The Easiest Way To Find New Grants (Peer Prospecting)

Instrumentl

24 Jul 202402:58

Summary

TLDRInstrumental introduces a new 'Peer Prospecting' feature to streamline identifying nonprofit peer organizations and their funding histories. This tool eliminates the need for manual searching by offering a dynamic 'peer list' that tracks potential funders and compares organizations. Users can easily add peer nonprofits, access insights on their 990s, compare key metrics, and review funding histories. An advanced filter helps identify high-ROI funders based on past support for peer groups. Instrumental aims to simplify developmental due diligence, enabling organizations to focus on growth. Feedback is encouraged for future improvements.

Takeaways

😀 Introduction of new functionality called 'Peer Prospecting' by Instrumental.
🔍 Peer Prospecting helps identify and track peer nonprofit organizations, saving time on manual searches.
📊 New tools streamline the process of uncovering potential funders aligned with an organization’s mission and geography.
📑 Pro users now have access to a 'Peer List' feature, located at the bottom left of the screen under projects.
✨ This peer list is a living tracker, automatically updating with new funding data as it becomes available.
➕ Adding a peer organization is simple: click the purple plus button and input information like name, location, and EIN number.
📈 Advanced recipient insights include organization comparisons, showing how an organization stacks up against peers.
📅 A funding history table reveals year-to-year or total fundraising data of selected nonprofits.
💡 A new filter allows users to find funders that have supported peer organizations, helping identify high-ROI potential funders.
📢 Instrumental encourages feedback on these new features and invites users to share how the tools can be improved.

Q & A

What is the new functionality introduced by Instrumental?
-The new functionality introduced by Instrumental is called 'peer prospecting,' which helps users identify peer nonprofit organizations and analyze their funding histories to uncover potential funders.
What problem does peer prospecting aim to solve?
-Peer prospecting aims to solve the time-consuming issue of manually searching for and tracking peer nonprofits and their funding histories, which often involves combing through tax documents.
Where can users find the peer list in the Instrumental interface?
-Users can find the peer list at the bottom left of their screen, underneath their projects in the Instrumental interface.
What is the purpose of the peer list?
-The peer list serves as a living tracker for peer organizations, helping users keep tabs on potential funders and measure their organization's activities compared to others.
How do users add a new peer organization to their list?
-Users can add a new peer organization by clicking a purple plus button, entering information such as the organization's name, location, and EIN number, and then selecting the desired organization.
What kind of insights can users get from the added peer organizations?
-Users can view a detailed breakdown of a peer organization's 990 form, including key metrics that compare their organization's activities with the peer organization, as well as a funding history table.
What is the purpose of the organization comparison feature?
-The organization comparison feature allows users to quickly highlight how their organization stacks up against a peer organization by pulling key metrics from their 990 forms.
What information does the funding history table provide?
-The funding history table shows the story of the selected nonprofit’s fundraising year-to-year or in total, including details about the average award to the recipient and when they last received an award from a fund.
What does the new filter on funder matches allow users to do?
-The new filter on funder matches allows users to filter results to see which foundations have given to organizations in their peer group, helping identify potential high ROI funders.
How can users provide feedback on the new features?
-Users can provide feedback on the new features by commenting or sending a message to the Instrumental team.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Exciting New Peer Prospecting Feature Unveiled

The speaker introduces a new functionality called 'peer prospecting' from Instrumental. This tool helps identify peer nonprofit organizations and examine their funding histories, which is a crucial part of development due diligence. Instead of manually combing through tax documents to find potential funders, users can now leverage this feature to simplify the process.

📊 Introducing the Peer List Tracker

A new 'peer list' feature is highlighted, available at the bottom left of the user's project screen. This list keeps track of peer organizations and allows users to monitor potential funders and compare their organization’s activities with others. The speaker mentions that this dynamic list is continuously updated as new funding data becomes available, removing the need for extensive manual searching.

➕ Adding Peers Made Simple

The process of adding a new peer organization to the list is explained. Users can click the purple button with a plus sign, enter basic details such as the organization's name, location, and EIN number, and then add them to their list. The speaker demonstrates this by adding a local organization and explains that selecting the organization provides a detailed breakdown of its Form 990 data.

🔍 Organization Comparison and Insights

The new advanced recipient insights feature is introduced, starting with organization comparison. This feature allows users to see key metrics from peer organizations' Form 990s, quickly highlighting how their own organization compares. The speaker scrolls through a funding history table, showing year-to-year fundraising trends and total amounts received, along with details of the average awards.

