This article was first published as “Marianne’s Mining Minute” in the APRA Upstate New York chapter’s newsletter, 2012.
David Lawson once told me that someone giving $40,000 or more over a lifetime to political causes is more likely than not to be a wealthy person. I’ve used that benchmark in my prospecting work. Just this week, I got to orient a new gift officer who has come from political fund-raising, and he gave me more tips, which I’m passing on to you:
- Prospects who give to both Democratic and Republican candidates in one election tend to be business owners who are playing both sides for the sake of their business. It’s part of the cost of doing business.
- Senatorial campaigns, because they are statewide, tend to focus on fund-raising only with the wealthier segments of the population, and they do their homework. So, a prospect who has given to a senatorial campaign (especially the senior senator) is worth looking at.
- Also, giving to any one of these organizations is a clue that the donor was prospected as wealthy by the political fundraising arm:
- The Democratic National Committee
- The Republican National Committee
- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
- The National Republican Campaign Committee
- Any campaign for an incumbent president
- Finally, a single gift of $5,000 to any candidate is a big flag. The way my gift officer explained it, a gift of $5,000 out of pocket change that has no financial value to the donor is an indication of the size of the donor’s pocket. Political giving is not deductible and it is not a purchase, so a gift of this size has magnitude.
I hope these ideas help you squeeze the sponge dry on your screening products or subscriptions to wealth services.