists of their constituents based on:
- recent donation activity
- total current wealth
- alumni status or relationships with alumni
- professional status
- group affiliations
- event attendances
This information changes often, so it’s best practice to screen your entire database of constituents regularly to ensure accuracy. Fundraisers in some industries may find a more rigorous wealth screening cadence more suitable. While this is difficult under normal circumstances, Altrata makes it easy to incorporate regular advanced database screening into your teams’ existing workflows, or through our various CRM integration solutions like:
- Automating and customizing batch screenings from Salesforce Reports
- Quickly screening multiple records right from your Contact or List View
- Track available credits
- And more
2. Prepare your file.
WealthEngine simplifies how you collect data, then screens individuals based on your results. Our knowledge base provides the most up-to-date screening templates. These templates support consistent data formatting for the best results and match rates, as well as key insights into how fundraisers can format and clean their data from their CRM or 3rd party integration to guarantee the best results.
“WealthEngine also factors past donation data into the results,” says Zak. “That way, you can analyze the ratio of each person’s past gifts versus their true capacity to give.”
3. Process your data.
Next, fundraisers can use filters to segment and prioritize potential donors. “Filters allow you to find the special people in your file by choosing from over 50 different attributes,” says Zak. “Your options include key scores, wealth ratings, donation history, specific data sources, and much more.”
In some cases, Altrata’s WealthEngine solution takes only minutes to finish screening and deliver detailed results. Other low-volume wealth screening efforts yield same-day results. This speed and accuracy help teams launch smart fundraising efforts while their data is still relevant.
This is especially useful for time-sensitive workflows. In healthcare, donor relationship development often begins while patients are in care facilities. Patients can arrive and depart quickly while slow screening processes are still underway, undermining fundraising efforts.
4. Maximize your results.
Once the screening process is complete, Altrata provides fundraising teams with in-depth analysis of the people in their results. Fundraisers can determine how to engage the individuals who are most relevant to their developmental goals.
Teams can begin by segmenting potential donors into groups they believe are more appropriate for specific fundraising tactics. For example, some groups may be more receptive to direct mail campaigns, while wealthier individuals need a more personalized approach. Some may prefer gift recommendations whereas others may wish to choose their own gift amounts.
No matter their criteria, teams also can uncover ‘hidden gems’ within their screened lists. These are individuals with little to no giving history, but have a high propensity to give.
For example, a hidden gem may be a close associate of an existing donor. “Fundraisers may wish to set up ‘inner circle’ and ‘major donor’ lists, which help them identify if one of their leads is connected to a close friend of their organization,” says Zak. “If there is a connection found between a new lead and someone from their ‘inner circle,’ they may be able to use that friend for a warm introduction to the lead.”
Recent events also may have increased their likelihood of giving. (Perhaps a prospect’s grandchild was accepted into the fundraiser’s university.) Fundraisers who engage in regular wealth screening can seize upon these opportunities as they emerge over time.
Start your own wealth screening journey
Fundraising is a creative process. Powerful screening tools like WealthEngine do more than enhance your screening methods, they serve as a foundation for new and effective campaigns. In time, fundraisers who use advanced screening methods will differentiate themselves through the impact of their efforts.
“WealthEngine is a resource for creativity as much as it is a resource for tactics. We recommend experimenting and combining different qualities, then imagining what’s possible based on the results. Those possibilities may excite you.”
Tessa Zak, Client Success Executive at Altrata
About WealthEngine
WealthEngine is a powerful screening and campaign modeling tool. It applies machine learning to half a trillion data points, creating millions of pre-scored profiles for all types of individuals. Its predictive modeling supports a robust engagement strategy for existing and future donors. WealthEngine integrates with Salesforce or through an API as well. If you would like to learn more, contact us directly for a free demonstration.
Emmanuella Modilim is VP, Global Head of Client Success at Altrata. She is responsible for spearheading the company’s client success vision and is responsible for developing and implementing customer success frameworks and methodologies that align seamlessly with the business objectives. With a passion for enhancing customer engagement and fostering loyalty, Emmanuella drives strategic initiatives that empower Altrata’s clients to achieve exceptional results. Leading a team of dedicated client success managers, she collaborates closely with clients to provide ongoing strategic support, training, and guidance, ensuring their long-term success. Her extensive experience encompasses diverse industries, including Financial Services, Professional Services, Luxury and Private Aviation, Non-Profits, and Higher Education. Emmanuella has over ten years of experience in Customer Success, Account Management, Project Management and Relationship Management. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in international business, and has also pursued executive education programs focused on customer success and leadership.