Feature Article:  WealthEngine Screening Leads to $650,000 from New Prospects

The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, Long Island, has raised $650,000 through two lead gifts in the first months of its $2 million campaign, thanks to Marc Saffren of m3 Development and WealthEngine screenings.  Saffren notes, “These lead gifts came from donors that we never would have known about without WealthEngine and research.”

Saffren is founder and managing director of m3 Development, a consulting firm specializing in nonprofit management, fundraising, and strategic planning.  The firm also provides counsel to family foundations.  Saffren and m3 Development serve clients nationwide, although the majority are located in the New York Metro area.  Saffren holds his CFRE and has worked in professional fundraising since 1992.  Prior to founding m3 Development, Saffren was the Vice President for Development at the Jewish Fund for Justice.

Saffren has used WealthEngine for four years.  Because of his work in development at Touro Law School in the early 1990s (and access to Lexis Nexis and other legal research databases), Saffren is familiar with and knows the value of using research to accomplish fundraising goals for the organizations with which he works.  Typically, he uses WealthEngine every day to obtain individual profiles on prospects, do additional research before making solicitations and, most importantly perhaps, to find prospect opportunities that might never be identified.

Marc Saffren

Saffren describes how he used the WealthEngine screening to launch the campaign for the Hampton Library.  He explains, “When I looked at the screening, I recognized the names of three siblings who were all trustees in their family foundation.  I called the executive director of that foundation and told her that three of the trustees had homes in Bridgehampton.  The connection was made – and resulted in a $150,000 gift.  This was a gift we would never have gotten without research.”

“Another profile in the screening was for a man who was on the Forbes list of top hedge fund managers, making over $100 million annually.  It turns out he was also a 39-year-old father who brings his kids to the Hampton Library each Saturday morning.  That gift was for $500,000.”

“An organization should not be asking people for significant gifts without first having done their research,” stresses Saffren.  “Otherwise, how would you ever know what to ask someone for?  You need to know where someone has given, what they have given and how they have given.”

“Also, make sure that you utilize WealthEngine on a regular basis, beyond the screenings,” advises Saffren.  “You need to access WealthEngine every day to do your job. The importance that research plays in the outcome of a fundraising effort should never be underestimated,” concludes Saffren.

To contact Marc Saffren and m3 Development, email msaffren@m3development.net or call 631/697-3577.

Learning Opportunities: Training Sessions for WealthEngine Clients

WealthEngine offers numerous opportunities to make your research easier and more effective. The following trainings are free to clients and offered weekly:

To register for one of these workshops, please email training@wealthengine.com with your name, organization, preferred training date and phone contact information. Following your registration, we will send you a notice with the webinar and teleconference information. Registration is closed two business days prior to the session.

GO GREEN WITH WEALTHENGINE! Dani Porter of the Zoological Society of San Diego was one of many attendees who grabbed $5 at WealthEngine's money raffle during the APRA International Conference. WealthEngine is proud to provide year-round support for APRA as a Platinum Strategic Sponsor. Happy 20th Anniversary to APRA!

Murray Fournie

“WealthEngine expands the capability of our staff,” says K. Murray Fournie, Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving at the Indian River Medical Center Foundation.  “At a hospital, your best opportunity to build a relationship with a prospective donor is when your services are being used or have just been used. We are using WealthEngine to help us not to miss these moments of opportunity.”
 
Fournie started working with WealthEngine about six years ago.  He has a background in computer systems as well as fundraising, so he had a natural inclination to want to use an automated computer system to enhance his organization’s development efforts.  

“It was smart business from my standpoint.  Dozens of patients are admitted or treated each day, but there are three or four who might make a difference in the future of the Medical Center," he notes.  "If I know which patients have the ability, I know with whom to work on building a relationship. WealthEngine identifies my greatest opportunities for major gifts.”
 
Each day, a list of admitted patients, as well as those who have visited the emergency room or outpatient services, is drawn up and automatically sent to WealthEngine.  Overnight, WealthEngine screens the list and then sends it back. Typically, according to Fournie, the list might include 50 or so admitted patients and 100+ Emergency Department patients.  Of this list, half would have WealthEngine profiles.  And, of these, three or four would have truly significant financial capability; one of which would be a brand-new prospect for the medical center.  Of those seen in the emergency room, 40% would have WealthEngine profiles available, three or four would have truly significant financial capability, and two or three would be brand-new prospects for the hospital.
 
