Apra is excited to bring you Apra Fundamentals: Prospect Research! Join us for online networking opportunities and learning exercises combined with additional learning in the weeks leading up to the event. You will not only have access to the online community of attendees and faculty experts, but also the opportunity to attend a virtual program taking place this Winter 2025: February 24, 26, and 28.  
 
The program focuses on the four key areas of prospect development: Campaigns, Prospect Research, Prospect Management, and Data Science. It also explores fundraising terms and technologies as well as techniques and resources for finding and analyzing biographical, background, and financial information; introduces participants to corporate and foundation research, and delves into how available data can be used to formulate gift capacities and inform fundraising operations. In addition, the program covers guiding concepts related to prospect research, such as navigating ethical considerations in conducting research, best practices for managing and reporting prospect data and creating quality research products.

All times are in the Central Time Zone. 

Monday, February 24, 2025

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Friday, February 28, 2025

How should you prioritize and segment your wealth data? What are the best practices for data analysis? And how can you save time with automation and CRM imports? When you properly organize and analyze your constituent wealth data, you can empower your team to make data-driven decisions and increase the efficiency of your development efforts. Proper data segmentation allows you to reduce manual calculation and data entry, uncover hidden prospect and donor insights, and ensure your team is allocating resources to the highest-value prospects and donors. Join us for an interactive, step-by-step overview of how to prioritize and segment your wealth data like a pro.*

In this webinar we will explore: 
- How to make data-driven decisions 
- New ideas for segmenting donors and prospects 
- How to use wealth data alongside your CRM 
- How to make your segmentation process more efficient

*Full participation is applicable for 1.0 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification. 

Data-driven strategies are essential for identifying the best legacy prospects. One key takeaway is the importance of avoiding assumptions about donor behavior based on surface-level data, such as age or income. Instead, fundraisers should use deeper insights—like donor engagement history, past giving patterns, and survey data on donor motivations—to create tailored approaches.

By integrating analytics tools to segment donors and track trends over time, nonprofits can pinpoint those most likely to leave a legacy gift and build stronger, trust-based relationships that resonate long-term. This session will explore data points that can help you uncover those legacy gems.*

*Full participation is applicable for 1.0 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification. 

Are you using gift capacity in your wealth screening? Does it rely too much on real estate? Are you finding issues with assigning the right assets to the right individual? Knowing which constituents have the most potential is essential for nonprofits to focus their fundraising efforts. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to get a full understanding of an individual’s wealth profile, especially in today's volatile economic climate. In this webinar we will explore: - Historical approaches to data and why some screenings tend to be inaccurate - The "four Vs" of data and why it is challenging to maintain accuracy - Examples of data sources that are tough to analyze or incorporate in screenings - Newer approaches to Wealth Screening and how to supercharge your fundraising efforts - Bonus: Discover the benefits of incorporating career intelligence into your fundraising strategy, as well as leveraging Windfall’s Wealth Analytics Report to better identify, understand, and engage your donors.*

*Full participation is applicable for 1.0 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification. 

Want to win more funding for your nonprofit? The first step to success is being able to find good fit funders. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to get “in” with institutional funders and double the number of funding opportunities in your pipeline.

By the end of this webinar, you will:

• Gain insights into funder perspectives and how to align proposals with funder priorities to increase success rates
• Learn effective best practices for prospecting, both in research and evaluation of prospective funders
• Hear 7 strategies for initiating and maintaining communication with funders throughout the grant lifecycle.
• See how Instrumentl can help you save up to 15 hours per week on finding & tracking new funding opportunities

Plus, all of our live attendees get special perks:

• Earn 1.0 CFRE point
• Personalized funder recommendations for your nonprofit
• Access to freebies & resources connected to course content
• Win exciting raffle prizes
• Build community with like-minded peers in your field

All registrants will receive a recording and copy of the presentation slides after the workshop.

*Full participation is applicable for 1.0 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification. 

Get 39 sessions offered at the Prospect Development 2024 Conference, held August 21 - 23, 2024. 

