Helen Brown Group

  • Home
  • Our Services
    Overview
    • A la carte research
    • Customized News Alerts
    • Data Insight
    • Dedicated Consulting
    • Research department audits and training
    • Wealth Screening Assistance
  • Resource Library
    • Learning Media Library
    • Wealth Lists
    • Prospect Research Links
    • Prospect Research for Fundraisers
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • Helen Brown
    • Meet the Team
    • HBG Privacy Policy
  • Blog
    • Archive
  • Contact

July 12, 2018 By Helen Brown

Extra-credit entertainment

 Image (c) 2014 Gavin Whitner, Music Oomph

I’ve recently started a new regimen that affords me the opportunity to listen to a lot more podcasts. At least that’s what I’m telling myself so I won’t notice that I’m -ugh- exercising regularly. -ish.

One great benefit is that I’m now actively hunting for – and finding – some great nonprofit podcasts to keep things interesting in my shuffle rotation.

Here are a lucky seven that I’ve enjoyed that I thought you might like, too. Feel free to add others in the comments that you think I and other nonprofiteers should be aware of! Here they are, in alpha order. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Career development, Podcast Tagged With: fundraising, nonprofit, podcasts, prospect research

March 22, 2018 By Helen Brown

GDPR and you

This week’s article comes in the form of a podcast that I just recorded with two of the most knowledgeable and generous GDPR-whisperers that I know in the fundraising community, Adrian Beney of More Partnership and Nicola Williams of The Factary.

Click image to access the podcast

Both Adrian and Nicola have been researching and consulting with other experts to understand the law for months, and they’ve written many articles, have been speaking at loads of professional conferences, and have provided useful resource lists for all of us to find guidance on the General Data Protection Regulation that comes into effect on May 25th. If the rest of us are not up on the new regulation, it’s not through any lack on their part to get the word out.

But because of that, they’re very busy people, so I was especially excited when they both said yes to a podcast interview. I know that you’re going to find the conversation we had to be well worth your time. I’m sincerely grateful to them for their generosity to our community, and for their willingness to be a resource to help nonprofits in the US figure all of this out.

GDPR Generally

As I’ve mentioned before, this is a European-based piece of legislation, but every company and nonprofit in the world will have to comply with it if they have EU-based constituents in their database. The GDPR regulates (amongst many other things) WHAT data you’re allowed to hold, HOW LONG you may hold it, and the WAYS you must communicate to your constituency their rights regarding that data. There are certain pieces of information you CANNOT hold in your database (without explicit consent), and many of them are demographic data we here in the US take for granted as being relatively harmless.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and fines for noncompliance will be steep: up to €20 million ($25 million) or 4% of an organization’s total revenue, whichever is greater.

If you’re unsure what GDPR is and how you should be ready, log in* to our learning media area to listen to this informative podcast with Adrian and Nicola. We’ve also included a number of useful resources with the podcast for further information.

*Registration to the Resource Library is free. It gives you access to a number of useful resources including podcasts, presentations, wealth lists, research resources, and our weekly newsletter. You will be asked for your name and email address. You may unsubscribe at any time and your information will not be retained.

Filed Under: International prospect research, News, Podcast Tagged With: Adrian Beney, Factary, GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation, More Partnership, Nicola Williams, prospect research

February 22, 2018 By Helen Brown

Worth a Listen

Except for the few of us who work at our main office in Watertown, most everybody at HBG works from home. One of the (many) nice things about that is that you can listen to podcasts without bothering anyone else in the office (except maybe your furry 4-legged office-mates). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Career development, Non-profit trends, Podcast Tagged With: American Public Media, Charities Aid Foundation, fundraising, Giving Thought, Hidden Brain, Joan Garry, KCI, Marketplace, Nonprofits Are Messy, NPR, Philanthropy Now, podcasts, prospect research, Tax Justice Network

August 10, 2017 By Helen Brown

Innovation: Measuring fundraiser portfolio strength

This week I’m very excited to share with you a podcast I recorded earlier this week with Mark Dumich and Ling Sun of the University of Notre Dame. Their department is doing innovative work to help strengthen and create parity amongst their fundraisers’ portfolios.

