What is your prospect research shop doing to prepare for the Morningstar/10K Wizard demise?
10K Wizard has been a staple resource for many prospect researchers over the years for information about publicly-held companies (and the people that run them). I thought it was a curious marriage when Morningstar bought the company in 2008, but as long as 10K was still running I didn’t really think much of it. [Read more…]
It’s really valuable to keep an eye on (and share!) the tools our colleagues in allied fields are using to do their research. This past week I stumbled upon these five great resources I wanted to share with you.
ONE AND TWO
First off, I’d like to mention two books, the Verification Handbook for Investigative Reporting and the Verification Handbook; a Definitive Guide for Verifying Digital Content, both edited by Craig Silverman a leading expert on media errors, accuracy and verification, and (among other things), founder of Emergent and former fellow with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.
Both books are available free to download in pdf format – scroll down the page here – or you can purchase them if you prefer hard copies. They are written by experts in research, journalism and investigative reporting including Paul Myers (more on him in a minute), Fergus Bell, and Steve Buttry. Don’t miss chapter 10 of the Verifying Digital Content volume, called Verification Tools. There are tons of handy tools there for you to check out! [Read more…]
At the recent NEDRA Conference, a group of prospect research pros shared their knowledge of international research (and got great tips from participants as well!). We discussed the challenges and rewards of international fundraising and research, and the best places to find information on prospects living outside of the United States.
The panel included me as moderator, Emily O’Brien of Massachusetts General Hospital, Laura Parshall of MIT, and Andrew Stuerzel of Wesleyan University.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE Q & A
Questions (and answers) included:
What are some of the barriers to international research/international fundraising, and what are some suggestions you have for alleviating them? [Read more…]
Last week I got a brand-new computer. I had put it off for several months a couple of years because it would mean that I needed to clean out my old one and decide what to keep and what to trash. [Read more…]
Today I’d like to talk about executive compensation and the fun perquisites (“perks”) that make looking at a company’s proxy statement really interesting. Perks are those little extra somethings that make the financial lives of company executives and board members just a little bit easier. Like a shiny lure, perks attract the most talented ‘big fish’ and help retain them once they’re hooked.
Think of a proxy statement (aka the DEF 14A) as an aquarium of large and small moving objects that flash silver in the sunlight. Some things are easy to find, like annual compensation. Other things you need to look more carefully for as they glint in the weeds: like the perks. According to many sources (including this one and this one), corporate perks are on the wane. But they’re not extinct yet, and companies are very clever about the creative ways they compensate their executives. [Read more…]
It’s not only the United States government that requires publicly-held companies to publish information about their key insiders. When you’re trying to get information about corporate insiders around the world, it’s nice to know that many other countries require disclosure as well. Here’s a quick trip around the world with touchdowns in some key markets.
CANADA
Through the Sedar website, there are at least two forms you can use that report biographical and compensation information for officers and directors. Form 51-102F6 (“Named Executive Officers Compensation”) and the company’s proxy report each provide valuable information about company insiders. Do a quick search here, or visit the company’s website for more information.
UNITED KINGDOM
Besides the company website, Companies House and DueDil are the places to go for information about companies, both public and private, in the UK. For publicly-traded companies [Read more…]
We may think of companies as nameless, faceless conglomerates, but the fact is that each one is run by a group of people known as company insiders. They are individuals whose responsibility it is to provide direction, advice, and the scary responsibility of strong-willed fiduciary duty if the company’s blue chips suddenly turn red.
These leaders may be called directors, trustees, or board members; the terms are used fairly interchangeably. [Read more…]
Although more people are piling into an ever-growing array of social media outlets every day, it’s still fairly rare to see a Klout score or Twitter summary on a prospect research profile. Maybe it’s because we major gifts specialists assume that it’s only Xers and Millennials using these platforms, and they’re not yet ready to make large gifts.
But according to Ledbury Research, which studies the habits and demographics of high net wealth individuals (HNWI) in the United Kingdom, at least 75% of HNWI use social media regularly.
The largest group actively uses LinkedIn (47%), which makes sense since so many are businesspeople, but Facebook (42%), Google+ (17%) and Twitter (13%) are also used regularly. [Read more…]
When you’re researching donors that live internationally, it can be hard to know whether you’re looking in the best, most up-to-date places for information.
Working in partnership with researchers all over the world, we’ve been building up a resource that is now available to everyone, for free, no matter where you are.
Over the past 6 months, the Helen Brown Group Research Resources list has been updated weekly (sometimes daily!) and it contains only the most reliable resources used by the HBG team and our friends in the research biz.
No fluffy fill here. Just the best curated resources that researchers across the world actually use on a daily basis.
And watch this space! The list is growing and whole continents and regions are already starting to splinter off. Much like Pangaea when continental drift started to happen.
Click here to visit our list page
These days, prospect research is seen as a fairly cerebral task where you sit at your desk gathering information using a computer while trying not to snack (or maybe that’s just me?).
Back in the day, though, being a researcher meant never needing to say “boy, I really need a gym membership.” Typically, a journal entry for a day would go something like this: [Read more…]
