FAQs

Google is perhaps the most commonly used search engine when looking for information on the internet. There are a number of very simple things you can do to make sure you can find the information you're looking for without having to trawl through thousands, if not millions, of web pages.
 
Knowing how to search for specific things quickly and effectively is one of the first things prospect researchers learn how to do and it really is worth spending some time becoming familiar with basic ways to search for information.
 
The Google Guide is perhaps the best guide to developing these skills as it shows you how to make searching easy, whether you're a novice or expert, and the best thing is it's FREE!

This is a very common question, particularly if you're looking for free information.
 
Searching for trusts in the UK
 
If you know a trust is registered in England or Wales, it WILL be on the Charity Commission's 'Register of Charities'. Finding it within their database is another question entirely!
 
Searching the Charity Commission 'Register of Charities'
 
Although the search functions of the RoC database has improved over the years, it can often still be difficult to find the trust you're looking for, particularly if a trust has initials in its name. The database allows you to search by:

• Registered number
• Name
• Keyword(s)

 
Unless you know the registered number, the most effective way to find the trust you're looking for is to use their 'Keyword(s)' facility. As a researcher, expanding the search criteria to as wide as possible might bring back more results, but means that what you're looking for will be there.
 
So, for example, if you were looking for The AL Sussman Charitable Trust, typing in Sussman into the 'Name Match' search box will not find the trust because it searches for names 'beginning with'. Instead,  change the criteria to 'Keywords' and type in Sussman.  This will result in finding The Adrienne and Leslie Sussman Charitable Trust. Try to always use KEY WORDS instead of common ones like 'The' or 'Charitable'.
 
If you still can't find the trust, some other things to think about when searching are:

• Do you have the right spelling of the name?
• Is the name abbreviated in any way?
• Has the trust changed it's name?
• Has the trust been removed from the register of charities? (Use the tick box on the search pages)
• Is it a subsidiary of another trust?
• Are you sure the trust is English or Welsh?

 
If you're looking for a trust with a common name, like Smith, you'll need to widen the search parameters by clicking on 'limited to 500 records' instead of 200. Essentially what you're looking to do is ensure you have the greatest possible chance of locating the trust, especially if you're not absolutely certain of it's name and/or spelling.
 
If you still can't find the trust you're looking for, try searching the Guidestar website which also lists all registered charities.
 
Finding trusts and foundations in other countries
 
If you're not sure where the trust you're looking for is registered, try searching other charity registers and directories, including:
 
Scotland

• Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) - The OSCR lists all registered charities in Scotland and has a searchable database similar to the CC.

Northern Ireland

• Grant-tracker - Although this is a subscription-based service for finding funding in Northern Ireland, they do provide a free list of a number of NI independent and coporate trusts.
• Department for Social Development - You can also obtain information on registered charities in Northern Ireland by contacting the DSD

Ireland

• Irish Revenue Commission - Although Ireland doesn't have an official charity commission, the revenue service does provide a list of registered charities, which include trust and foundations.
• The Irish Directory of Philanthropy - Lists 20 trusts and foundations based in Ireland

 
New Zealand

• New Zealand Charities Register - Lists all charitable organisations in New Zealand

 
Switzerland

• Swiss Foundations - This website lists about 50 Swiss foundations who are members of the Swiss Foundations network

 
America

• Foundation Center - The FC's Foundation Finder tool is an excellent resource for finding information on US foundations
• Guidestar US - Lists 1.7million registered nonprofits in America, including foundations
• NOZA - Online searchable database includes 825,412 grant records and is the only free service of its kind

 
Asia

• Grant Making Foundations in Asia - The APPC provides a list of some of the grant making foundations in country's including Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and the Republic of Korea

 
Global

• Funders Online - The European Foundation Centre's Funders Online lists foundations and corporate funders active in Europe, but this includes many from around the world including Asia, Australasia and America. Not an exhaustive list for each country but can be quite useful.
• Foundation Search - FS's 'Global Search' facility is a free to use database of information on 122,000 trusts and foundations in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia

 
Whilst this isn't an exhaustive list, it does give you some idea of how to find the information you want on trust and foundations. If you're looking for lists of trusts and foundations in specific countries, try first finding out if they have a charities commission or equivalent or search the government's revenue services.
 
