Your next major donor is likely already following you on Facebook. The problem? You probably don't know who they are. Your social media channels are full of engaged people, but turning those anonymous followers into named supporters is a huge challenge. This is the gap where fundraising potential gets lost. Nonprofit donor prospecting tools are the bridge. They help you identify high-potential individuals within your existing online community and give you the insights to start a real, one-on-one conversation. This guide explores the best tools available to help you transform your social media audience from a list of followers into a pipeline of passionate donors.

Key Takeaways

• Stop Guessing and Start Connecting: Donor prospecting tools use data to pinpoint individuals with the financial capacity and genuine interest to support your mission. This lets you stop wasting resources on broad appeals and focus on building relationships with your most promising supporters.
• Find the Right Fit for Your Team: The best tool isn't the one with the most features; it's the one that solves your specific problems and works with your existing systems. Always define your goals, confirm CRM compatibility, and get your team's hands on the software with a free trial or demo.
• Make Data Part of Your Daily Routine: A new tool is only effective if you use it. Weave prospect insights into your strategy by segmenting audiences for targeted campaigns, personalizing your outreach with what you learn, and training your team to use the platform confidently.

What Are Donor Prospecting Tools, Anyway?

Let's break it down. Donor prospecting tools are essentially your fundraising research assistants, packaged as software. They help your nonprofit gather and analyze data about potential and existing donors to figure out who is most likely to support your cause and has the financial ability to do so. Think of them as a way to move beyond guesswork and focus your fundraising efforts where they’ll have the most impact.

Instead of manually searching through public records or social media profiles, these tools do the heavy lifting for you. They pull together key details about a person's wealth, philanthropic history, professional background, and even their personal interests and connections. The goal is to get a clear picture of a prospect’s capacity to give and their inclination to support organizations like yours. This information is crucial for identifying potential major donors and understanding how to build genuine 1:1 relationships with them. By knowing who your best potential supporters are, you can tailor your outreach and make every conversation count.

Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Donor Prospecting Tool

Let's be honest: finding and connecting with new donors feels harder than ever. The old playbook of direct mail and email blasts isn't delivering the same results, and simply posting on social media doesn't automatically translate into donations. If you feel like you're putting in more effort for less return, you're not alone. This is precisely where a donor prospecting tool shifts from a luxury to a necessity.

These tools are designed to help you work smarter, not harder. They cut through the noise to help you identify individuals who are not only capable of giving but are also genuinely interested in your cause. Instead of guessing who might support your mission, you can move forward with a clear, data-backed strategy. This allows you to focus your limited time and resources on building meaningful relationships with the people most likely to become your next passionate supporters.

Combat Rising Donor Acquisition Costs

Acquiring new donors is one of the most expensive parts of fundraising, and the costs are only going up. Sticking to outdated methods can lead to "decreased donor engagement and increased costs associated with acquiring new donors." A donor prospecting tool helps you get more from your budget by focusing your efforts on high-potential prospects. Instead of spending money on broad campaigns that may or may not reach the right people, you can pinpoint individuals who have a history of supporting similar causes or the financial capacity to make a significant gift. This targeted approach means your acquisition budget is spent more efficiently, leading to a higher return on investment and a more sustainable fundraising pipeline.

Overcome Low Email Engagement and Donor Drop-off

Is your email open rate slowly declining? It’s a common struggle. Inboxes are crowded, and generic appeals are easy to ignore. Low engagement often leads to donor drop-off, as supporters feel disconnected from your mission. Prospecting tools give you the insights you need to personalize your outreach and make it stand out. By understanding a prospect’s interests, past giving habits, and communication preferences, you can tailor your messaging to what they actually care about. This is key to building the kind of authentic, one-on-one relationships that improve retention. It’s all about meeting supporters where they are, whether that’s through a highly personalized email or a direct message on their favorite social platform.

Find Your Best Prospects, Faster

Manually researching potential donors can feel like you’re "drowning in a sea of information." It’s a time-consuming process that often pulls your team away from the crucial work of building relationships and stewarding gifts. Prospect research tools act as your personal data analyst, quickly sifting through public records, wealth indicators, and philanthropic data to surface your best potential supporters. These platforms help you "discover donors with the highest capacity and affinity for supporting their mission," so you can stop searching and start connecting. By automating the initial research, you free up your team to focus on what they do best: sharing your story and inviting people to become part of your cause.