In our podcast, Mark and Ling shared with me the questions they were trying to answer, their step by step actions, and some unexpected (but welcome!) outcomes. Mark explains their plan:

 The Portfolio Strengths Model was developed at the University of Notre Dame to better understand both the strength of a prospect and the quality of a portfolio.  As fundraisers expressed concern about the giving potential of their prospects, we decided to score various attributes of those individuals to get a better assessment of their value. It moved the conversation away from how a development officer feels, and back to objective data points that we can all agree on.

It’s very easy to evaluate a fundraiser on the number of dollars he or she brings in to the organization, and it’s important, too. Unfortunately, that metric has some significant shortcomings when you consider that not all portfolios have the same potential. So how can we more accurately measure a fundraiser’s performance? When we viewed production relative to the strength of a portfolio, it highlighted a lot of incredible work that had been achieved at all levels of philanthropy within our organization.”

We’re especially fortunate that, not only did they speak with me for 30 minutes, they also generously provided a step-by-step worksheet of their project, so you can do it, too!

The podcast is below, and the worksheet is in our free member area. Warm thanks to Mark and Ling for sharing this with us!

Filed Under: Campaign Success, Fundraising Analytics, Podcast, Strategic planning Tagged With: analytics, fundraiser performance, fundraising data science, Ling Sun, Mark Dumich, metrics, performance metrics, podcast, portfolio management, prospect research, University of Notre Dame

April 21, 2017 By Helen Brown

Giving Collaboratives – a podcast

Have you been following the emergence and exponential growth of giving collaboratives? Giving collaboratives can be individuals, foundations, NGOs, and others that join forces (and their finances) around a particular cause or toward a shared goal.

Angie Stapleton

Elizabeth Roma

This is an emerging phenomenon in philanthropy that caught the attention of two HBG team members, Elizabeth Roma and Angie Stapleton, who deeply researched and presented on the topic at the 2017 Apra Regional Conference (ARC). Part of their presentation included an 18-page companion guide to Giving Collaboratives, now available in the Learning Media Library here on our website.

I sat down with Elizabeth and Angie yesterday to ask them to tell me more about Giving Collaboratives and the resource they compiled, and recorded our conversation in this podcast so that you can hear as well:

 Whatever it is that you are looking to fund…there is a group of people out there who are looking to fund it” – Elizabeth Roma

Elizabeth and Angie will also lead an Apra Best Practice Webcast on the topic called “Collective Giving: Philanthropy as a Team Sport” on Monday May 15th at 1:00 PM ET. If you can’t make that day and time, look for the recording on the Apra website under Apra University.

For further reading: 

One of the resources Elizabeth and Angie mention in the podcast is The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers and their report More Giving Together.

Filed Under: News, Non-profit trends, Podcast Tagged With: Angie Stapleton, Elizabeth Roma, Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, giving collaboratives, podcast, prospect research

March 10, 2016 By Helen Brown

Foundation Research – a free tutorial

One of the things that makes me so proud of our profession is the way we so eagerly share tips, tools, tactics, and techniques with each other. At APRA International and chapter conferences, you can just feel the excitement in the rooms. Even in webinars and tweetchats, there’s still a vibe somehow.

So in honor of #ResearchPride month, my colleague Elizabeth Roma and I recorded a video podcast for you on researching grant-makers, including foundations and donor-advised funds. Here’s our webinar on “Researching Foundations” – we hope you enjoy it:

Here at HBG, we’re also preparing for more teaching this spring and summer:

  • In April, I’ll be leading a panel on relationship management at the NEDRA conference. Tara McMullen will also be moderating a panel on “Ten Years of Prospect Research, Management and Data at MIT.”
  • In July, there will be two teaching teams from HBG at the APRA conference! Angie Stapleton and I will lead a half-day workshop on “Advanced Web Searching,” and Elizabeth Roma and Rachel Dakarian will be ripping news from the headlines on high net worth individuals in their session “Strategic Vision for Today’s Philanthropic Realities.”

We hope you can join us. We’re excited to be sharing our knowledge and looking forward to learning from you, too.

Filed Under: Podcast, Trust & Foundation Research Tagged With: 990 forms, Elizabeth Roma, foundation research, foundations, prospect research

February 25, 2016 By Helen Brown

The hidden river

Magic DoorYou know what it’s like when you stumble upon something that makes you realize there is a whole other world out there that you had no idea about, right?

