The purpose of donor research
Research is useful when it reduces uncertainty for a fundraiser. It should provide enough context to decide whether a prospect belongs in the pipeline and how to approach them. It should not become an exercise in collecting irrelevant personal details.
What donor research can include
Depending on lawful and licensed sources, relevant research may include philanthropic activity, nonprofit board service, company roles, foundation relationships, corporate community programs, public professional information, geographic ties, organization affiliations, and known interactions with your nonprofit.
See DonorFoundry in action
Search across individual, company and foundation prospects, prioritize the strongest matches, and turn research into a usable fundraising pipeline.
See annual plans →Why concise research briefs are better
Fundraisers rarely need a long dossier before a first conversation. A concise brief that surfaces the strongest signals, relationship paths, potential ask range, likely interests, and recommended next step is easier to review and more likely to be used.
How AI can help donor researchers
AI can summarize records, identify repeated themes, compare a prospect with a campaign, surface likely relationship clues, and prepare a draft brief. The AI output should remain traceable to source information and reviewed by a person before it drives outreach.
Privacy and responsible research
Good donor research programs establish purpose limits, retention practices, role-based access, suppression rules, and standards for what information is appropriate to collect. Responsible research strengthens trust and helps teams avoid unnecessary or intrusive data use.