In Part I of this two-part series, we explored how prospect research through wealth screening can give valuable insight into your museum’s constituent base. Special initiatives such as establishing a collection fund, renovating a museum gallery, building an addition or launching an endowment campaign are exciting opportunities that can only be achieved with careful planning and thoughtful preparation. This article will share several key strategies that are easy to implement that can take your contributed revenue to a new level.  While the following strategies will likely be implemented by the development staff, trustees are key to effective cultivation programs and  should play an important role to maximize donor cultivation potential.

Developing Customized Cultivation Plans
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Ultimately, not all donors are equal. Some have more capacity than others and are your major donor prospects. Others may love your museum and its work but do not have the ability to give large gifts. Some constituents in your database know your museum well while others may have a cursory knowledge through attendance at occasional events.
 
The matrix below is a simple yet useful way to identify current donors who have the potential to become major donors. This exercise also is an effective way to share cultivation strategies and information with development staff, development committee members, board members, and other stakeholders who are in a position to assist.

​First, determine where individuals/families within your donor pool are within the matrix using donor data and anecdotal information regarding closeness to the museum.
 
Once this data is collected, it can be interpreted using the model below. In Figure 2, sample existing donors have been plotted, showing the typical cluster at the entry point of the giving group, the Low Current Gift/Low Affinity quadrant. Then, apply formal or informal wealth screening information to determine where donors could be – ideally, in a place where they are ready to make a major gift after increased knowledge of and affinity with your museum . The goal is to use this information to strategically move prospects to the High Gift/High Affinity quadrant through increased cultivation.
 
It is also important to recognize that some donors will stay where they are – either in the High Gift/Low Affinity quadrant because they contribute generously but your organization is not their top priority or in the Low Gift/Low Affinity quadrant because they have no further capacity.

The outcome of this exercise will show you who your top cluster of potential major donors are and give you an idea of what needs to happen to move them from where they are today to a place where they are ready to make a major gift. Take the time to understand who each of these donors is and what they like. Do they prefer Old Master paintings or Andy Warhol? Are they more interested in your museum’s Prehistoric artifacts or its planetarium? Make a concerted effort to get to know them through visiting at donor events, exhibition openings, inviting them to lunch, and so on. Do not ask for money during these interactions but rather make it all about understanding what they like about the museum and help them become more emotionally invested and involved.
 
Role of Board Committees
 
Most museums have a Development Committee as part of their board structure. And many organizations will state that, in some manner, every board member needs to participate in fundraising. This can be done in a variety of ways that can be relatively painless, even for that board member who absolutely will not ask anyone for money.
 
Using the Upgrade/Affinity chart above as an example, we can see that many current donors have the capacity to make larger investments and can be encouraged to do so by drawing them in closer to the organization. This is where board members come in. Development staff can ask their board members who in this prospect pool they know, and then work with individual board members on specific cultivation initiatives. Examples of how board members can assist include hosting small gatherings in their home to enable guests to meet a visiting artist or have a deeper conversation with a curator, or inviting a prospect to be their guest at an exhibit opening with dinner afterward. Peer to peer relationships are key to the solicitation of increased gifts, and board members can play a very important role in bringing the prospective donor closer to the organization and “teeing up” the gift request, even if they choose not to make the ask themselves.
 
The role of the Nominating Committee is another important element of successful fundraising strategies. Whenever ACG conducts an assessment of development operations or a campaign feasibility study, the desire for more board members with both capacity and influence is often articulated. Smart museums will think about this long before a major fundraising initiative is launched. The board, with influence from the development staff, is wise to think about possible board leadership that could enhance its fundraising reach: corporate leaders, potential major donors, and community leaders with spheres of influence are a few examples.
 
Again, valuable information can be gleaned from the wealth screening process. Identifying current patrons who have an affinity for the organization and a greater capacity than previously known are great candidates for board membership, as they already know your organization well and can be inspirational ambassadors.
 
It is important to keep in mind that the nominating process should be a thoughtful and ongoing endeavor. Taking a longer view of the future needs of the museum, particularly in the area of fundraising, will allow time for cultivation, which should increase the probability that a desirable board candidate will be ready to say yes to your invitation. It also allows for a “no, I cannot serve now” to have time to develop into a “yes, I am honored to join” at a later date – hopefully, just when you need them for your next big thing.
 
By using the tools found in this two-part series, your museum will be well on its way to completing a successful campaign.