The most memorable time this happened for me was when I discovered an online forum where people gathered to discuss my – and their! – favorite author’s book series. Even better, reading back through the archives I discovered that the author posts to the forum as well, answering questions and debating plot possibilities with as much intensity as her readers.

It was like I’d found the magic door with a hidden world behind it! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Podcast, Social Media Tagged With: getting the most out of Twitter, prospect research, Rachel Dakarian, Twitter, Twitter 101

August 27, 2015 By Helen Brown

What makes for a successful wealth screening?

achievementDespite the title of this popular article, we love wealth screenings here at HBG. What we don’t love is when all that time, work, and money spent on a wealth screening go to waste. My colleagues Maureen, Tara, Heather W. and I were talking about this one day, and we were brainstorming so many great ideas that I asked them if we could capture them in a podcast for you. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Podcast, Prospect identification, Wealth screenings Tagged With: prospect identification, prospect research, wealth screenings

June 18, 2015 By Helen Brown

What you need to know about family offices

mansionAccording to INSEAD’s Singapore campus Executive Director Michael Prahl, the number of family offices in Asia and the Middle East will double over the next 8 years. As supersonic as that growth is, the sheer number of family offices in Europe (1,000) and the United States (3,000) are massive compared to their cousins in Asia (estimated to be at about 200).

With an estimated $4 trillion managed in family offices globally, we ignore to our disadvantage the impact and influence these investment and philanthropic powerhouses will have for the fundraising and social impact sectors.

To learn more about this, I interviewed HBG’s in-house experts on family offices, Kenny Tavares and Elizabeth Roma, to explain what it is about family offices that make them so important, and what resources are available to tap into.

[powerpress]

Filed Under: International prospect research, Non-profit trends, Podcast, Researching Individuals Tagged With: family offices, high net worth individuals, HNWI, prospect research, UHNWI

  • Get the Intelligent Edge

    Our weekly update provides insight and commentary on breaking philanthropy news and the latest innovations in fundraising intelligence.

  • HBG Privacy Policy

    By sharing your information you give us permission to send you our newsletter. You may unsubscribe at any time.

New Articles

  • Celebrating Research Pride Month: Elevating Prospect Development & Celebrating Community
  • Identity and Blackness in Prospect Development
  • Honoring Black History Month
  • Giving Priorities for America’s Top Philanthropists in 2020
  • Opportunity of a lifetime

Keep Updated

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Get the Essential Handbook

Get Your Copy

Learn More

Categories

  • Campaign Success
  • Career development
  • Due Diligence
  • Effective searching
  • Fundraising Analytics
  • Fundraising Ethics
  • HBG Book Club
  • International prospect research
  • Most popular
  • News
  • Non-profit trends
  • Podcast
  • Prospect Development 101
  • Prospect identification
  • Ratings
  • Relationship management
  • Research Department Success
  • Researching Companies
  • Researching Individuals
  • Social Media
  • Strategic planning
  • Trust & Foundation Research
  • Uncategorized
  • Wealth screenings

ABOUT HBG

The Helen Brown Group was formed in 2002 with a goal to be different.

Allow me to explain my personal philosophy to you.

  • Learn More About HBG

Latest Intelligent Edge Articles

  • Celebrating Research Pride Month: Elevating Prospect Development & Celebrating Community
  • Identity and Blackness in Prospect Development
  • Honoring Black History Month
  • Giving Priorities for America’s Top Philanthropists in 2020
  • Opportunity of a lifetime

Privacy Quick Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Tools

Copyright © 2021 The Helen Brown Group LLC.

David’s career in prospect research began in 2009, as a graduate research assistant at the Shippensburg University Foundation. In 2011, He became a development researcher for the University of Virginia. In 2015, David became assistant director of prospect research at the University of Baltimore, serving for 3 years. Recently, he was the director of development for Trees Forever. David Joined the Helen Brown Group as a research assistant in January 2020. He earned a B.A. in Theater at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a M.A. in Applied History at Shippensburg University. David is a member of APRA and APRA Great Plains.

Kenny has worked in development since 1999 and has been involved in prospect research since 2002.