Fournie also finds that hospitals have an opportunity with patients to recreate themselves – either in a good way or bad way.  Fournie explains, “Care is, and should be, the same.  Customer service is where we can make the difference.  WealthEngine screenings make sure that we don’t miss opportunities with key prospects.”  By identifying key prospects in a timely fashion Fournie can arrange for a volunteer to go by to visit these patients during their hospital stays.
 
“The bottom line is that WealthEngine services expand the capabilities of our staff,” continues Fournie.  “Then, because of the better philanthropic return on our time, the increased contributions allow our hospital to continue to improve patient care.”  

Client Questions and Answers:

Q: I am reviewing my results and notice that some of these matches aren’t related to my prospect.  Why might this happen, and how can I remove the erroneous information?

A: We compare the data that is provided to us with the databases in our system and identify records which share certain information.  Because different resources report different types of information, and the structure of the information (such as whether or not a middle initial is listed) may vary across databases and lists, each match does not necessarily contain all of the information that was provided to us.  Each match does, however, contain at least some of the key information that is provided to us.  It is for this reason that we devised the Quality of Match (QoM), a score which allows you to see to how many points of information the record matched; a QoM of 9 or above is considered an exact match.  A lower QoM does not necessarily mean that the record does not pertain to your prospect, but it does mean that we suggest that you review that information further to determine whether or not you believe it pertains to your prospect.

There are places in both the screening results database (Access Manager) and FindWealth Online where you can edit your results, removing those which you believe are not attributable to your prospect.  In the Access Manager, simply click on the hotlink under Match Sources (see image below) for the records you would like to view.

This will bring you to the Source Details tab (see image below) and display the specific matched records.  There is a Deleted button in the upper right hand corner of the tab.  Click that button if you wish to remove that specific matched record.  Note: this removes the data that was matched to the individual; it does not remove the individual from the Access Manager database.  Once you remove a matched record, you can not restore it.

You can remove specific matched records from your FindWealth Online results through using the results listed in the History section.  There is a red box with a white X in the upper right hand corner of each matched listing (see image below).  If you would like to remove a listing, simply click on that button and the listing will be removed.  Note: this removes the matched listing from that specific results page in your History section; it does not remove it from our databases.  As with the Access Manager results, once a listing has been removed, you can not restore it to the profile.

Q: Part of why I am using WealthEngine is because I want to find out who the members of our Board of Directors know so we can ask them for gifts.  I’m currently looking through Who’s Who and Market Guide records, but this is taking a long time.  Is there an easier way to do this?

A: Yes.  You can find these connections through our Inner Circle feature.  The Inner Circle is a group of individuals (identified by the client) determined to be key to the organization.

Simply submit these names to WealthEngine (or add them to your online list yourself) and the individuals for whom you search through FindWealth Online and/or the individuals you screen through the FindWealth Screening Services will be reviewed for peer relationships, connections or linkages to the entities. These Inner Circle matches can be very helpful because they identify a double connection to an organization and an individual.

When you search for information on an individual we also prepare a Circle of Friends report.  This report is a list of individuals who serve on the same board(s) as the screened prospect. Often this report can uncover connections not already known.

Staff Profile: David Manuel, Sales Director

David Manuel

Manuel comes to WealthEngine from Blackbaud Analytics where he served as Managing Director.  In that role, he helped fundraisers implement web-based prospect research tools to identify their best potential donors.  Manuel began his career as a fundraiser at Wabash College where he was director of annual giving.  He was also the director of annual giving at Butler University before becoming the director of development for Krannert, the Purdue University School of Business.  While at Purdue, he helped the university finish a $500 million campaign and launch a $35 million campaign for the School of Business.  After Krannert, Manuel worked at Thomson Financial in the nonprofit screening division, also known as CDA/Investnet and helped to launch Prospect Information Network (PIN).

“WealthEngine is wonderfully positioned in a market sector that I am very proud to work in,” says Manuel.  “My goal is to contribute to WealthEngine's growth and to help our customers get the best value for their organizations – and, ultimately, better serve their causes.”

Manuel lives in Charleston, SC.  He has been married 15 years, and he and his wife have three children – and a dog.  His hobbies are tennis and surfing.

Contact David Manuel at dmanuel@wealthengine.com or by phone at 240/744-1025.

Upcoming Events: Stop by Our Exhibit Booth at These Conferences

WealthEngine will be attending the following conferences in the next few months. We invite you to stop by our booth.

Since June, WealthEngine has given out two free three-month trials of FindWealth Online to individuals who have visited our booths at conferences.  Congratulations to these winners:

• Jennifer B. Dudley, Cancer Research Institute (Fundraising Day NY)
• Lynn Rozental, The Textile Museum (AFP-DC/DMAW Bridge Conference in Washington, DC)