Intro

Ok, you have a massive list. Probably thousands of names. Now is the time to order these names in priority.

Adding Dollar Amounts

You'll start by adding dollar amounts next to each person's name. We recommend doing this in two different columns.

  1. The first is the amount we think they can give personally.
  2. The second is the amount we think they can raise from others.

Note: the use of the word "can" here. Capacity is much more important than inclination during the rolodexing process. You'll write what they CAN afford, not whether they WILL give.

Creating your rolodex

Once you have assembled all your prospects and are ready to qualify them you will need to build your system for this. The easiest thing to do is create a spreadsheet, but feel free to use any other CRM you are comfortable with.

Here is a link to a training rolodex. Don't worry if you don't know what all the columns mean yet, they will be explained later. For not just focus on the contact information and Ask amounts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MpcC1b_TnFft-5MGQL4RU1Adlb8Wyjj4NpVYcbunMYQ/edit#gid=1947620595](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MpcC1b_TnFft-5MGQL4RU1Adlb8Wyjj4NpVYcbunMYQ/edit#gid=1947620595](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MpcC1b_TnFft-5MGQL4RU1Adlb8Wyjj4NpVYcbunMYQ/edit#gid=1947620595))

Qualifying Individuals

When looking at one of your prospects there are many factors you can use to determine how much they can give, these include (in rough order of how much they should factor in)

  1. How much they have given you before. If you previously ran for office, or if they have given to your campaign or organization before. You should have this information from previous campaigns. If you don't know, then check with your accountant/treasurer, as they should have it.

  2. How much they have given to candidates. Check FEC or local filings to see how much the prospect has given to previous candidates. If you're running for election, you'll want to find folks who were:

    1. Running for your seat
    2. Have endorsed you
    3. Or who are aligned with you politically. For instance, if you are running as a progressive challenger for your local city council, check how much some prospects gave to Bernie Sanders.

  3. How much they have given to other organizations. This is trickier as there is no centralized or publicly available database of nonprofit contributions like there is for political ones, but if you are dealing with personal connections use what you know. If a parent at your kid's school shells out $5000 at the charity auction every year ask for that amount. If your college roommate's name is on the library at your alma mater, factor that in to your ask amount.

    <aside> 💡 Nonprofits with the budget to do so may make use of several data sources in order to supplement their lists. A few include DonorSearch, DoubleTheDonation, Donorly, Wealth Engine, iWave, Blackbaud, and DonorScape.

    </aside>

  4. How much you think they make. Use your gut. Ask someone for what you think they can give. If you don't know how much to ask for, we recommend asking someone for 1% of what you think they make in a year ($500 from someone who makes $50k/yr). For folks who no longer work, go with what someone doing their previous job would make (e.g. Ask a retired lawyer for 1% of what you think they would make today. For high net worth individuals, ask them for 0.5-1% of their estimated net worth.

    <aside> 💡 Note: If you have no idea what someone makes you can look up their job on a site like https://www.glassdoor.com or go off of lifestyle cues (where they live, what kind of car they drive, etc.). The one exception here are the children of wealthy individuals who are not themselves wealthy. They have an extravagant lifestyle but unless they love you (see below) they are unlikely to give above and beyond 1% of THEIR income.

    </aside>

Qualifying Institutions