Spring Cleaning – taking inventory of your needs

Regardless of how far we are into spring, let’s talk spring cleaning. With a busy event season, commencement ceremonies, interns and student workers saying goodbye, gearing up for summer programming, or closing out the end of a June fiscal year, your organization may not have thought about spring cleaning yet. And by spring cleaning, I mean reviewing what research profiles you have and determining what you need.

Now is the perfect time, as you prepare for your next __________ (you fill in the blank – we all have different plans and timelines), to take inventory of your donor and prospect profiles.

Wondering how to get started? Take everything in digestible bites:

• As your board of directors changes, do you have a CURRENT photo and brief bio or research profile on each member? These come in handy during events where you utilize new volunteers, changes in leadership, or in your everyday work of making connections between directors and new prospects you are cultivating.
• Who are your key players? Maybe you have a top 50-100 donors who are active and critical to your organization. Check to see how current the research or bios are on these folks? This is also a great opportunity to check in with them if you find out some exciting news about one of these donors.
• Are there prospects or guests visiting the organization? Either in the near future or recently? Even if there hasn’t been a specific request for such information, having a bio or profile ready to go is a great way to stay ahead of the curve.
• If you recently had an event, maybe you have a short (or not so short) list of individuals for follow up. Take a look to see what information you have available and what needs to be compiled!
• How long ago was your wealth data updated? While you’re taking inventory of profiles, look at your data as a whole. If you recently had a wealth screening done, great! If not, maybe it’s a good time to consider an update. Whether you have a subscription to do it yourself or you need to send out your data, having current information is critical to your fundraising efforts.

By staying ahead of the game, you are setting yourself and your organization up for success. You may find new or increased assets at which you can raise a flag to add these folks to your pipeline or you may find that someone is no longer a good fit for your portfolio. And of course, you will be prepared for whatever is thrown your way!

After you take inventory, if you find yourself with more profiles to update than hours in the day/week/month, I am always here to help. Whether you need updated wealth data, current profiles, or a system to make sure it runs smoothly in the future, I can be your go-to resource. Reach me at brittany@hillcrestadvancement.com!