It’s March! Apra-IL is celebrating Research Pride Month, Women’s History Month, and March Madness. We hope that you join us in the festivities as we test how well everyone addresses prospect research - specific scenarios. An online poll posted on Twitter and LinkedIn pose the questions, and here are the results and a review of the answers. We hope that you can participate, and thank you for engaging with us on all forums, as we learn from each other. 

For the third and final question of this series, the correct answer is “It depends” and those who chose “True” and “False” are also correct.

The question is asking whether discovery is the MOST important stage for research, and it is not. There is no fundraising stage that is more important than the other, in which research is most required. During discovery, if you discovered a prospect and then conducted capacity research, this would be proactive research. Another fair perspective is that research is most important in the cultivation stage because the gift officer is getting to know the prospect and needs to know the appropriate ask range for solicitation.

Research is important in all of the fundraising stages because it is meant to advice a gift officer as the prospect journeys through the stages and becomes a donor.

Thank you for participating and share your thoughts and experiences with us on this question and the others!