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Look first not to the rich, but to business achievers
By Barbara FanningNovember 1, 1999
This article appeared previously in Canadian FundRaiserResearchers across Canada will recall the summer of 1999 as the time when the publishers of Canadian Business magazine released their first annual Rich 100 list. As its title suggests, the list is a ranking of the 100 richest individuals in Canada. With its reliance on 1999 financial, real estate and security values and its conservative estimates, this new resource was eagerly welcomed and scrutinized by many for its identification of potential donor prospects.
This is not, however, the best technique to identify and promote new prospects to meet the needs of one's institution according to Thomas J. Stanley, co-author of The Millionaire Next Door. Gift capacity alone, he says, does not fully qualify a prospect unless inclination is also present. As the keynote speaker at the 12th annual international conference of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement in Atlanta last August, Stanley presented his research conclusions which have convinced him that trade journals are the best resource to identify major players in one's community.
Individuals who have reached the pinnacle of their profession, he argues, are frequently profiled in such journals as recognition by their peers for their contributions to their profession and their trade association activities. These leaders can be not only ideal candidates for organizational board membership but also influential in identifying further philanthropic support for your institutional cause. Similarly, Stanley believes it is critical to understand first how wealth is generated in your region and only then to seek the key players in those industries for organizational involvement. He cites the food, clothing, shelter, and transport sectors as specially worthy of monitoring.
After twenty years of studying the affluent, Stanley is convinced that an individual's wealth is closely linked to their business ownership. Certainly, he recognizes that it is easier to earn high profits in certain industries than in others. The challenge, of course, is to identify those specific sectors, but using his creative approach to identifying wealthy individuals is certainly a step in the right direction.
Barbara Fanning is Manager, Development Research, Canadian Diabetes Association, 800-15 Toronto Street, Toronto, ON M5C 2E3. Phone 416-363-0177, ext 292. Fax 416-363-3393 Email Fanning@diabetes.ca. For more information on APRA, visit the website at http://www.aprahome.org.
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