As mentioned in the article "Letting Our #ResearchPride Shine" by NEDRA President Suzy Campos, Helen Brown kicked off what is now Prospect Development Pride Month in the month of March. 

Though the month is over, you can keep the message of this month close by engaging with others on Twitter (#ResearchPride) and visit and comment on the many excellent blog posts written this month as part of this celebration. If we missed any, let us know in the comments below. 

Helen Brown

Proud Voices in Harmony

What Comes after #ResearchPride

Thank You for Helping Make Change

Jen Filla

#ResearchPride, Advocacy, and Me

James Rygg

Evolve by Getting Involved

I Could Have Missed It All

Krystal Wilson

Show Your Pride

Marianne Pelletier

My Bourne Identity

Mark Egge

Doing More with More

Stephen Lambert

Dear Prospect Research…I Love You!

Sarah Bernstein

If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

Mark Noll

I’ve Got Your Privacy. Right Here.

Rissa Todd

Research Pride!

Sabrina Latham

Happy Prospect Development Pride Month!

Sharon Parkinson

Five Reasons Why My Work-Life as a Prospect Development Professional is Totally Awesome!

iWave

A Letter to Our Prospect Research Peeps During Prospect Research Pride Month

Elisa Shoenberger

Research Pride

The NEDRA Board of Directors had an in-person meeting on February 10th. The topics discussed included updates to the 2016 NEDRA Conference (including our newly-signed keynote Laura Schroff!), the Heather Reisz Scholarship, the 2016 Helen Brown Group-NEDRA Conference Scholarship, the Ann Castle Award and plans for the career development twitter talk held on February 19th during APRA’s Chapters Share the Knowledge event.  

Read on for more information!

Do you ever feel uncomfortable explaining what it is that you do to others? Have you ever had an awkward conversation with one of your institution's constituents when they ask about your role? Have you read articles that talk about the work we do as intrusive, as "spying"? 

Don't be hesitant. Don't be apologetic. Join with others in our field this month to celebrate what Helen Brown has coined Prospect Development Pride Month. 

Helen and bloggers in the US, Canada and Europe will be sharing their #ResearchPride and thoughts on the impact of the work we do. Read the blog article Proud Voices in Harmony she posted today for more information and for a list of bloggers that will be promoting #ResearchPride. 

In February, NEDRA participated in the 2016 APRA Chapters Share the Knowledge event. 

Taking place Feb 8-19, NEDRA and other APRA chapters presented 11 complimentary educational and networking programs for the prospect development community. Topics ranged from “Productivity Tips and Tricks” to “Validating Wealth Screenings.” Most of the webinars and powerpoints are available on the APRA website. 

NEDRA’s offering was a career management Twitter talk with the tongue-in-cheek title, “Unlocking Your Full Potential: Professional Development for Prospect Development Professionals.” A lively virtual discussion was held. Missed it? It’s not too late, search on #nedrachat and see all the great posts.

Registration is open for the 2016 NEDRA Conference. Sign up today!

2016 NEDRA Conference

Thursday and Friday, April 14th and 15th, 2016

Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH

Conference Registration: $349 current members/$448 non-members (single day pricing available)

Hotel: $139/night with the NEDRA rate if booked before Sunday, March 20th, 2016 at 5:00 PM.

Register now! Follow this link for more information and to register for the 2016 NEDRA Conference!

2016 Research Basics Bootcamp

New to Research? Enhance your first conference experience with a full day of programming designed to provide the essentials of development research.

Bootcamp Date: Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

Location: Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel, 250 Market Street,Portsmouth, NH

Pricing:

Conference/Bootcamp Discount Package: $449 current members/$548 new members (registration includes membership). Register here for the combined conference/bootcamp pricing.

Bootcamp only: $199 current members/$298 new members. Register here for just the bootcamp.