Vice President Elisabeth B. Galley has more than 30 years of experience as a fundraising and development professional for nonprofit arts and culture organizations. First joining ACG in 1998 as a Senior Consultant, Ms. Galley worked with Tulsa Opera, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Mozart Classical Orchestra, REPRISE! Broadway’s Best, and the Carmel Bach Festival as Interim Development Director. She rejoined the firm in 2015 to open its Dallas office and expand the Revenue Enhancement practice area. Prior to joining ACG, Ms. Galley served as Chief Development Officer at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, spearheading its $200 million campaign efforts. During her five-year tenure, Ms. Galley expanded the museum’s operating reserves by $26 million and doubled its contributed revenue to $4 million annually. For seven years, she served as Vice President of Development at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, working on the $335 million campaign to build the multi-venue complex. Ms. Galley was also Director of Development for the Colorado Springs Symphony where she was responsible for all components of the annual contributed income, including individual and corporate gifts, foundation and government grants, and special events. Ms. Galley holds a master of business administration with an emphasis in marketing and nonprofit administration from the University of Delaware. ​

Contact ACG for more information on how we can implement
wealth screening services at your organization.
(888) 234.4236
[email protected]
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Special initiatives such as establishing a collection fund, renovating a museum gallery, building an addition or launching an endowment campaign are exciting opportunities that can only be achieved with careful planning and thoughtful preparation. However, much can be done well in advance of a campaign launch – even before you know what that next big thing will be. In this two-part series, we explore practical strategies your museum can implement now to position the development team, executive leadership, and board for maximum future fundraising success:

• Understand the value of wealth screening to identify potential major donors,
• Develop customized cultivation plans for targeted prospects, and
• Understand the role of the board committees in campaign preparedness.

 
The Value of Wealth Screening
 
Many nonprofit organizations utilize wealth screening as an integral part of their donor prospect research.  As trustees, you may have had members of the development team or executive leadership present proposals to the board for approval of expenditures to conduct this type of research.  Here’s what you need to know in order to make an informed decision regarding investing in wealth screening services.
 
Ideal donors are those who have both an affinity for the museum and the financial capacity to make a significant gift. But how do you get beyond the usual suspects – those families that are the giving pillars of your community? One solution is to look more deeply into your museum’s database. Museums have members. These individuals are valued consumers and have displayed interest by attending exhibits and fundraisers and continuing to purchase  memberships year after year. They are primed and ready to be invited to support your museum in a deeper way. But how do you know who, when, and for how much to ask?
 
Decades ago, before internet research was part of everyday life, development professionals would gather the members of their development committee and review lists of potential donors by gathering information about friends of committee members. While parts of this practice are still valuable, research has come a long way. Today there are several companies that offer wealth screening services for nonprofits, including Donorscape, Wealth Engine, Target Analytics, and iWave. Although the specific information delivered may vary from company to company, the process is essentially the same. 
 
Services provided by these companies help museums electronically screen a large quantity of selected donor records, including lecture subscribers, members, gala ticket purchasers, or other connected individuals, against 14 of the most respected public information databases. When data is matched, the resulting information may report on the prospective donor’s financial position, community connections, board experience, property ownership, age, public and private company ownership and political contributions, among other data points. It also rates the prospect’s propensity to give and affinity for your museum to achieve a balance of connection, commitment, and capacity. This information can be used to determine potential sources of new or increased contributed income from individuals in the form of annual, capital, endowment, and planned gifts.
 
The returned information rates donors from top prospects who have a strong affinity for your museum and significant capacity to give down to those prospects who may love your work but cannot make a major gift. Development teams can use this information to:

• Determine the overall funding capability of your museum’s database.
• Identify a hierarchy of potential major donor prospects to cultivate for higher level gifts.
• Create robust portfolios for each development professional based on the donor prospect hierarchy information, as well as targeted portfolios for the Executive Director/CEO and selected board leadership.
• Develop personalized cultivation strategies and a moves management pipeline to acquire new major donors.
• Understand those donors who will remain core annual fund contributors but do not have the capacity for future major gifts and design appropriate relationship maintenance programs for that group.

 
Using wealth screening services, your development team will be able to segment the donor database to understand where to invest fundraising resources to yield the best results, regardless of the size of the museum’s development department. The costs for this service have become much more affordable in recent years and the return on investment is tremendous. By acquiring just one new major gift, this investment will pay for itself.
 
The information gleaned from wealth screening also helps to shape customized donor cultivation efforts and can inform decisions regarding the identification of ideal members to consider adding to your governing board. These concepts will be explored in Part II of this series next month.

Vice President Elisabeth B. Galley has more than 30 years of experience as a fundraising and development professional for nonprofit arts and culture organizations. First joining ACG in 1998 as a Senior Consultant, Ms. Galley worked with Tulsa Opera, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Mozart Classical Orchestra, REPRISE! Broadway’s Best, and the Carmel Bach Festival as Interim Development Director. She rejoined the firm in 2015 to open its Dallas office and expand the Revenue Enhancement practice area. Prior to joining ACG, Ms. Galley served as Chief Development Officer at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, spearheading its $200 million campaign efforts. During her five-year tenure, Ms. Galley expanded the museum’s operating reserves by $26 million and doubled its contributed revenue to $4 million annually. For seven years, she served as Vice President of Development at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, working on the $335 million campaign to build the multi-venue complex. Ms. Galley was also Director of Development for the Colorado Springs Symphony where she was responsible for all components of the annual contributed income, including individual and corporate gifts, foundation and government grants, and special events. Ms. Galley holds a master of business administration with an emphasis in marketing and nonprofit administration from the University of Delaware.