Seasonal Donor Engagement (Florida)

How a data-first approach transformed a winter trial into a repeatable pipeline of high-potential major gift cultivation events.

Role: Prospect Research & Strategy Focus: Major Gifts Methods: Data Enrichment, Event Design, Outreach Cadence

Background

I identified a strategic opportunity to deepen major gift engagement among members who seasonally or permanently reside in Florida. The goal: maintain momentum outside Ohio and build a repeatable cultivation engine in a geography with high donor potential.

Challenge

Starting point was ~100 partially complete records indicating possible Florida residency.
Limited visibility into seasonality and updated contact details.
Ad hoc winter board gathering with no year-round structure.

Approach

1) Data Enrichment & Verification

Cross-referenced member files with NCOA/USPS, property and voter records, and 3rd‑party wealth/locator data.
Standardized seasonality flags (primary, seasonal, snowbird) and validated preferred contact channels.
Instituted rolling refresh cadence to capture moves and new additions.

2) Engagement Design

Scaled a one‑off winter board meeting into a structured event series (4–5 annually).
Matched program themes to member interests; created warm handoffs for gift officers.
Built a year‑round communication sequence aligned to Florida residency windows.

Results

100 → 200+

Verified Florida members in first two years

350+

Current verified Florida resident & seasonal contacts

4–5 / yr

Repeat cultivation events, consistently filled

Note: Specific gift outcomes and dollar amounts intentionally omitted for confidentiality. Available upon request under NDA.

Transferability

This playbook is directly applicable to universities and other nonprofits managing geographically dispersed constituents (e.g., alumni in Sun Belt metros). Key ingredients:

Define segment rules for seasonality; enrich addresses and contact preferences.
Stand up a repeatable event cadence aligned to residency windows.
Operationalize warm introductions and follow‑ups for major gift officers.

My Role & Tooling

Responsibilities: segmentation logic, data sourcing & verification, KPI design, event targeting, and internal enablement.
Tools: CRM exports, Lexis, property/voter data sources, wealth screening platforms, spreadsheet & Python automation.
Governance: privacy‑aware data handling; opt‑out and preferences honored; board coordination.

Sample KPIs

Verified seasonal/Florida records (count, MoM/YoY)
Event RSVPs & attendance rate
Post‑event officer assignments & follow‑ups

Meeting conversion rate
Pipeline adds from Florida segment
Time‑to‑touch for new additions