📊 Deep Dive into Funding Data

The speaker goes into more detail about how users can explore the funding history of selected nonprofits. The table allows users to see how the selected organization compares in terms of average awards received. Users can also expand each row to see more granular details about each award, helping them better understand the funding landscape.

🔎 Funder Match Filters for Targeted Research

A new filter has been added to the funder matches feature. This filter helps users identify which foundations have supported organizations in their peer group, enabling more targeted research for high-return-on-investment (ROI) funders. It provides evidence of foundations that support specific focus areas or geographies, helping users find relevant funding opportunities.

💬 Excitement for Future Feedback

The speaker concludes the video by expressing excitement about how users will implement these new features in their work. They encourage viewers to share feedback, either in the comments or via direct message, on how to further improve the tool in future releases. The speaker signs off with thanks and well wishes.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Peer Prospecting

Peer prospecting is the process of identifying similar nonprofit organizations and analyzing their funding histories. In the video, it is presented as a key tool for development professionals to find potential funders that align with their organization's mission or geographic focus, saving time and effort previously spent on manual research.

💡Funding Histories

Funding histories refer to the records of financial contributions and grants received by nonprofit organizations over time. The video highlights the importance of these histories in uncovering new potential funders and comparing the financial trajectories of peer organizations, making them a critical component of peer prospecting.

💡Peer List

The peer list is a feature within Instrumental's platform that tracks peer nonprofit organizations and their funding data. It is designed to help users monitor and compare their organization's activities with similar entities, keeping the list updated as new funding data becomes available. This list streamlines the process of identifying and researching peer organizations.

💡990 Forms

990 forms are tax documents filed by nonprofit organizations in the U.S. to report their finances, including revenues, expenses, and grants received. In the video, these forms are used to provide detailed insights into peer organizations' financial information, enabling users to assess and compare their own nonprofit’s financial performance with others.

💡Organization Comparison

Organization comparison is a new feature that allows users to quickly compare key metrics from peer organizations' 990 forms with their own nonprofit's performance. This comparison helps users understand how they stack up against others in terms of funding and operations, offering insights for strategic planning.

💡Funding History Table

The funding history table is a visual representation of a nonprofit’s year-to-year fundraising data. This tool allows users to see a comprehensive breakdown of how a peer organization has secured funding over time, including comparisons of average award amounts. This feature helps users evaluate trends and fundraising performance.

💡Advanced Recipient Insights

Advanced recipient insights provide deeper analysis of nonprofit organizations by breaking down their funding sources and award patterns. The video introduces this feature as a way for users to gain a more detailed understanding of how peer organizations are funded, including when and how much they received from specific funds.

💡Funder Matches

Funder matches are a tool within the platform that identifies foundations and other funding sources that have previously supported organizations within a user's peer group. This feature allows users to filter and focus on high-potential funders who are likely to support their cause or geographic area, increasing the chance of securing funding.

💡Award Breakdown

The award breakdown feature shows detailed information about individual grants or awards received by a peer organization, including when the award was given, the amount, and the total number of awards from a particular fund. This level of detail helps users understand funding patterns and optimize their own fundraising strategies.

💡High ROI Funders

High ROI (Return on Investment) funders refer to those foundations or organizations that are most likely to yield significant funding support based on previous giving to similar nonprofits. The video emphasizes how the platform helps users identify these funders by analyzing peer organizations’ funding histories and match results.

Highlights

Introduces new functionality called Peer Prospecting.

Peer Prospecting helps identify peer nonprofit organizations and dig into their funding histories.

This feature aids in uncovering potential funders aligned with an organization’s mission or geography.

Peer Prospecting eliminates hours of manual searching through tax documents for solid prospects.

Pro users can now access a peer list at the bottom left of their project screen.

The peer list serves as a living tracker for peer organizations.

Instrumental keeps the peer list updated as new funding data becomes available.

Users can easily add a new peer organization by clicking a purple button and filling in some basic details.

The peer list helps users measure their organization's activities against peer organizations.

New advanced recipient insights include the ability to compare organizations based on key 990 metrics.

The funding history table provides a year-to-year breakdown of a nonprofit’s fundraising activities.

Users can see how the average award to a recipient compares to the overall average award from a fund.

Details such as the last award received and the total number of awards are available in the funding history.

A new filter allows users to see which foundations have given to organizations in their peer group.

The new features enable users to identify high-ROI funders with evidence of supporting similar focus areas or geographies.