Conference Keynote

We are thrilled that Laura Schroff*, a former media executive and bestselling author, is our keynote speaker for the conference. Laura, whose book An Invisible Thread was on the New York Times Best Seller list for a total of 39 weeks, is a passionate and compelling voice on the power of small acts of kindness and mentorship. NEDRA has partnered with RiverRun Bookstore, an independent bookseller in Portsmouth, to sell copies of Laura's book. To learn more about Laura visit the NEDRA website here.

*Arrangements for Laura Schroff made through Greater Talent Network, Inc., New York, NY

If a survey asks whether a school should be supportive of its teachers, students, buildings, and curriculum, most respondents would indicate that all of these issues are important. GG+A employed a data collection technique known as “MaxDiff” that forces respondents to choose a best and worst option from several choices. When asked to choose the single most important, and the single least important, those distinctions become much more clear.

“MaxDiff” Survey Technique Uncovers Best Campaign Themes

by Dan Lowman

One of our recent clients, a highly-regarded liberal arts college, had developed a “Strategic Visioning” document, to be used as the basis for a 10-year college plan as well as the framework for a comprehensive campaign. The document was lengthy, and staff at the College sought to identify both the themes and the specific language that were most compelling to their alumni population for use in the final version.

The College commissioned GG+A to conduct focus groups with key donors, volunteers, and trustees. GG+A also conducted a broad-based online alumni survey to gather input from a larger (and generally less connected) portion of the alumni population.

GG+A employed a data collection technique known as “MaxDiff” that forces respondents to choose a best and worst option from several choices. For example, if a survey asks if a school should be supportive of its teachers, students, buildings, and curriculum, most respondents would indicate that all of these issues are important. When asked to choose the single most important, and the single least important, those distinctions become clearer.

Potential Campaign Themes

As shown in the table above (click to see larger), each theme can be scored. The most highly scored themes were based on the future (“will continue,” “develop women and men,” “21st century solutions”). The low-rated themes were both in the present tense and self-congratulatory (“is extraordinary,” “is vital,” “is the best”). The results enabled the College to redesign the document to be focused on solutions and outcomes without falling back to aggrandizing terms that were perceived as complacent.

Another interesting finding from the survey was the use of the word “diversity.” Themes focused on ensuring or expanding diversity at the College scored well among relatively younger alumni, but scored poorly particularly from alumni graduating prior to 1970.

Yet, substantially similar themes that used different words were supported widely across all age bands. For example, “the College will admit the most qualified students from diverse backgrounds” scored much more poorly among older alumni than “the College will admit the most qualified students from any background.” Focus group interviews and free-text responses made clear that the term “diverse” was considered political and divisive among many older alumni. Importantly, however, that same group strongly supported use of financial aid to recruit the most qualified students, regardless of race, wealth, gender, or other similar factors.

Download a pdf of the sample survey. 

Are budgets tight at your institution? Concerned about the cost of attending the NEDRA conference?  Apply for one of our scholarships that cover conference costs completely!

The 2016 Helen Brown Group - NEDRA Conference Scholarship

Thanks to the generosity of the Helen Brown Group, NEDRA offers this need-blind scholarship to any NEDRA member who wishes to attend the conference. It will cover the cost of registration and lodging as well as travel costs up to $300! Applications are due March 9th, 2016.

The Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship was established in honor of one of NEDRA's most active and beloved members, Heather Reisz, who passed away in May 2013. Two recipients this year will receive need-blind scholarships which cover the cost of registration and lodging for the 2016 Annual Conference, the pre-conference Research Basics Bootcamp, and a one-year NEDRA membership. Travel expenses will also be reimbursed up to $300. Qualified applicants should have, at most, two years' experience in development research. 

To learn more about Heather and The Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship, please visit Heather's memorial page on the NEDRA website. Applications are due March 9th, 2016.

Do the fundraisers you work with ask for a prospect's net worth on a regular basis? Do you find yourself educating them on what net worth really means? And what information is publicly available and what is not? 

In this NEDRA News article from 1998, fundraiser and writer Sandra Larkin writes about the illusory nature of net worth and how she handles requests to provide one. 