What to Look for in a Donor Prospecting Tool

Choosing a donor prospecting tool is a big decision. The right platform can feel like a superpower, helping you find and connect with supporters who are passionate about your cause. But with so many options out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The key is to look past the flashy features and focus on the core components that will actually help your team raise more money. Think of it as an investment in your fundraising infrastructure—you want something that’s reliable, efficient, and built to last.

Accurate, High-Quality Data

Your prospecting efforts are only as good as the data behind them. A tool that provides inaccurate or outdated information will send your team on wild goose chases, wasting valuable time and resources. The best tools pull from a wide range of reliable sources to give you a clear picture of a prospect's giving potential. Look for platforms that assess the three key indicators: capacity (ability to give), affinity (connection to your cause), and philanthropy (past giving to other nonprofits). This information helps you make informed decisions and prioritize outreach to the people most likely to become your next major donors.

Seamless Integration with Your Current Systems

A new tool shouldn't create more work for your team. The last thing you need is another data silo that’s disconnected from your central donor database. An effective prospecting tool should integrate smoothly with the CRM and other software you already use. This ensures that new insights are automatically added to your existing donor profiles, creating a single, unified view of every supporter. A seamless connection means less manual data entry and more time for what really matters: building relationships with the people who fuel your mission.

An Easy-to-Use Interface (with Great Support)

The most powerful tool in the world is useless if your team finds it confusing. Look for a platform with a clean, intuitive interface that everyone—from your development director to your newest intern—can learn quickly. A straightforward design reduces the training burden and encourages team-wide adoption. Just as important is the support behind the software. When you have a question or run into an issue, you need access to a responsive and helpful customer support team. Check out a few customer stories or reviews to see what current users say about their experience.

AI-Powered Insights and Predictions

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a practical tool that can significantly sharpen your prospecting strategy. AI-powered platforms can analyze billions of data points to identify patterns and predict who is most likely to give, how much they might donate, and when is the best time to ask. This predictive modeling helps you focus your efforts on high-potential prospects that you might have otherwise overlooked. Instead of manually sifting through lists, you can let the technology surface actionable insights, allowing you to work more efficiently and strategically.

Room to Grow: Scalability and Customization

Your nonprofit isn’t static, and your tools shouldn't be either. As your organization grows, your fundraising needs will become more complex. Choose a prospecting tool that can scale with you. Can it handle a larger database as you acquire more supporters? Does it offer customization options to fit your unique fundraising campaigns and workflows? A scalable platform is a long-term partner that adapts to your evolving strategy, ensuring you won't have to go through the search process all over again in a few years. A good fundraising playbook can help you map out this long-term vision.

The Best Donor Prospecting Tools for Nonprofits

GoodUnited: Find Donors on Social Media

Your next big donor is probably already following you on social media. The challenge is turning that anonymous follower into a named supporter. That’s where GoodUnited comes in. Instead of trying to pull people away from their favorite platforms, GoodUnited helps you build relationships right inside social media DMs. It’s designed to start one-on-one conversations at scale, making it easy to engage potential donors, share your mission, and guide them toward making a gift. This approach meets supporters where they are, transforming your social channels from a simple broadcast tool into a powerful fundraising pipeline. It’s perfect for nonprofits ready to tap into their existing online community for real growth.

DonorSearch: For In-Depth Wealth Screening

When you’re looking to identify major gift prospects, you need more than just a name. DonorSearch gives you a deep dive into a prospect's philanthropic and wealth data. This tool helps you understand not just someone's capacity to give, but also their past giving history and charitable interests. By analyzing billions of wealth and philanthropic records, it provides actionable insights so you can focus your energy on the prospects most likely to support your cause. It’s a fantastic resource for building a strong major donor program and ensuring your outreach is both personal and strategic. You can find it featured in many lists of top prospect research tools.

Instrumentl: Your All-in-One Grant and Donor Hub

Juggling grant applications and individual donor prospecting can feel like two separate jobs. Instrumentl brings them together in one streamlined platform. It’s a powerful tool for finding and managing grant opportunities, but it also helps you identify potential individual donors. This dual functionality makes it a great fit for organizations that rely on a mix of funding sources. Instead of switching between different systems, you can manage your entire institutional and individual fundraising pipeline in one place. This helps you save time, stay organized, and find connections you might have otherwise missed between your grant funders and individual supporters.

