Why Conduct a Wealth Assessment?

One of the most popular profiles we prepare at Eclipse Research Group are our Wealth Indicator Reports & Analysis.  This profile includes a Wealth Assessment of the prospect.  While front line fundraisers generally just want “the numbers” it is helpful to understand what a Wealth Assessment is, and exactly how it can help your organization.

What is a Wealth Assessment? Generally speaking it is determining your prospect’s giving capacity, potential ask amount and inclination to give using identified wealth indicators.  Wealth indicators are identified and used to assess the capacity of the prospect.  The prospect’s potential ask amount is then calculated using both the identified capacity as well as the prospect’s affinity towards your organization.

Wealth indicators used include:

  • Previous giving to your organization
  • Previous giving to other organizations
  • Political giving
  • Current & past real estate
  • Stock options & stock holdings
  • Salary or company revenue
  • Luxury items including artwork, antiques, boats, and classic vehicles

Another factor to consider is the age of the prospect; someone in their 20s or 30s will have different giving priorities than someone in their 50s or 60s.

A Wealth Assessment provides fundraisers with the best information possible to ensure they get the most from your generous donors.  Despite this, it is important to understand that it is just a small part of the entire picture – we can analyze the information we have and can make an educated and informed estimate of what a prospect’s capacity might be.

While calculating capacity and potential ask amount does not necessarily equal philanthropy it is a great starting point!