Another good tip, especially when looking for funding, is to search for trust or foundation associations, where a list of members will reveal at least some of the foundations in that country/region. Why not start off by searching through the fResource Organsiations database, which lists many such umbrella organisations.

Firstly it should be said that when researching any individual, it's always worth checking whether you hold any exisiting information on them. This might be a colleague or other department, particularly if your organisation has had contact in the past. It's also worth asking your colleagues, managers, directors, CEO and trustees to see if they know any of the people on your list. In-house information is always a very good starting point!

However, there are many resources you can use to find information on individuals, some free and some subscription based. Below is a list of resources to consider. if you want to find out more about each one and what people think about them, visit the fResource database.

KnowUK www.knowuk.co.uk
Subscription resource which consists of a collection of UK-specific reference information from over 100 of the most widely used reference publications in the UK. These include:

• Debretts People of Today
• European Parliamentary Biographies
• House of Commons/Lords Biographies
• International Who's Who of Sport
• Law Society's Directory of Solicitors
• School's Who's Who
• Scottish Parliamentary Biographies
• Who's Who
• Who's Who in Education
• Who's Who in Northern Ireland/Scotland

KnowUK does offer a free trial of it's product and a number of libraries in the UK should have free access to it.

Corporate Databases
Obviously only useful if you're looking for contact information for company directors but some resources do give you access to home addresses which can obviously be useful. You could also try the Directory of Directors by Hemscott and Crawford's Directory of City Connections.

The most widely recognised corporate databases are:

• DASH/MINT/FAME - Bureau van Dijk (includes director home addresses)
• BoardEx
• Factiva by ProQuest
• Hemscott Company Guru by Hemscott
• Thomson Business Intelligence by Thomson

Debretts People of Today www.debretts.co.uk
Debrett's is a good source of information on the biographies of Britain's most distinguished figures (all 28,000 of them).  It includes Britons and  foreign nationals working in Britain whose achievements have raised them to renown as leaders in their fields, listing biographies or peers, clergy, academics, policiticians and business people alongside those of men and women from the world of the arts, media, fashion and sport.


Who's Who
There are a few versions of Who's Who produced by different companies, some of which you can see in the list above. Below are the two larger ones, which includes information on people in various countries.

• International Who's Who - published by Routledge
• Who's Who (including  Who's Who in America; the World; Asia) - published by Marquis

If you would like to add or amend anything on this FAQ, please contact us at: faqs@fresource.info

Visit the 'What is fResource' section of the site located in the 'About' menu item for the answer.

Prospect research is continually evolving as it gains greater recognition in fundraising circles and so there are now more things to think about but also more support networks available.

Below is a list of key things to think about when starting a new role as a prospect research/development officer. This is by no means a complete list, but will give you enough to think about to get started.

• Develop a template for researching individual profiles/major donors - this helps both the researcher to clearly define research parameters, and anyone requesting research to know just what information can be collated. Example of a research profile template.

• Arrange to meet key staff in your organisation - internal networks can be crucial sources of information, particularly if you are to gain knowledge and understanding of how these networks can be benficial to you as a researcher, as well as making people aware that you exist! Fundraising is often an overlooked part of an organisation, so it's important you let people know that you will be on the look out for information from them from time to time - but obviously be polite!

• Go through your department's files - particularly if they have donor files as this will give you an idea of the kind of people your organisation has previously/is working with. Paper files often make for interesting reading as the can shed light on the type of relationship the donor has with your organisation. Remember that commications of this nature will often hold personal information that must be kept secure. Also go through your organisations annual reports and publications to give you a much better idea of what goes on and where.

• Resource assessment - one of the first things you should do is to assess which resources your department/organisation currently has and evaluate which products you will need over and above these, to be able to do your job properly. As you'll see from the fResource database, there are literally hundreds of useful resources, but be selective, talk to other researchers and make sure you get the right tools (particularly if you have a limited budget). Although there are many products, there are certain resources people take as standard for particular areas of research (Trustfunding for trusts in the UK for example).