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You have a great project. Now you need funding. Start by identifying your financial need. Create a detailed budget. This will be the basis of your business plan and a key piece of the proposal you make to your potential donor.

Next, look for people, foundations, and companies that have made a gift to similar projects. These entities are your prospects. Additionally, look for prospects who have expressed an interest in your work in some way. Perhaps they’ve made a small unsolicited gift or asked about your work.

Prospecting often starts with lists. Individual prospects are identified and additional information about them gathered to help know the prospects better.

Assembling the content for them was the primary challenge of course. Making the information in them look great was proving challenging too. I was importing my information from numerous sources and found that each import also included different representations of text: some all caps and some not for example. This tip, from Judy Sampieri, chief information manager of Baylor College of Medicine, saved the day. Here it is.

Formatting Excel for lists

One of my recent duties involved wrangling information delivery systems: spreadsheets. Assembling the content for them was the primary challenge of course. Making the information in them look great was proving challenging too. I was importing my information from numerous sources and found that each import also included different representations of text: some all caps and some not for example. This tip, from Judy Sampieri, chief information manager of Baylor College of Medicine, saved the day. Here it is.

  • Create a new column by the column you are editing.
  • Highlight the top cell of the new column (it must be selected).
  • In the worksheet top toolbar, select “insert” and then “function”.
  • The function you need to select is named “proper”. Proper’s definition: Capitalizes the first letter in a text string and any other letters in text that follow any character other than a letter. Converts all other letters to lowercase letters.
  • In the pop-up box that appears (Function Arguments), fill in the text field by clicking in the top cell of the column to be edited.
  • Hit “ok”
  • In the new column’s top cell, move your cursor to the bottom right of the cell until it forms a +.
  • Click and drag down the length of the column duplicating the length of the column to be edited.
  • Release
  • All of the new column should now be populated with the revised text.
  • Now select the entire new column and copy it (right click copy).
  • Now select the column to be edited, right click and select “paste special” and then select “values”. Paste in the revised text.
  • Delete the new column and you are done.
  • It sounds much fussier than it is. Perform these steps a few times and they will be yours forever. Additionally, your eyes will be opened to wonderfully helpful world of Excel functions.

Using the public library for prospect research

Here’s an easy and free way to conduct some basic research. First, get a Houston Public Library card. They are free and will give you access to expensive resources on your own computer at home or at work. You don’t even have to go downtown to enjoy access. HPL pays for these resources and makes them available to their patrons via the HPL website. Some are available without the card but for those requiring the card, simply put in your name and your library card number. Hit submit and you are in. How’s that for service!

http://www.houstonlibrary.org/

Research resources, ordered in categories, are available at:
http://www.houstonlibrary.org/research

An especially helpful database on business is located here:
http://www.houstonlibrary.org/business

Sample search:

I need information on what ConocoPhilips is doing in Houston right now.

Look for your answer on the right side of the screen under “Find Information by Category.”

Select “Business” and then select:

  • Factiva — Up-to-date data, articles and news about companies and industries.
  • Hoover’s Company Records — Hoover’s is now available in our ProQuest database.
  • Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar Database
  • Look for additional news in “Newspapers” and then in:
  • Houston Chronicle – Article Search (Full text articles from the Chronicle from 1985 to the present.)

* Additionally, you may select the Houston Chronicle (Digital Image Edition) — The past 45 days are available.

Ordering a will

You may ask, why do I need to order one? Well, it is entirely up to you and your organization. You may wish to find out who will be in charge of family assets after your donor has died. It is also possible that you need information on capacity for a surviving spouse. Foundations may be created in a will.

Probated wills and their associated documents such as inventories are public documents. You may legally look at them. Use your best judgment and code of confidentiality. As with any research, you should guard the privacy of your constituents at all times. Wills tell you who controls the estate’s assets. Inventories let you know what those assets are and frequently their appraised value. Wills are available usually about two weeks after the date of probate. Inventories are typically filed within 120 or 90 days after a will has been probated. Copies of probated wills and inventories “live” where the legal document has been probated. If your donor died in Houston, it is likely their will was probated here in Harris County. There are fees associated with the acquisition of these documents but they are nominal as a rule. You may also go to the probate department to view the documents if you don’t want to purchase copies.

For wills filed in Harris County: Call 713-755-5311 (Probate Department — Copies and Letters — a part of the enormous Beverly Kaufman mega-departments)

For best results, have the docket number for the probated will on hand. You may use Courthouse Direct or the Kaufmann probate database to get the docket number. Here are the URLs:

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