CapWorks  /  Services  /  Funding Prospect Research

Funding Prospect Research & Donor Identification

A real pipeline of funders matched to your mission — not a spreadsheet of names you can’t convert.

Most prospect “research” is a CSV dump that sits unused. Useful prospecting is short, ranked, and grounded in fit, capacity, and how the prospect actually funds.

What’s included

  • Foundation prospect mapping — Private and family foundations matched to your mission, geography, and stage — with grant ranges, typical award sizes, and recent recipients.
  • Corporate giving research — Corporate foundations, sponsorship programs, and matching-gift opportunities.
  • Major-donor research — Wealth screening, capacity ratings, and inclination research for individual prospects.
  • Federal & state grant tracking — Grants.gov, agency-specific opportunities, and state pass-through dollars — tracked on a rolling 12-month horizon.
  • Ranked pipeline — Every prospect ranked by fit, capacity, win-probability, and total potential — not just alphabetized.
  • AI-powered surfacing — We use machine-assisted research to surface aligned funders most consultants miss.

Where most prospect research goes wrong

  • No ranking — a flat list of 200 prospects is unworkable.
  • No fit analysis — listing funders who don’t actually fund your mission wastes everyone’s time.
  • No recency check — many prospect lists include foundations that have wound down or pivoted away.
  • No conversion plan — research without a cultivation plan is just data.
How prospect research works

A clear path from where you are to where you need to be.

Step01

Define

Mission, geography, stage, and the funder types worth pursuing.

Step02

Mine

AI-assisted research across foundation, corporate, major-donor, and federal/state sources.

Step03

Rank

Every prospect scored on fit, capacity, win-probability, and recency.

Step04

Convert

LOI/cover letter templates, cultivation calendar, and a handoff that your development team can run.

Every engagement begins with a free Capacity Index.

An objective baseline of where your organization actually stands across 10 strategic domains. No obligation, no sales pitch.

Request your free Index
Related services

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