Prior to joining The Helen Brown Group, he was the director of donor and prospect research at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Kenny is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Tara first began her career in development in 2002 supporting the Major Gifts department at Simmons College, and ultimately went on to serve as Assistant Director of Prospect Research. Since that time, she has also worked as a Senior Research Analyst at MIT, as Associate Director of Prospect Management and Research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and as Director of Development Research at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP).

Tara originally joined the Helen Brown Group team in 2007 and served as a Research Associate and ShareTraining coordinator until 2008 – she rejoined the company as a Senior Researcher in 2013 and was promoted to her current role in 2018.

She has been an active volunteer with NEDRA for many years and served on the board of directors from 2010-2016. During her time on the NEDRA board, she served in many different roles, including terms as Vice President, Secretary, Chair of the Website and Technology Committee, Chair of the Volunteer Committee, and as Chair and Editor of NEDRA News. She is currently a member of the NEDRA Bootcamp faculty. In addition, Tara has also been involved as a volunteer with Apra, serving stints on the Membership Committee, Chapters Committee, and Bylaws Task Force.

Angie began her career in development in 1999 at Virginia Tech in Corporate and Foundation Relations and later in prospect research at the University of Connecticut Foundation.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin, her experience includes grants management at the University of South Carolina, program evaluation for South Carolina Research Authority and human resources analysis for Nissan North America.

She returned to development in 2007 and worked in various prospect research positions at Vanderbilt University, including Associate Director. She was named Director for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s research office in 2015, and joined The Helen Brown Group in 2016.

jdsahjhDJDJHJSH

Josh began his career in development as the Phonathon Coordinator at Keene State College. He then worked at non-profit consulting firm Schultz & Williams in Philadelphia.

He started his research career at the University of Pennsylvania as a Research Assistant in 2005. He then moved over to the Wharton School of Business, where he became the Associate Director, Research and Prospect Management. Josh joined the Helen Brown Group in 2016.

Josh is also a Colorado licensed Realtor and graduate of Lehigh University.

In March 2017, Kristina joined the Helen Brown Group as a Research Associate. Before joining HBG, she was the Research Manager at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and an Associate Manager of Prospect Research at City Harvest, a food rescue organization. Kristina started her non-profit career as a legal assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004.  She is a member of Apra and Apra Greater New York. She was Apra Greater New York’s Director of Programming from June 2014 to May 2016. Kristina graduated from The University of Chicago and the Bard Graduate Center.

Grace began her career in development in 2001 as Executive Assistant to the Chief Development Officer with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), a Harvard Medical School-affiliated academic medical center.

In 2003, she became a prospect researcher for the BWH principal and major gifts team and spent the next 11 years in various research positions with BWH, culminating as Assistant Director of Prospect Research. She has been affiliated with The Helen Brown Group since January 2014.

Heather began her career in 2002 as a prospect research coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and then moved to Carroll College in 2004.

In 2005, Heather began working on her own as a freelancer and eventually started her own consulting firm, Willis Research Services, in 2007. She joined The Helen Brown Group in 2012.

Heather is a member of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement and the Montana Nonprofit Association.

Jennifer began her career in development at her alma mater, Wheaton College, where she was an administrative assistant for the major gifts department.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in March 2008. She earned a master’s degree in library science from the Southern Connecticut State University in May 2009. Jennifer is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Rick has been a member of the Helen Brown Group team since 2005. Prior to joining HBG, Rick was director of research at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Rick has worked in development since 1996, both in prospect research and major gifts fund raising. His experience includes the University of Vermont, Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul’s School.

Rick is past president of NEDRA and is a member of and frequent volunteer for APRA.

Josh began his career in development as the Phonathon Coordinator at Keene State College. He then worked at non-profit consulting firm Schultz & Williams in Philadelphia.

He started his research career at the University of Pennsylvania as a Research Assistant in 2005. He then moved over to the Wharton School of Business, where he became the Associate Director, Research and Prospect Management. Josh joined the Helen Brown Group in 2016.

Josh is also a Colorado licensed Realtor and graduate of Lehigh University.

