Helen Brown Group

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Creating a DIY wealth spreadsheet

“Sculpture at end of SW Coast Path in Minehead” by Nilfanion (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons

My colleague Kenny Tavares frequently gets tasked with creating reference resources for the team to use. He’s the Excel Guru and the Macros Whisperer, and the staff meetings when he demonstrates his latest efficiency tech-bit are always highly anticipated by all of us. This week Kenny shares some of background data he sourced for one of his latest automated worksheets. Enjoy!  ~Helen

Oh Happy Day! You have been asked to assess the wealth of an individual and that person works for and sits on the boards of publicly-traded companies, has several real estate properties listed in their name, and a yacht-load of tangible assets. It couldn’t be easier and you display the calm of someone who has chosen an easy profession…and then you wake up. [Read more…]

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Unstructured and very valuable

This week we welcome my colleague, Tara McMullen, to the blog-stage to talk about a type of data that’s particularly tough to wrangle, but totally worth the effort. Here’s Tara on the rewards to be found in digging through unstructured data (and some great places to find it).

Image by Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46457765

In my work, I find myself constantly perusing social pages, local and regional news publications, and text-heavy lists and articles about wealthy and powerful people to try to pull out valuable “soft” information from these sources of unstructured data.

The information found in these sources is often invaluable in providing insight into a prospect’s relationships and connections, non-profit and civic affiliations, family members, neighbors, community groups, hobbies and activities (like golf or boating), and – of particular interest to those of us in the prospect development field – potential philanthropic interests. [Read more…]

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Summer reading: wealth and philanthropy

With the publication of the always-worth-reading “World Wealth Report” last week, it reminded me that I wanted to mention to you a few white papers about high net worth individuals (HNWIs) that are well worth your time.  They are:

The World Wealth Report 2011.  CapGemini / Merrill Lynch.

  • FREE with registration.
  • Brief overview with additional links here; actual report in English here.
  • The WWR details high net worth individuals worldwide: where they live, what they spend their money on, how they allocate their assets, etc. and they break the information down by country or region to achieve even more granularity.  A tidbit I found interesting in this report: women made up 27% of the global HNW population in 2010, up from 24% in 2008.  From under a quarter to nearly a third in two years – what does that make you think about your prospect portfolios?

The Wealth Report: A Global Perspective on Prime Property and Wealth 2011. Knight Frank / Citi Private Bank.

  • Pdf version is FREE, click here.  Hard copy also available with registration.
  • For researchers and front-line fundraisers specializing in international work, this is a must-read overview of already-hot and emerging high-growth regions, industries, and people with a focus on global wealth and real estate.  Contains interviews with experts such as Rupert Hoogewerf of the Hurun Rich List and discussions of topics including venture philanthropy.


Bank of America Merrill Lynch High Net Worth Philanthropy Study 2010.  In collaboration with Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.  Biennial.

 

  • Pdf version is FREE, click here.
  • The study is a survey of HNWIs to discover their attitudes toward giving and philanthropic behavior, how they make philanthropic decisions within their household, and their thoughts on volunteering and engagement.  In addition to the study, there is also a video at the site featuring a panel discussion with two members of the Bank of America team and the director of research from the IU Center on Philanthropy.

Not specifically about HNWIs, but certainly related is:

Giving USA 2011. The Giving USA Foundation / Indiana University Center on Philanthropy

  • Hard copy; web-based version; powerpoint slides and pdfs; $75
  • Subscribers can (at the moment) access Volume One: the Numbers.  Full publication to be released in July.
  • Giving USA provides preliminary statistics on giving within the United States.  The resource comes as a hard-copy book or web-based version, and includes tons of charts, graphs, and statistics as well as information on historical giving and trends.

Lastly, and maybe most fun:

For an engaging, entertaining, and enlightening article that gives you a glimpse into what it’s really like to be ultra wealthy, read this some Friday afternoon at 3 when you still need to work but just can’t make your brain do anything.  From The Atlantic magazine, the article is called “The Rise of the New Global Elite.”

Do you have any other must-read white papers to share?

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