Major Gifts Prospect Researcher
Synthesize prospect research into major gifts profiles with wealth analysis and strategy
What You Can Do
You can analyze complex prospect research from Form 990s, SEC filings, news articles, wealth rankings, and giving history to create structured prospect profiles that your major gifts team can use immediately. The skill synthesizes fragmented information into a coherent narrative, estimates realistic giving capacity based on wealth indicators, identifies network connections for cultivation entry points, and prioritizes prospects by conversion probability and gift size potential.
Features
Extract giving patterns and financial capacity indicators from foundation and individual disclosures
Quantify likely gift range based on real estate holdings, business ownership, investment portfolios, and historical giving
Match prospect interests, values, and prior giving to your organization's mission and funding priorities
Uncover board connections, business affiliations, and mutual contacts to chart cultivation pathways
Rank multiple prospects by giving capacity, alignment fit, and engagement readiness to optimize pipeline prioritization
Generate tailored engagement approaches, suggested conversation topics, and relationship-building milestones
Produce executive summaries formatted for quick pre-meeting review by major gifts officers
Identify potential objections, geographic constraints, or recent life changes affecting prospect capacity
Example Output
Example 1: Individual Prospect Profile
Prospect: Margaret Chen | Estimated Capacity: $250K–$500K annually
Wealth Indicators: Primary residence (San Francisco, $4.2M); Co-founder of SaaS company (still holds 15% equity); Recent liquidity event (Series C funding, 2023). Assets under management estimated at $12–15M.
Giving History: $50K to Stanford Graduate School of Business (2022); $25K to Bay Area Girls in STEM nonprofit (2021); Board member, Tech for Good Foundation.
Philanthropic Alignment: Strong passion for education equity and women in technology. Previous gifts show 80% focus on STEM/education; 20% civic engagement.
Cultivation Strategy: Warm introduction via Tech for Good Foundation board contact. Lead with scholarship naming opportunity tied to underrepresented women in engineering. Timeline: 6-month cultivation → spring 2025 major ask.
Example 2: Foundation Prospect Summary
Prospect: Chen Family Foundation | Estimated 2024 Capacity: $150K–$300K
990 Analysis: 3-year average grant size: $45K. Geographic focus: California. Grant timeline: Letters of inquiry accepted Jan–Mar only.
Recent Grants: $60K to regional food security (2023); $75K to immigrant services (2023); $40K to workforce development (2022).
Fit Assessment: Foundation prioritizes immigrant communities and economic mobility—direct alignment with our job training program. Likelihood of LOI acceptance: High (78%).
Next Steps: Begin LOI drafting by November. Connect with foundation administrator via Tech for Good board member by October.
What's Included
- SKILL.md instruction file with prompt templates and research synthesis guidelines:
- Prospect Profile Template: Structured framework for wealth analysis, giving capacity estimation, and alignment scoring
- Form 990 Research Checklist: Step-by-step guidance for extracting giving patterns and financial indicators
- Cultivation Strategy Worksheet: Template for mapping network connections, identifying entry points, and planning engagement milestones
- Prospect Comparison Matrix: Tool for ranking multiple prospects by capacity, fit, and priority across your pipeline
Who It's For
- Major Gifts Officers — Research and strategy preparation before prospect meetings and solicitations
- Development Directors — Pipeline analysis and prospect prioritization for resource allocation
- Prospect Research Specialists — Synthesis of fragmented data into actionable intelligence for the solicitation team
- Foundation Relations Managers — Analysis of foundation giving patterns and capacity assessment
- Nonprofit Executive Directors — Quick-reference briefs on high-priority prospects for strategy alignment
Best For
- Analyzing Form 990s and SEC filings to identify giving patterns and capacity
- Synthesizing 5+ research sources into one coherent prospect narrative
- Estimating realistic giving capacity from wealth indicators (real estate, business ownership, investments)
- Mapping prospect networks to identify warm introduction pathways
- Creating one-page briefing documents for pre-solicitation meetings
- Comparing multiple prospects to prioritize cultivation pipeline
- Generating tailored cultivation strategies with specific engagement milestones
You might also like
Systematically analyze tariff schedules, non-tariff barriers, and trade agreement provisions to unlock market access opportunities and manage trade constraints. You'll map regulatory requirements, calculate duty impacts, and identify the most efficient market entry strategies for your product lines. This skill helps you navigate complex global trade rules and competitive landscapes with precision.
You can analyze trade agreements and policies to identify stakeholder impacts, assess economic consequences, and generate evidence-based strategic briefs for negotiators and advocacy teams. The skill breaks down complex trade provisions, compares policies against precedents, and surfaces risks and opportunities in treaty language.
This skill transforms complex geopolitical data into actionable intelligence briefings tailored to your organization's needs. You'll assess political stability for specific countries or regions, identify influential stakeholders and their positions, and receive early warnings on policy shifts that could impact your operations or investments.
This skill generates comprehensive, personalized stewardship plans that increase donor retention by strategically sequencing touchpoints across 12+ months. You input donor data (giving history, interests, capacity) and organizational capacity constraints, and receive detailed engagement calendars with specific activities, timing, channels, and success metrics. The plans account for behavioral psychology and stewardship best practices to upgrade gift frequency and value while maintaining realistic organizational workload.
This skill accelerates annual fund development by generating personalized donor appeals, multi-touch campaign sequences, and giving strategies tailored to individual donor profiles. You input donor data (giving history, interests, capacity), and Claude produces compelling, authentic asks that increase response rates while reducing research time. Scale personalized fundraising across hundreds of donors without manual customization for each one.
Upload foundation materials—RFPs, annual reports, Form 990-PF excerpts, program guidelines, or website content—and receive a structured intelligence brief that surfaces verified funding priorities, geographic and sector restrictions, grant size ranges, application requirements, and red flags. The skill identifies misalignments early (e.g., foundation funds only direct service, not capacity building) and generates a clear go/no-go recommendation so you can prioritize prospect qualification and avoid wasting proposal time on poor-fit opportunities.
Identify high-potential export markets for your products, analyze competitive landscapes, and develop actionable export strategies tailored to your business. This skill evaluates market demand, regulatory requirements, logistics costs, and buyer preferences to help you prioritize markets and create go-to-market plans that minimize risk and accelerate international growth.
You can generate data-driven, personalized planned giving proposals that match donor intent, financial capacity, and tax circumstances to appropriate charitable vehicles like bequests, trusts, and gift annuities. This skill transforms donor conversations from transactional asks into strategic legacy partnerships by combining prospect intelligence, gift structure analysis, and compelling stewardship narratives tailored to each donor's unique situation and values.