Mandi has worked in prospect research and management since 2006. She began her development career as a research analyst in development research at City of Hope, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in Los Angeles. From there, she became the manager of prospect development at Huntington Memorial Hospital, a community hospital in Pasadena, CA. Most recently, she was the associate director of prospect research and management at Occidental College, a private liberal arts college in LA.

Mandi has a BA degree in print journalism from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree of library and information science from UCLA.

She joined the Helen Brown Group in May 2019.

Kelly began her career in development in 2008 as an administrative assistant in Major Gifts at Wheaton College.

In 2010, she became a research analyst at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the Division of Development & Jimmy Fund as part of the prospect identification team. Kelly joined The Helen Brown Group in 2013.

She is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Jayme began her career in development in 2008 at the Rutgers University Foundation, where she spent the next seven years, first in prospect management and then prospect research. She spent several years at Monmouth University as their senior prospect research analyst, working with the fundraising staff, university president, and top leadership. She has worked as both a volunteer and consultant for non-profits in the areas of research and writing.

She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Drew University and a master of communication and information sciences from Rutgers University. She is a member of APRA.

Jayme joined The Helen Brown Group in April 2019.

Julie has managed finances for The Helen Brown Group since its founding.

In her spare time, she is an editor for the PBS series Masterpiece at WGBH. Julie was nominated twice for an Emmy award for her work on the PBS show Zoom.

Heather began her career in development in 2001 as a prospect researcher for National Wildlife Federation (NWF). She was with NWF for more than thirteen years, including nearly five years as director of research and analytics. Heather is a former secretary of the board of directors of APRA-Metro DC.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in October 2014.

David began his career in development at The Gunnery school in northwest Connecticut in 2011, where he worked in database management and prospect research. Subsequently, he joined the College of Saint Rose as a development research analyst before leading Albany Medical Center Foundation’s prospect research efforts as Associate Director of Prospect Research. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Siena College and is a member of APRA and CASE.

Michele began her career in development in 2012 when she joined the UC Berkeley corporate and foundation relations team as a development analyst. She spent a year and a half at Cal before returning to UC Davis as a prospect analyst. She was with the prospect management and relations team at UC Davis for almost three years prior to joining the research and relationship management team at George Washington University as a Senior Prospect Analyst in 2016.

Michele received her BA in creative writing from Florida State University and her MA in higher education leadership from CSU Sacramento. She currently resides in Northern Virginia, is a member of Apra International, and serves as the social media chair for Apra Metro DC. Michele joined The Helen Brown Group in July 2018.

Angie has worked in development since 2002, partnering with a wide range of nonprofit institutions. She began her professional career at Vanderbilt University in research and prospect development.

She has also worked with a number of community nonprofits in front-line fundraising, grant-writing, and event management. Angie holds an MPA in Nonprofit Management from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a BS in Journalism from Middle Tennessee State University. She resides in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a member of AFP Nashville and APRA MidSouth, where she has been active on the executive team.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in October 2015.

Maureen has been a part of the non-profit world since 1991. She started out in annual giving at Harvard Law School and continued her career as director of annual/special gifts at UC Santa Cruz.

In 1999 she made the switch from front-line fundraising to serve as director of prospect research/management at Bentley University and in 2001 began her role as administrator for the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester. She became part of the HBG team in September of 2011.

Helen has been a development professional since 1987. Her previous experience includes The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Albert Einstein Institution, Boston College, the Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University.

Currently she works with a variety of clients to establish, benchmark and re-align research departments; identify major gift prospects; and train researchers and other fundraisers through on-site and web-based training services.Helen is a former member of the board of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) and is past president of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA). In 2006 she received the NEDRA Ann Castle Award for service to the prospect research community.

Helen is Special Advisor on Fundraising to the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester and is a member of the board of directors of Factary Ltd. (Bristol, UK). She is a member of NEDRA, APRA, the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP), Women In Development, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Researchers in Fundraising (UK).

Helen is a frequent speaker and has led seminars for a number of professional associations, including Action Planning, AFP, APRA, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), NEDRA, RIF, the Planned Giving Council of Central Massachusetts, the Georgia Center on Nonprofits, the International Fundraising Congress and Resource Alliance.

Helen is also co-author (with Jen Filla) of the book, Prospect Research for Fundraisers (Wiley & Sons, 2013).