• A KPI Journey - Creating Metrics and Changing Culture with Institutional Fundraisers
• AI and PD – How All Areas Can Ensure Ethical Practices for AI (Ask the Ethicist Live)
• Apra Talks: We're All Data Scientists
• Bridging Eras: Integrating AI with Tried and True Screening Methods
• Building a Career Pathway Program: A Roadmap to Growing Opportunities for our Teams
• Building a Prospect Management System as a Team of One
• Designing Your Own Crystal Ball: From Revenue Forecasting to a Long-Term Growth Model
• Finding Your (Donor’s) Roots: Practical Applications for Genealogy in Development
• From Service Provider to Strategic Partner: The Trusted Advisor Journey
• General Session - Partner Industry Panel
• How to turn your Database into an Asset
• Identifying the Next Generation of Principal Gift Prospects
• In My Teaching Era: Training and Learning in a Small Shop
• In my Wellness Era: How a Wellness Skeptic Became a Convert
• It Takes a Village: Expanding the Donor Pipeline through Strategic Partnerships
• It's Not Just the Numbers! - Income, Psychology, and Giving Behavior  
• Keynote Presentation: Humanity in Fundraising: Revolutionizing Donor Engagement
• Lighting Your Own Way – Using Vision to Find Professional Growth Opportunities in Challenging Times
• Microdata:  Your Key to the Prospects Hidden in Plain Sight
• Moving from the Cubicle to the Kitchen Table: Pivoting to Remote Work
• Navigating Inclusive Philanthropy: Addressing Historical and System Biases in Prospect Development and Data Tracking and Reporting
• Oh the Places You’ll Go: Using Data and Reporting to Inform A Holistic Travel Strategy
• Optimizing Fundraising Success: A Deep Dive into Performance Metrics
• Partners in Fundraising: Facilitating an Effective and Collaborative Portfolio Review Meeting
• Portfolio Health: Your Portfolio Fitness Tracker
• Prospect Management as the Keystone for Radical Change in Portfolio Management and Fundraiser Performance Management
• Protecting Our Institutions: Due Diligence and Risk Management Trends and Insights
• Revolutionize Your Database: Fix Messy Data and Build a Strong Foundation
• Sailing Through Stock Research
• Small and Mighty-- Leveraging the Unique Strengths and Challenges of Smaller Shops
• The (Hidden) Wealth of Nations: Perils, Pitfalls and Opportunities in Using Data to Estimate Gift Capacity
• The ABCs and 123s of DAFs
• The Wheels on the Bus: Using Data & Process to Drive a Public-Phase Campaign Prospect Pipeline
• Unlocking Fundraising Success: Powering Discovery and Referrals with Goal Motivation
• Unlocking Hidden Potential: How Indiana University Health Foundation's Mid-Level Giving Program Generated Over $93,000 in Six Months
• Using Analytics to Drive Dynamic Major and Principal Giving Pipeline Development
• What to Expect When You’re Expecting (a Salesforce CRM)!
• What's Your Red Flag? Reputational Risk and Philanthropic Due Diligence Best Practices
• You CAN Have It All:  Building a Proactive Lead Program That Works for Everyone

Through organizational growth and lessons learned during a comprehensive campaign, the South Dakota State University Foundation has evolved rapidly with data and relationship management best practices. In collaboration with BWF, the SDSU Foundation is now equipped to utilize data analysis to gain insight to truly understand activities and practices that drove fundraiser performance, resulted in top gifts, and influenced donor journeys. This presentation will cover a review of post-campaign gift officer activity data analysis alongside how prospect development policies and practices evolved and formalized over the course of a campaign. This session will include emphasis on exploring how to prioritize data clean up, sustaining data maintenance efforts, selecting the right data to look at closely, and conducting meaningful analysis. Examples of data visualization, detailed analytical techniques, and relationship management practices will be offered to guide discussion.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key data and analytical techniques assessing fundraiser performance and relationship management. Participants will learn tangible tactical applications for their existing program structures and practices.
• Implement data visualization reporting to complement robust portfolio management practices. Participants will learn to discuss and apply these techniques within their own organizational journey.

From wealth screening & data appends, to data visualizations, to driving strategy, this session will showcase the steps taken to develop and bring a public-phase campaign pipeline to life at an arts & cultural organization. We’ll highlight the tools used, process, workflow, and communication strategies that allow for clear and robust discussions with leadership and fundraisers alike. Learn how to bring a wealth screening to life by layering in organization-specific data and visualizing via business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Excel. Prioritize travel planning, suspect qualification, outreach and campaign events through insights gleaned from your data. Presented as a mid-campaign case study, real-life successes and setbacks will be shared to help attendees develop a data-driven prospecting structure that works for their organization.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees can develop a multi-step, integrated plan for effective data use in prospect identification and outreach.
• Attendees can generate ideas and strategies for communicating effectively across the organization with board members, executive leadership, and fundraisers to accomplish shared goals.

Do you trust the data quality of your database? Do you ever pull a list of donors and question the validity or accuracy of the data? You are not alone. In a competitive fundraising environment it can be challenging to build a pipeline of future donors, but some of your best prospects might be hiding in your database. In this hands-on workshop, attendees will be guided through ways to identify messy data, how to build a plan for cleaning the data, and strategies for building processes and procedures for not only keeping data clean, but using it to prospect for new donors. This presentation is based on the work the speaker did with the Lincoln Center Theater to clean their entire database and prepare for the Theater's 40th anniversary. Participants will be challenged to think about ROI of cleaning certain aspects of the database, no matter what database system they use.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will create a plan for cleaning and maintaining the data in their database.
• Attendees will create a plan for how to use their data to effectively mine for new prospects.

Is your CRM data helping or hindering your fundraising efforts? Learn how to overcome common database challenges and optimize your CRM for success. Our session covers strategies for maximizing data efficiency and identifying new donors. Discover how to spot hidden major donors in your CRM using advanced analytics, real-world examples, and best practice tips for identifying individuals who support similar causes but aren't yet on your radar. Gain the knowledge and tools to transform your CRM data a valuable fundraising asset.

Learning Objectives:

• The ability to uncover major donors who might be hidden in your CRM.
• Find creative solutions to combat issues such as data inconsistency.