We All Speak the Same Language – Communicating with Fundraisers for Prospect Researchers

Prospect researchers and fundraisers ultimately have the same goal: to support the mission of our organization. Our day-to-day roles in this mission are very different, however, and we have very different areas of expertise. Also, while this is a generalization with many exceptions, we often have very different personalities and very different opinions. Taken together, these factors can lead to some friction between the two groups, making it harder to reach that common goal. All is not lost, though! Research and fundraising both require good communication skills, which we can use to overcome these differences and work together. In this article, I'm going to write about a few examples of issues where we might have friction with fundraisers, and demonstrate the communication techniques that can bring these situations to a satisfactory conclusion for all involved.

Again, communication is key in conflict resolution (or, even better, conflict avoidance). When tackling a research request, the first thing I do is talk to the fundraiser who has asked for research. During that conversation, it is my responsibility as a researcher to find out exactly what information the fundraiser thinks he or she needs, and also, what he or she already knows about the prospect. A research request from a fundraiser is often an open-ended request for information, and sometimes does not include the information that the fundraiser might have already gleaned from a physician, a Dean, or from the prospect himself. Sometimes this information can save us researchers time by sending us down the correct path at the outset. For instance, when a prospect has a very common name, as a starting point it is extremely helpful to know what town they live in, or their age, or middle initial. Right off the bat, this can save us lots of time trying to figure out which person it is that we are researching. Sometimes, the Dean may have known the prospect from a previous position, and may have told the fundraiser that they made a large gift there – then we can go right to the source, or if we still can’t document the gift, we can mention it anecdotally in our research. So, my first rule of thumb is: Find out what the fundraiser knows.

The flip side is that a fundraiser may already know that the prospect has capacity and inclination, but in order to move forward with a strategy, what she really needs to know is whether the prospect is very involved with another organization or paying off a large pledge somewhere else. If this is the case, then we can complete this request much more efficiently than if we always assume that the fundraiser wants soup- to-nuts research. Second rule of thumb: Figure out what the fundraiser needs, which may not necessarily be what he or she asked for in the original request.

Another benefit of regularly having conversations like these with fundraisers is that you will start to build a relationship with the fundraiser, and as we all know this is a relationship business – building trust makes every subsequent interaction better.

Inevitably, there will be disagreements. When this happens, I see this as an opportunity - actually, as an imperative - to educate. A fundraiser may be frustrated that we can’t tell them the exact net worth of a prospect who owns a third-generation, family-owned business. It's not very difficult to explain that privately held companies are not required to disclose their financial and stakeholder information in the same way that publicly traded companies are. Fundraisers are smart – they're going to get it if we clarify this. We're smart too, and can give them more information by coming up with some comparisons to public companies, or finding buried news articles that might actually discuss company revenues. When we put this information in context, explain it well, politely and respectfully, and let the fundraiser know what we think about the prospect's potential assets, we're going to have a satisfied fundraiser. We should strive for this - after all, the fundraiser is our customer.

The above example comes from my own experience. I simply wasn't able to find out enough information about a prospect’s assets to feel confident about assigning a capacity rating. When I sent the fundraiser an email attaching my research, she responded with, "You really can't find anything else?" This presented a learning opportunity for me. Rather than responding right away, I took a deep breath, and then went to her office and had a conversation with her face-to-face. I explained the difference between privately held companies and publicly traded ones and why I didn't have – and couldn't have – enough information to give a concrete capacity rating, but that this did not mean the gentleman wasn't a major gift prospect. I can't stress enough that if you think a conversation might be difficult, do not have it over email. It's too easy to say something you might regret and hit "send." It's too easy to misunderstand or be misunderstood without the social cues of a real conversation. Fundraisers are relationship people – they will appreciate your effort to seek them out, in person or on the phone if that's not possible. It's a good thing for us researchers to stretch our conversation muscles (and our legs)!

This strategy can be applied to any kind of conflict between a researcher and a fundraiser. For example, when we are running up against deadlines and feeling rushed by a last minute request that feels thoughtless to us, or when a fundraiser doesn't believe that someone belongs in their portfolio, that they’re not a "good" prospect, but we know they are. A classic problem that I run into over and over again is the difference between "capacity" and "inclination." For instance, I may rate a prospect as having the capacity to make a $1M - $5M gift and the fundraiser will say, "oh, he's never going to give us that much."  Clearly this doesn't invalidate our capacity rating and we're not going to change our rating based on this. But the fundraiser isn't thinking that way, she’s thinking about what she believes the prospect would be willing to give to our organization. Explain your reasoning, don't be defensive, be polite and thoughtful, listen to what the fundraiser has to say, and make your case. We can only control the way that we act or react in any situation. That being said, I firmly believe that when we comport ourselves professionally and respectfully, we're going to be treated the same way in most interactions.

Fundraisers are not the only good communicators – researchers are as well. A good researcher has to be a good writer, and writing is communication. A good fundraiser must be gregarious and outgoing – these are also communication skills. So, though we tend to think of ourselves as introverts and fundraisers as extroverts (please excuse once again my generalizing), this doesn't have to mean that we can't understand each other.

We all have the same goal after all.