Client News :  ALS Chapter Launches Major and Planned Gift Initiatives

Gretchen Lightfoot

“WealthEngine has allowed us to get out of our passive modes of fundraising and be more strategic,” says Gretchen G. Lightfoot, Director of Development for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the ALS Association. 

“We used to rely on special events and grant-writing, and now we are launching a major gift effort as well as a planned giving program.” 

The Los Angeles Chapter of The ALS Association is a relatively young organization, started in 1988. Lightfoot came to the chapter four years ago as their first director of development. She explains, “Previously, I had been doing development for a private school, so we knew all the parents and families. ALS serves a much larger community, and WealthEngine has really helped us identify our prospects and develop strategies to reach them.”

Lightfoot shares three particular ways that she has used WealthEngine:

• The Los Angeles ALS Chapter serves 450 patients.

  Connections, to find out who is connected to whom. Then, Lightfoot can ask questions of a particular constituent, such as, ‘Does your company have a workplace giving program, or would you be able to introduce us to so-and-so?’ Lightfoot notes, “ALS is a different type of organization in that we respond to needs. People come to ALS by necessity, not by choice.  When they are in the middle of dealing with ALS, they may not think about our organization’s fundraising needs. WealthEngine gives me a bridge to people, and then I make it work.” 

• Initial efforts at planned giving solicitations. Last year, Lightfoot had a WealthEngine age overlay done. Then, in August, they sent out a letter to planned-giving prospects, soliciting charitable IRA rollover gifts. This year, they sent out a similar letter in late October. The timing this year was crucial as there has been interest--one person has already made their largest gift ever to the chapter. Lightfoot adds, “Using WealthEngine tools, we will be able to continue and expand our planned giving efforts.”

• Dialog NewsRoom, which allows us to track corporations and ALS patients. Lightfoot explains that the chapter currently serves approximately 450 patients in a seven-county area, but there are nearly 1100 patients in the chapter’s service area. She says, “With WealthEngine’s Dialog NewsRoom option, we can find patients in the area who have Lou Gehrig’s Disease and make contact with them. It also gives me immediate access to obituaries, so I can contact families to set up a memorial funds. Finally, it allows us to track local corporate activity and look for ways to enhance both our corporate relationships and our partnerships with other local vendors, service providers, and nonprofit organizations.”

“WealthEngine has been an incredible investment so far for me and my organization, and I hope we never end our relationship with WealthEngine,” concludes Lightfoot.

Learning Opportunities:  Enhanced Training Sessions – Free for WealthEngine Clients

WealthEngine offers numerous opportunities to make your research easier and more effective. Our complimentary training courses for clients is one great resource we offer.

Our training is product-based (e.g., Access Manager, FindWealth, Pinpoint), with beginning and advanced levels for each product.  All trainings are delivered via a webinar that includes a trainer and a group of attendees viewing the product online and hearing the audio portion over the phone.

Now is a great time to take (or re-take) a training session. Courses have been revamped and lengthened to include all new product release information and to comprehensively cover product functionality. Seasoned WealthEngine users should consider signing up for the Access Manager 200 Level session which goes deeper into advanced features.

Visit www.wealthengine.com/pub/trainingSchedule.jsp for a complete schedule of our free client trainings.  We will also arrange individual client training sessions for an additional fee; please contact training@wealthengine.com for more information.

What's an Inner Circle? Why doesn't a ZoomInfo record appear in my FindWealth Online query? How do I access, download and unzip a completed file?

Before you pick up the phone or compose an email, try our new Knowledgebase! Simply log in to your FindWealth Online account, click Help, and look for the Knowledgebase link. This handy, searchable resource gives you access to numerous cases with answers already intact. Search with keywords or within topic categories.

Tips for finding solutions in the WealthEngine Knowledgebase:

• Enter just a few key words related to your question or problem
• Add key words to refine your search as necessary
• Do not use punctuation
• Search is not case sensitive
• Avoid non-descriptive filler words as in "how' "the" "what" etc.