Double the Donation: Tap into Corporate Matching

Did you know that billions of dollars in corporate matching gift funds go unclaimed every year? Double the Donation helps your nonprofit claim its piece of the pie. This tool makes it incredibly easy to identify donors who work for companies with matching gift programs. By integrating with your donation forms, it automatically flags opportunities and provides supporters with the information they need to submit a matching request. It’s one of the simplest ways to multiply the impact of a gift without asking your donors for more money. For any nonprofit looking to build a sustainable revenue stream, exploring corporate philanthropy is a must.

Prospect Visual: Map Out Your Donor Connections

Sometimes, the best path to a new donor is through someone you already know. Prospect Visual helps you see those connections clearly. This tool creates visual maps that show how your board members, volunteers, and current donors are linked to potential new supporters. It’s like LinkedIn for fundraising, revealing warm pathways for introductions and outreach. Instead of making cold calls, you can leverage existing relationships to connect with high-potential prospects. This visual approach makes it easier to strategize your next move and understand the networks that support your organization. It’s a great way to turn your existing donor data into a roadmap for growth.

iWave: Get a 360-Degree View of Prospects

Understanding a potential donor is about seeing the full picture. iWave provides a comprehensive, 360-degree view by pulling together wealth, biographic, and philanthropic data into one clear profile. This allows you to score and segment prospects based on their capacity, affinity, and inclination to give to your specific cause. The platform is built to give you confidence in your ask by providing the detailed intelligence you need to tailor your outreach. Whether you're identifying new major gift prospects or learning more about your current donors, iWave equips you with the insights to build stronger, more fruitful relationships. It’s a key part of any robust donor acquisition strategy.

WealthEngine: Predict Your Next Big Donor

What if you could predict who your next major donor will be? WealthEngine aims to do just that. The platform uses AI and predictive modeling to analyze your donor database and identify prospects with the greatest potential to give. It looks at wealth indicators, lifestyle attributes, and past philanthropic behavior to score and rank your prospects. This helps you prioritize your outreach and focus your team’s efforts where they’ll have the biggest impact. By moving beyond basic wealth screening, WealthEngine helps you uncover hidden gems in your database and build a proactive strategy for major gift fundraising.

ResearchPoint: Blackbaud's Prospect Research Tool

If your organization is already part of the Blackbaud ecosystem, ResearchPoint is a natural fit. This tool, designed to work with Raiser's Edge NXT, helps you understand the giving potential of your prospects. It pulls from a massive database of public information—including wealth indicators, philanthropic history, and business affiliations—to build detailed profiles. ResearchPoint helps you predict how much a prospect might give and how likely they are to donate to your organization. This allows you to segment your lists and tailor your fundraising asks with greater precision, making your outreach more effective. It’s a solid choice for teams looking for deep integration with their existing nonprofit CRM.

How Much Do These Tools Cost?

Let's talk about the question on everyone's mind: what's the price tag? The cost of donor prospecting tools can range from a small monthly fee to a significant annual investment. Instead of just looking at the price, it's helpful to think of it as an investment in your fundraising strategy. The right tool should pay for itself by helping you find new supporters and deepen relationships with existing ones. Here’s how to break down the costs and make a smart decision for your organization.

Understanding Subscription Models and Tiers

You’ll find that most prospect research tools operate on a subscription basis, usually with monthly or annual payment options. Pricing is rarely a flat rate. Instead, companies offer tiered plans that scale with your needs. A basic tier might give you access to core features for a small team, while premium tiers unlock advanced analytics, more user seats, and larger search volumes. Before you even look at pricing pages, take some time to map out your must-have features and your team's capacity. This will help you choose a plan that aligns with your fundraising goals without paying for bells and whistles you won’t use. A clear understanding of your nonprofit budget will make this process much smoother.

Finding Free Trials and Nonprofit Discounts

The price you see on a website isn't always the final word. Many software companies are mission-driven and offer special discounts for 501(c)(3) organizations—but you often have to ask. Don't be shy about reaching out to a sales representative to inquire about nonprofit rates. Even better, always ask for a free trial or a live demo. This is your chance to get your hands on the tool, see if it’s a good fit for your team’s workflow, and confirm it integrates with your existing systems before you commit any funds. Think of it as test-driving a car; you wouldn't buy one without getting behind the wheel first.

Calculating the ROI of Your Investment

Ultimately, the decision to invest in a new tool comes down to its potential return on investment (ROI). The goal isn't just to spend money; it's to raise more of it. To figure out the potential ROI, think about how the tool will directly impact your bottom line. Ask questions like, "If this tool helps us find just one new major donor, will it have paid for itself?" or "How much staff time will we save on research that can be reallocated to building donor relationships?" Looking at real-world results from other nonprofits can give you a clearer picture of what’s possible and help you make a strong case for the investment.

