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By Lindsey Nadeau
The Prospector
Page 2
Presidents Message from page 1:
I think our chapter's success is reflective of Devon Villa Gesserts
five years of superb leadership. Her encouragement and example
inspired many of her colleagues to volunteer to lead our
profession. I hope to continue this tradition and make sure that
the wider APRA community, as well as other sister associations,
know that APRA Metro DC is leading the way. I encourage
everyone to continue their service and consider additional ways
we can all contribute to enhancing APRA Metro DCs profile.
If this year has been any indication, I cant wait to see what well
accomplish next!
Gold Sponsor
Page 3
The Prospector
US Chamber of Commerce
Conservation International
WETA
US Holocaust Museum
DC
VA
VA
DC
4/6/2015
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2/24/2015
DC
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2/24/2015
2/20/2015
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2/17/2015
2/6/2015
Visit our Resources Page, APRA Intl. and The Chron. of Philan. for current job postings.
conscientious
prospect researchers
will realize soon
enough that effective
use of Ancestry.com
requires them to
have a general idea
of the information
they seek before
starting to look.
Page 4
The Prospector
a subscription to
Ancestry.com can be
a wise investment.
Page 5
The Prospector
Page 6
The Prospector
Special Section
A Comparison: Two Views on Research
Consultants and In-house Researchers
Adventures in Freelance and Consulting Through the
Eyes of a Full-Time Prospect Researcher
By Mandy Heath
Manager, Research and Development Advancement at Barrow Neurological & St. Josephs Foundations, Phoenix, AZ
To make a lifelong
career in prospect
development, I
believe there is great
value in working both
as a consultant or
freelancer and as an
in-house researcher.
The Prospector
Page 7
Adventures in Freelance and Consulting from page 6:
advantages of prospect development and how it can help make
them successful. Teaching people about our profession and what
we can offer is gratifying when you see that they are succeeding.
Teaching people
about our profession
and what we can
offer is gratifying
when you see that
they are succeeding.
Page 8
The Prospector
Consultancies work
on tighter schedules
and it is always
immediate.
At a fundraising
consultancy, the
premium is on making
connections to
prospects there might
be a relation to but
not a pre-established
relationship with.
A researcher can be
a hero or can crash
the system.
The Prospector
The researcher feels
a greater sense of
responsibility for
their work.
In a consultancy,
ones job is based
upon their job
descriptions, and job
descriptions are
readily modifiable
based on your
accomplishments in
fluid situations.
Page 9
Consultancy vs. Development Office from page 8:
Whereas the interface between researchers and fundraisers in a
development office is most often a computer screen, at a
consultancy everyone is in the same room. They interrelate in a
series of handoffs and share credit for the results. The researcher
feels a greater sense of responsibility for their work.
At a development office, the path for promotion tends to be
administrative. Particularly in the direction of information
management, which is why qualified IT people can leapfrog
experienced researchers. At a consultancy, administration is
delegated, and advancement is in the direction of becoming a
fundraiser. At nonprofits, one amasses a string of titles such as
Assistant to the Associate Director of XYZ, which makes the
atmosphere very regimented and constrains job duties. At
consultancies, titles dont typecast. One could be a researcher-inchief of particular accounts or head of some specialty for the
group as a whole. In a consultancy, ones job is based upon their
job descriptions, and job descriptions are readily modifiable
based on your accomplishments in fluid situations.
For various reasons, nonprofits seek to hire one of the same,
consultants look for one of a kind that can multitask, diversify,
improvise, innovate. Cross training is emphasized. Experience
matters. Nonprofits can become compartmentalized and rather
territorial. At a consultancy, someone with an its not my job
attitude probably will not have one
Nonprofits are a hive, consultancies are a swarm. At a
consultancy, meetings are frequent, short and impromptu. One
learns to keep tabs on Outlook. Everyone provides their input and
participates in the strategizing. It is expected one becomes
involved in the whole prospect management cycle. The research
staff often serves as a think tank for the firm. At nonprofits,
meetings are longer, scheduled in advance and less frequent, one
might be asked to attend, report, and receive instructions, or not.
At consultancies, perhaps counterintuitively, there is a prevailing
sense of the inclusiveness that comes with being in it all together.
Consultancy vs. Development Office continued on page 10.
The Prospector
Page 10
Consultancy vs. Development Office from page 9:
Development professionals can work for the same institution a
whole career. At a consultancy, clients will change so a
researcher can add organizations to their resume by the yard. By
working with many organizations, the research consultant gets
different perspectives, tools and information that they can then
transfer between clients, whereas in development offices,
researchers only learn to diversify their toolset. Cumulative
knowledge can be utilized again. Recently, in screening names for
one project, I recognized a constituent as the money manager of
a billionaire from another. Proven search routines can be
reemployed and applied to different campaigns.
Nonprofit reports can be long presentation quality documents
with hanging indents and running headers and footers that tangle
one up. Consultants reports are more to the point with concise
rationales. A nonprofit researcher may feel obliged to provide an
exhaustive report on a prospect with no idea why they are doing
the work. At a consultancy, if a researcher cannot summarize in
fifty words why a fundraiser should read what they requested,
someone is wasting the others time.
The main difference between being a research consultant and an
in-house researcher is not why we are in it. But, it is
environmental.
APRA Metro DC
P.O. Box 77205
Washington, DC 20013
Phone:
(202) 495-3696
E-mail:
president@aprametrodc.net
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