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
Leverage structured Claude workflows to systematically analyze complex trade agreements, identify policy implications, and quantify economic impacts of tariffs. You'll produce professional policy briefs with evidence-based recommendations, comparative analysis across trade scenarios, and detailed stakeholder impact assessments—saving weeks of manual research and policy synthesis.
Rapidly extract and analyze the terms, tariffs, and economic implications of trade agreements. You can model how policy changes affect trade flows, employment, and GDP across sectors. Claude generates executive-level briefing materials, risk assessments, and strategic options for negotiators—complete with data-backed comparative analysis and compliance frameworks.
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.
You craft strategically-aligned messages that resonate across diverse cultural contexts and diplomatic audiences. Claude analyzes your policy objectives, target audience characteristics, and cultural sensitivities to generate messaging that advances your diplomatic goals while respecting local values and protocol. Each message is calibrated for tone, terminology, and framing to maximize receptivity and minimize unintended offense.
You can systematically research and catalog grant opportunities, analyze funder priorities and funding trends, benchmark your nonprofit against competitors pursuing the same grants, and build alignment scorecards that identify your strongest funding prospects. This skill transforms reactive grant hunting into strategic, data-driven funder targeting that reduces proposal time and increases success rates.
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.
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.
You can conduct thorough prospect research on foundations and corporations, analyze their giving patterns and strategic priorities, and qualify whether they align with your nonprofit's mission. Claude generates customized funding strategies including realistic ask ranges, relationship development timelines, and tailored approach recommendations—eliminating guesswork from your prospect pipeline and helping you prioritize which funders deserve significant relationship investment.