What Will You Learn About Potential Donors?

Donor prospecting tools do more than just spit out a list of names. They give you a detailed picture of the real people who might be passionate about your cause. Think of it as moving from a blurry outline to a high-definition photo. Instead of just knowing a prospect’s name, you can understand their interests, their financial ability to give, and the best way to start a meaningful conversation. This information is the foundation for building genuine, lasting donor relationships. When you know who you’re talking to, you can skip the generic appeals and make a personal connection that resonates, turning a potential supporter into a lifelong advocate for your mission. It’s about working smarter to find the people who are already looking for a cause like yours to support.

Their Giving Capacity and Wealth

One of the first things a prospecting tool helps you understand is a potential donor's giving capacity—in other words, their financial ability to contribute to your nonprofit. These tools analyze publicly available information, like real estate ownership, stock holdings, and business affiliations, to estimate a person's wealth. This isn't about being invasive; it's about being strategic. Knowing a prospect's capacity helps you make an appropriate ask. It ensures you’re not asking for a major gift from someone who can only give modestly, or suggesting a small donation to someone who has the potential to become a key supporter of your work.

Their Past Giving and Passions

A person’s giving history is a powerful indicator of what they care about. Prospecting tools can uncover past donations to other nonprofits, revealing a pattern of philanthropic interests. Do they consistently support environmental causes, arts and culture, or medical research? This insight helps you determine their affinity for your specific mission. Understanding a prospect’s passions allows you to tailor your outreach and show them exactly how your work aligns with the change they want to see in the world. It’s the difference between a cold ask and a warm invitation to join a cause they already believe in.

How to Reach Them (and How They Prefer to Be Reached)

Gathering data is one thing, but knowing how to use it to connect is another. The best prospecting tools provide contact information and clues about how your prospects prefer to communicate. You might find their professional profile on LinkedIn or see that they actively engage with causes like yours on Facebook. This helps you meet them where they are. Instead of sending another email that might get lost in a crowded inbox, you can start a conversation through direct messaging on social media. Understanding their communication habits helps you cut through the noise and make a genuine connection from the very first interaction.

Their Corporate Ties and Matching Gift Potential

Did you know that many companies match their employees' charitable donations? This is one of the most underutilized sources of funding for nonprofits, and prospecting tools can help you tap into it. By identifying a prospect's employer, these tools can quickly check if the company offers a matching gift program. This simple piece of information can instantly double a donation. Highlighting this opportunity in your ask makes it easy for a donor to multiply their impact without reaching back into their own pocket. It’s a straightforward way to increase revenue and engage supporters on a new level.

Common Challenges (and How to Solve Them)

Adopting a new donor prospecting tool is a fantastic step, but let's be real—it’s not always a seamless transition. You might hit a few bumps as you figure out how to fit a new platform into your daily work. From staring at a wall of data to finding the time for training, these initial hurdles can feel frustrating, especially for busy teams. The good news is that these challenges are common, and they are completely solvable. Think of them not as roadblocks, but as the final hurdles before you start building stronger, more meaningful donor relationships.

The key is to remember that a tool is only as good as the strategy behind it. Simply having access to more information doesn't automatically translate to more donations. You need a plan for how you'll integrate these new insights into your existing fundraising efforts. By anticipating common issues, you can create a plan to address them head-on, ensuring your team gets the most out of your new tool from day one. Below, we’ll walk through the three biggest challenges nonprofits face and give you simple, actionable ways to solve them, turning potential frustration into fundraising success.

Feeling Overwhelmed by Data

It’s easy to feel like you’re drinking from a firehose when you first open a new prospecting tool. Suddenly, you have access to a mountain of information, from giving history to wealth indicators. This data overload can be paralyzing, making it tough to decide where to even begin. The key isn’t to analyze every single data point, but to focus on the ones that matter most for your goals. A good tool will help you filter and prioritize, but you can also streamline your process by starting with a specific segment, like your most engaged social media followers, before expanding your search.

Not Enough Time for Training

If you’re on a small team, the idea of dedicating hours to learning a new system can feel impossible. With so many competing priorities, training often gets pushed to the back burner, which means you never get the full value out of your investment. Instead of seeing training as another task, treat it as a time-saving strategy. Block out just 30 minutes a day to explore the platform. Many companies offer on-demand webinars and tutorials you can watch on your own schedule. Investing a little time upfront will pay off with more efficient and effective fundraising down the line.

