Looking to expand your reach? We’ve got you covered!
Using the Prospect tool, you can build and pull a list of brand-new, promising leads. While some prospects might be strangers to you, they could have qualities that make them excellent leads. However, there are a lot of attributes you can choose from when building your list – over 250! If you want to make the most out of them, the best practices listed below will be invaluable.
Step 1: Check your credits
Every time you build a Prospect list, you should check your credits.
The Reports area of the Platform will show the number of credits you have purchased and the credits your team has used so far – in other words, the number of profiles you can still pull. You can pull as many lists as you like, provided you have enough credits left to cover them.
- Note: for more information on credits, see Usage Limits Guide.
Step 2: Take advantage of the Suppression
To avoid wasting your credits, you can suppress lists of people you already know, as well as any prospect lists you have purchased in the past. This will prevent you from buying those lists again.
Is Wealth Engine Analyze part of your subscription? If so, you can build a model based on a list of your top donors and then apply it to the Prospect tool to find people who are similar. Combine this with your choice of additional attributes!
- Note: to learn more, see Modeling resources.
Step 4: Check “Return one record per household.”
Wealth Engine scores profiles on a household basis, so not checking this box means you may request the same information multiple times.
Step 5: Consider contact information
Make sure that you are only requesting profiles that have the contact information you want to use. For example, if you are planning to mail, only screen profiles that have a residential address. Also, consider reliability (e.g., people change emails more frequently, calls are often screened, etc.).
Step 6: Use key scores to screen the right contacts.
Use the Propensity to Give score, found under the Giving category. The lower the digit the better! 
- Note: To learn more, check out our comprehensive P2G Guide
Step 7: Scan options under Attribute List.
Some attributes that are uniquely valuable to you may be buried in various categories, thus difficult to find. If you navigate to the Attributes List tab at the top of the page, you can easily see all your attribute options.
For example, an organization working to promote pool safety for children might build a list of people who:
- Look like major gift givers
- Have a property with a pool
- Have a child under the age of ten
Step 8: Play!
Before you request a list, we recommend you spend some time using the tool.
- Note: we’ve made it difficult to accidentally buy a list. For specifics, see Prospect Point of No Return Guide.
- Every organization is different. Think about who your very best donors are – what qualities they share, and what sets them apart from other people.
- Practice combining different qualities; experiment with creating different lists just to see what is possible.
- Take advantage of the ‘Preview’ button to view a basic statistical breakdown of your list. You can use this information to go back, refine your query, and make improvements.