If you do not find a solution to your query the first time, reduce the number of key words you enter and try searching again. We are continually adding solutions to our Knowledgebase, so please stop by often!

As always, our Client Service team is available to assist you. They can be reached at (301) 215-5980, ext. 3 or via email at info@wealthengine.com. Additionally, you can log a case online with the team by filling out the form located at http://www.wealthengine.com/pub/caseEntry.jsp

	It's nearly January 1 and time for our New Year's Resolutions! Perhaps you would like to add one of these to your list for 2008?
		Use WealthEngine 20 times a day—equal to the number of pounds that I hope to lose.
		Clean out my History folder in FindWealth Online.
		Draw a name out of my Beyond list to see who wants to have the new wing of my house affectionately named after them.
		Don't name my soon-to-be born twins Lex & Nex.
		Notify my bragging neighbor that I looked him up on FindWealth Online and found NADA!
		Respond to any and all WealthEngine 2008 survey emails so that I too can win a $100 American Express gift card.
		Become a WealthEngine Superstar by attending one of the new & improved training sessions.
		Pretend that Oprah's Circle of Friends is mine, too.
		Share a success story with WealthEngine in a shameless attempt to get in their newsletter.
		Add another product (Pinpoint, a screening, WebExpress) on to my WealthEngine contract...because it feels so right!
	Ha Ha! Happy New Year from your friends at WealthEngine!

New at WealthEngine: Product Updates for 2008

With the coming of a new year, the WealthEngine team has been hard at work on some enhancements to make your work easier. Look for these updates in early 2008:

Name Change:  P2G Replaces the DM Score

The former DM (Data Mining) Score has been renamed to the P2G (Propensity to Give) Score. This new name reflects the value of the score more accurately, for both researchers and development professionals.

NOTE:  The numeric rating system (i.e., 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, etc….) and the values associated with each rating remain the same. Only the name of the score has been changed!

FindWealth Online Enhancement:  Custom Export File For Uploading to Raiser’s Edge

Upon request from our Raiser’s Edge clients, the WealthEngine team is customizing an export file so that FindWealth Online searches can be exported from your History page in a format suitable for uploading back into the Prospect or Attributes tab of Raiser’s Edge.

Look for this great new feature after January 1!

Social Security Administration Death Index Match Export File

Using either FindWealth Online or FindWealth Screening results, you will have the ability in early 2008 to export a Social Security Death Index (SSDI) match file. This report will contain all records that matched to the SSA Death file with a QOM of 4 or above.

This report will be useful in allowing you to view a master list of records which are matched to your data source and then to determine if you’d like to update or purge the records from your donor management database.

Fields to be included in the SSA Death Index Match Export file will be:

• Constituent ID
• Client-supplied primary and spouse name
• Address
• Birth date
• Death date
• QOM
• Matching name within household
• QOM string
• Verified code

Ability to Create Reports as PDFs

With a simple click of the mouse, users will soon be able to export the vast wealth of data compiled through a FindWealth Online search into an easy-to-use PDF file. 

Watch for these enhancements early in 2008!

Client Questions and Answers:

Q: How do I export search results from the History section of my FindWealth
Online account?

A: Many users find it useful to export their search results to use in another program (such as Excel).

In order to export your search results from the History section, follow these steps:

1. Select the History link in your FindWealth Online account.

2. Select the records you wish to export using the appropriate folder, sorting, and filtering options.

3. Click the Search button.

4. Click the Export Options link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

5. Select the layout, format, and records you wish to export.

6. Select the Download Export File link on the pop-up screen.

7. Select either Open or Save from the second pop-up screen.

The details of the searches cannot be exported using this method. However, they can be copied and pasted from the individual results screens into another document or saved as an HTML file.

Q: What filings are available in the Wealth ID database?

