Storytime and Lessons: A prospect with a limited digital footprint

Dear Diary,

I want to tell you a story of a time I struggled to compile research on a man with a very limited digital footprint. It was several years ago, and the research was on an older White man in his late 80s whose presence on the internet was very little.

The definite information that I had was his first and last name, birth date, phone number and alma mater. Aside from being great information to start with and to plug into several research tools, the results fell short once there was little to no employment history that could help me analyze wealth or assets. It was also difficult to narrow down philanthropic giving based on the commonality of his name.

I was able to find old articles that stated that he was part of an ownership group for a larger company acquisition, but that was it. I could not find any more information on this man. I needed to know, how big was his stake in the company? Where had he worked? Was he truly retired or active on any boards (public/private)? Did he have a family? Where did he currently live? His home was also hard to narrow down because a research tool led me to conclude that he was associated with an apartment, so he was possibly renting.

As you can see the wealth and philanthropic indicators that I needed were missing, so it was hard for me to place an estimated capacity range on him. Knowing that he was part of the ownership group was great and indicated a leadership role, but it could not be a defining take on the prospect’s capacity to give.

My research was inconclusive.

 The lessons that I learned–

1. Sometimes, going down a research rabbit hole to find information is fun, and it can be a waste of time. The chase is not always worth it.

2. Welcome the fact that research findings can bring about additional questions.

3. I could be speculative until the cows come home, but who is that truly going to help?

4. There comes a time when all you can do is present your findings to the frontline fundraiser so they can engage the prospect, and help you piece together the puzzle.

This story had somewhat of a happy ending because the fundraiser did reach out to this prospect, and he did want to engage with the organization. But that is also where the story ends, he was limited in giving at the time, but fruitful in answering the questions that had previously run through my mind.

Until next time, April 15th!