How do you handle situations when a net worth is requested or discussed. Do you use a phrase like "known wealth," as Larkin suggests, or "known assets" in your research and in conversations with others? How do you handle discussions about products/vendors that provide a constituent's net worth? Chime in below!

The Illusion of Net Worth

Spring, 1998

By Sandra Larkin

As researchers, we value accuracy. We want our work to contain the most recent, reliable information we can find. And that's why so many of us wince when we get the same old request: "Just get me the prospect's net worth."

And yet, far too often we nod, smile, and dutifully set out to find something we can call "net worth." While this is not an altogether useless exercise I strongly believe that we need to change the terms of the discussion. Because we can't find the prospect's net worth. It simply is not possible for an ethical researcher, using publicly available information, to accurately determine an individual's net worth.

Too many people in development, including researchers, use the term "net worth" without thinking about its real meaning. Net worth is the result of subtracting all of the prospects' liabilities from all of his or her assets. While we can identify some of a prospect's assets, maybe most, there will always be assets that cannot be identified or quantified.

Examples:

A safe-deposit box full of government bonds.

A trust fund from the prospect's spouse's Great-aunt Gertrude.

A piece of land in Montana that hasn't had an updated valuation in 30 years.

How can a researcher determine an accurate value for such things, when more often than not we don't even know they exist?

Of course, we can find stockholdings and their worth. That is, we can find the stockholdings that the prospect is required to disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But it's possible to own huge amounts of stock in companies where you are not an officer, director, insider, or 5% owner. Those holdings will not be visible to the eyes of even the most talented researcher.

We can usually find an assessment of the prospect's house. But without knowing when the assessment was done, or what the real estate market in that town is like, an assessment is at best an approximation. And is there a vacation home we don't know about? A timeshare condominium may have an assessment for tax purposes, but no real resale potential. If a second home is overseas, there may be no data available on its value.

And finding assets is a lot easier than finding liabilities. How many loans has the prospect taken out? Is there a first or second mortgage on that million-dollar home? How many credit cards do they have, and how many of them are maxed out? Did Great-aunt Gertrude provide a low-interest personal loan?

Many liabilities are not things we can or should investigate (I doubt any of us advocates opening personal credit records to the public). Even if we could, the public relations aspect of such research is a minefield. I am certain that most prospects would find an investigation of their debts highly intrusive, and would react very negatively.

Which leaves us with "guesstimates." There are several sets of figures generated by the IRS that allow us to extrapolate from the types of assets we can find, including stockholdings and real estate data, and they do include typical percentages for liabilities. These methods are certainly valuable, and I use them myself. But I always include a disclaimer, emphasizing that the resulting "net worth" figure is only an estimate based upon averages. I usually put it in italics for emphasis. The "average" prospect is just as fictional as the "average" family with 1.2 children: have you ever seen .2 of a child?

Yes, development officers are going to want to know net worth. Yes, they need some kind of a number on which to base an estimate of giving ability and choose a figure to use for the ask. But it's important for us as researchers to be honest with ourselves and our colleagues in the development office. We're not psychic, and no one should expect us to be, so let's admit that we are making highly educated guesses. We are probably often quite close to the mark. And the more educated we are, the better our guesses. But we should not be promising more than we can realistically deliver.

As we educate ourselves, we need to educate our colleagues. Perhaps we should stop using the term "net worth" entirely. I prefer the phrase "known wealth," which indicates that the information presented is known to be true, without implying that it is a complete picture.

Estimates of wealth are certainly a valuable and necessary part of our work. But "net worth" is an illusion, not a reality.

In this Spring, 2006 article by Mitchell Linker of the Loomis Chaffee School offers some thoughts about prospect management meetings and struggles he had when trying to reinvent them:

Running_Prospect_Management_Meetings-Spring2006.pdf

The Ann Castle Award acknowledges outstanding effort or achievement in the field of development research and related fields to honor development research pioneer and past APRA president Ann Castle, who passed away in 2000. 

Consider nominating an excellent colleague or applying yourself! Visit the The Ann Castle Award page for more details and a link to the application form. Nominations are due by March 11th, 2016.