CLUB RD
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS & COLLABORATIVE SERVICES
Identifying Your Top 5 Ready To Give Prospects
You have likely identified a number of major gift “suspects” to be considered for your Top Five Prospect
List. Since these will be the five individuals on whom you will be concentrating your cultivation efforts, it is
very important that they are selected objectively. This can best be accomplished by using the Prospect
Rating Grid. This grid allows us to rate prospects on two general criteria: Philanthropic Capacity and
Access/Involvement with the Club.
Philanthropic Capacity. This means more than just having a lot of wealth. It is a measure of a
person’s generosity. It includes an estimate of their net worth, discretionary income, number of
children, age and, most of all, prior gifts to the Club or any other charitable organizations.
On the vertical scale, rate each of your best “suspects” on their long term giving capability from 19. For instance, a person with a very modest history of giving would be rated much lower than a
philanthropist who has been known to make 6- or 7- figure gifts. Generally, a “9” rating denotes a
multi-million dollar capacity but you should develop a scale that works for your community.
Access/Involvement. This is a measure of the person’s “closeness” to the Club. On the horizontal
scale, rate the combined value of their involvement with the Club and the Club’s ability to access
the person. Here is a “rule of thumb” point chart to help you determine this rating:
 General public
1 point
 Close to Board member
2 points
 Regular annual fund donor
3 points
 Regular program volunteer
4 points
 Former Board or committee
3 points
 Current Board or committee
4 points
 Previous major gift donor
6 points
 Spousal involvement
2 points
Plot the total points for each person on the horizontal scale of the Prospect Rating Grid.
Using the two scales together allows us to identify our best major gift prospects. For instance:
1/1 on the grid indicates little capacity and little interest – Weakest Prospects
9/1 on the grid indicates high capacity and little interest – Unlikely Prospects
6/6 on the grid indicates the beginning of our major gift prospect range
1/9 on the grid indicates little capacity and high interest – Dedicated Volunteers
9/9 on the grid indicates high capacity and high interest – Ideal Prospects!
NOTE: 1-4/7-9 indicates low capacity and high interest – ideal planned giving prospect based on age and
length of involvement
Plotting all of our “suspects” on a single Prospect Rating Grid will allow us to easily identify our Top Five
Prospects for major gifts. One simple method is to simply add the two scores for each person and select
the top five combined scores.
2-5
Poor prospects
6-8
Marginal
9-10 Fair
12-14 Good
15-16 Very good
17-18 Superb