August 2009 - Posts
ResearchPoint v1.5 was a very exciting release which introduced new features, implemented client suggestions, and resolved outstanding issues. Remember, ResearchPoint is the system or "house" for your data, and WealthPoint is the service that allows you to screen prospects and donors for wealth. Below, we've shared information surrounding updates to our WealthPoint data sources (WealthPoint is a subscription service),
Real Estate Data Enhancements
We rolled out a new source of real estate data through Fidelity Information Services (FIS) which consolidated stand-alons mortgage, deed, and assessment information into a single property line. Read more about the additional benefits of this new partnership.
Philanthropic and Affluence Enhancements
We also reintroduced our DonorBank (philanthropic) and Larkspur (affluence) data sources with many benefits to users and researchers:
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18 additional Larkspur fields (including gender, age range, marital status, political affiliation, and additional contact info)
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New Larkspur match codes (which allow for broader matching, including fields like 'phone number'
By a show of hands, who really liked the duplicate real estate results returned from LexisNexis in a WealthPoint search? No one - good! We didn't like it too much either, and thus decided to take matters into our own hands. So, we left LexNex behind and have partnered with Fidelity Information Services (FIS), a decision that greatly benefits our customers. Users running WealthPoint searches in The Researcher's Edge, The Raiser's Edge, www.wealthpoint.com, and ResearchPoint can receive new and updated real estate details from this data source.
A benefit to using Fidelity in our software was that it enabled "address only" searching that was not available before. But, this proved to be a feature that caused more frustration than excitement. We found that the "address only" results greatly over-inflated a prospects assets, so we've since removed this feature from TRE, RE, and WealthPoint.com.
We have also addressed many of the time-out issues our customers have experienced when running single and group WealthPoint searches. We understand that you need to retrieve the details for your prospect in a timely fashion, and these changes should greatly improve any search failures experienced in the past.
Many of the changes we make are prompted by customer feedback and concerns, and we'll continue to keep you engaged as we plan and develop additional enhancements.
On more than one occasion, you've probably asked yourself (or a customer support analyst) "...what is the difference between The Researcher's Edge and ProspectPoint? What about ResearchPoint and WealthPoint? Well, what services does my organization have? I'm confused..." We hear you and want to make your experience with Target Analytics much less confusing. Over the past few years, we've undergone some changes here at Blackbaud. From Blackbaud Analytics to Target Analytics, a Blackbaud Company, we've created new partnerships through acquisitions and mergers, and our product menu has changed to meet the needs of our nonprofit customers. Because we do offer different products and services, depending on your organizational goals and needs, we want to make sure you're clear on the products you're currently using.
ProspectPoint (custom predictive modeling): How do you identify your best prospects out of a pool of thousands? It's virtually impossible without employing a strategy that melds data from your current and historical donor database with external sources, giving you the confidence to make better use of your resources and spend your time with the right prospects. ProspectPoint scores on each constituent record* will help you determine who is likely to be an annual fund upgrade, which donors have major gift potential, and who should be viewed in more detail with a full wealth asset screening. Our Fundraising Package: Major Giving Likelihood, Annual Giving Likelihood, and Planned Giving Likelihood are all scores from 1-1000, while the Target Gift Range is 1-12. These scores can be returned into RE, TRE, RP, or any other fundraising systems.
So, to recap, ProspectPoint is a custom modeling score (MGL, AGL, PGL, TGR) for each donor or prospect that helps you easily strategize and segment to find your top prospects, and build development strategies. Check back for other posts in the series, including WealthPoint, custom modeling, and ResearchPoint.
*Project deliverables vary per organization
Over the last several months, we've been talking about our new Knowledgebase in our newsletters and on the Web Sitings blog. The new Knowledgebase has arrived! Read more about our new Knowledgebase and leave feedback about it on our Knowledgebase forum.
Exporting from The Researcher's Edge can be a very simple task.
- Highlight the Prospect Group you want to export
- Select the Data tab
- Choose the Export button
- Select the fields you want to export
What could be easier than that?? Everything in the world is perfect...until you notice that the one field your boss wanted you to export isn't on the list. *gasp* The horror!!
Don't throw your computer against the wall quite yet though because there is another way to export out of Researcher's Edge. This option does have two more steps in the process but almost every field that is available on a Prospect Record is available to export with this option! Here is what you will need to do:
- Highlight the Prospect Group you want to export
- Click on the Properties tab of the group
- Click on the Open icon
- Go to the Output tab
- Start pulling over every field you could ever want to export out of Researcher's Edge!!
- Go to File > Export
Happy Prospecting!
Several times a month, we offer free, hour-long web seminars on our website. The seminars usually focus on Blackbaud products or best practices for nonprofits.To register, select Web Seminars from the Events menu on our website, find a seminar you want to attend, and click Register Now. Once you submit the enrollment form, you’ll receive an email with instructions for viewing the online presentation, as well as the telephone access number. If you’d like to enroll for additional seminars, click Continue after you fill out the enrollment form.
Ever had difficulty getting an appointment with a prospect or feel like you missed your window of opportunity? If so, you’re not alone. The good news is that Blackbaud has partnered with fundraising veteran Armando Zumaya to offer some great educational opportunities that include tips on staying ahead of these issues. Join Armando as he shares how 22 years of experience in various roles has given him a unique perspective on development offices, building a dynamic fundraiser/researcher team, prospecting, and the value of research. Here are more detail on the upcoming sessions:
Reaching the Donors You Need Now: Struggling in this Economy? Find New Donors to Boost your Bottom Line - In this session, we’ll explore techniques for fundraisers of all levels to learn how to cold call prospects directly from screening results. August 19 at 2:00 p.m. ET » Register
Barriers to Prospecting: Creating a Prospecting Culture at any Organization - This presentation is recommended for development leaders to help you understand the differences and communication issues that can create a dysfunctional gulf between field fundraisers and prospect researchers. September 16 at 2:00 p.m. ET » Register