A: Data from the following Securities & Exchange Commission forms are available:

Form 3: Initial Statement of Ownership
An insider files this form only once, for each company with which the insider is affiliated. It is usually filed within ten (10) days of the company going public, and/or within 10 days of an insider being appointed an executive officer or director, even if the insider may not have acquired security holdings at that time. Additionally, Form 3 should be filed upon anyone attaining a 10% or more holding of the outstanding shares of a security under the Securities Act of 1934.  (For example, a 5% or more owner, upon attaining the 10% level of ownership, would be required to file a Form 3 and then a Form 4 to reflect any changes in ownership.)

Form 4: Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership
Form 4 is required any time there is an open market purchase or sale or an exercise of options. It must be filed by the 2nd day following the transaction and contains the details of all non-exempt transactions that exceed $10,000, during that month. Keep in mind, that exempt transactions
such as gifts of stock, may be filed on Form 4 or the annual Form 5. Information on this filing includes the name of the insider, title, type of transaction, date of the transaction, amount of stock acquired or disposed, price, holdings after the transaction, and the nature of ownership. On Form 4 and Form 5 (see below), an insider indicates when he has retired from the company by checking the 'retired' box on the filing. Once an insider retires, he is only required to report his transactions for the next six months.

Form 5: Annual Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership
This form is required to be filed annually for those insiders who have had exempt transactions and had not reported them previously on a Form 4. It must be filed within 45 days after the close of the issuer's fiscal year to disclose transactions exempt from prior reporting, as well as transactions
that should have been reported previously, but were not. Form 5 is not necessary if there have not been any transactions to report. As mentioned above, an insider indicates on Form 4 and Form 5 when he has retired from the company by checking the 'retired' box on the filing. He is only required to report stock transactions for the six months following his retirement.

Form 144: Intention to Sell Restricted Securities
Form 144 must be filed as notice of the proposed sale of restricted securities. Restricted securities are those that are acquired directly or indirectly from an issuer or an affiliate in a transaction (or chain of transactions) not involving a public offering.  An insider may file a Form 144 and not actually complete the sale. If the sale was completed, the insider should have filed Form 4, indicating the transaction was completed. Form 144 contains additional information that may be of value, including the name of the brokerage firm, insider's address, phone number and the dollar amount of transaction. The amount of stock an insider may sell is "restricted" by a number of factors such as, shares outstanding, trading volumes, etc.

Form 144 must be filed prior to or on the approximate date of sale. When searching for Form 144s keep the following considerations in mind:

1. The filing of Form 144 is not required in any case where the amount of stock to be sold during any three (3) month period does not exceed 500 shares and the aggregate sale value does not exceed $10,000.

2. If the seller does not sell all the stock covered by the form within 90 days after the filing, the filing process must be repeated before the commencement of further sales, except in cases where the passage of time has extended the seller's holding period.

The Wealth ID database does not include information from proxy statements.

Staff Profile: Kimberly Mullins, Vice President of Marketing

Kimberly Mullins

Kimberly Mullins is WealthEngine's Vice President of Marketing and has been with the company for four years. She says, "Working at WealthEngine is like working in a candy store – pure indulgence. All of our marketing is done in-house so we're able to have fun, be really creative and focus on our client and partner needs. We recently hired additional marketing staff to improve our website, develop interactive content and spice up our print publications. We hope that you find the end result sweet!"

Kimberly oversees all of WealthEngine's marketing activities including the website, print and electronic advertising, client E-newsletter, conferences and client events.

She comes to WealthEngine with a strong background in the nonprofit sector. Past positions include Director of Strategic Marketing for Gifts-in-Kind International and Executive Director of the Alexandria Volunteer Bureau. Her hobby is teaching, and she currently teaches a course at Georgetown University on nonprofit leadership through The Fund for American Studies. She also has done numerous lectures on fundraising and volunteer management.

Kimberly, her husband, and her two children live in Alexandria, VA. She sits on the board of Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) of Northern Virginia and loves throwing parties – although she is sad now that they have less Martha-Stewart appeal since she has to offer moon bounces and pinatas for her kids' toddler friends.

Contact Kimberly Mullins at kmullins@wealthengine.com or by phone at (240) 722-4383.

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 and say hello!