Struggling to Connect with Prospects

You’ve identified a promising prospect—now what? Turning data into a genuine connection is often the hardest part. A common mistake is leading with a generic ask instead of a compelling story. The information from your prospecting tool is your secret weapon for personalization. Use what you’ve learned about a prospect’s interests and past giving to craft a message that resonates with them personally. The goal is to start a conversation, not just make a transaction. Meeting supporters where they already are, like in their social media DMs, makes this outreach feel much more natural and helps you build authentic relationships over time.

How to Weave a New Tool into Your Fundraising Strategy

Bringing a new donor prospecting tool into your workflow is more than just a purchase—it’s a strategic shift. To get the most out of your investment, you need a clear plan for how your team will use the data and insights it provides. It’s about turning information into action. By thoughtfully integrating the tool into your existing processes, you can create a more efficient and effective fundraising engine that connects with the right people at the right time.

Segment Your Audience for Targeted Campaigns

Once your new tool starts delivering prospect data, the first step is to organize those contacts into meaningful groups. This is called segmentation. Instead of sending the same message to everyone, you can tailor your communication to specific audiences. Prospect research helps you find donors with the highest capacity and affinity for your mission, allowing you to create segments for potential major donors, recurring givers, or corporate partners. This focused approach ensures your message resonates, making your fundraising campaigns much more effective and helping you build a stronger connection from the very first touchpoint.

Personalize Your Outreach with New Insights

With your audience segmented, you can start personalizing your outreach. The best prospecting tools gather public information like past donations to other organizations, professional backgrounds, and personal interests. Use these details to build genuine connections. Instead of a generic "Dear Friend" email, you can reference a cause they’ve supported in the past or mention their employer’s matching gift program. This level of personalization shows you’ve done your homework and see them as a unique partner in your mission, not just another name on a list. It’s a simple way to stand out and show potential donors you truly value their support.

Train Your Team to Use the Tool Effectively

A powerful tool is only useful if your team knows how to use it. Before you roll it out, make sure everyone who will be using the software is properly trained. Many providers offer demos, webinars, and training sessions to get you started on the right foot. Ask for these resources! Designate a point person or "champion" for the tool within your team who can answer questions and encourage best practices. A small investment in training upfront will pay off significantly by ensuring your team can confidently use the tool to its full potential and integrate it smoothly into their daily tasks.

Set Up Automated Workflows and Follow-Ups

Prospect data is fantastic for identifying a donor’s capacity and likelihood to give, but that information is only valuable if you act on it. Use your tool’s insights to set up automated workflows that save time and prevent prospects from slipping through the cracks. You could create an automated welcome series for new high-potential prospects or a follow-up sequence for individuals who visit your donation page but don’t complete a gift. These automated flows ensure timely, relevant communication without adding to your team’s manual workload, helping you nurture relationships at scale.

How to Choose the Right Tool for Your Nonprofit

With so many options on the market, picking the right donor prospecting tool can feel like a huge task. The best software for your nonprofit isn’t necessarily the one with the most features or the biggest name—it’s the one that fits your team, your budget, and your specific goals. Think of it less like shopping and more like matchmaking. You’re looking for a long-term partner that will help you build stronger relationships with your supporters. To find the perfect fit, work through these four key steps with your team.

Define Your Organization's Needs and Goals

Before you even look at a demo, get clear on what you want to accomplish. Are you trying to identify your next major donor, find new supporters on social media, or secure more corporate grants? Your answer will narrow down the field considerably. Prospect research tools are designed to help you find people who are most likely to support your cause and have the means to give. Make a list of your top 3-5 fundraising goals for the next year and use that as your guide. This simple exercise ensures you choose a tool that solves your actual problems, not just one that looks impressive.

Check for Compatibility with Your Current Systems

A new tool should make your life easier, not create more work. The last thing you want is another piece of software that doesn’t talk to your CRM or other essential platforms. Look for tools that offer seamless integrations with the systems you already use every day. When your prospecting tool can sync with your donor database, you get a complete picture of a supporter’s capacity, past giving, and affinity for your cause. This integration is key to turning raw data into actionable insights and building a truly connected fundraising strategy.

Consider Your Budget and Potential ROI

For any nonprofit, budget is a major factor. Instead of focusing only on the price tag, think about the potential return on your investment. How many new donors or how much in additional funding would you need to secure for the tool to pay for itself? Sometimes, a more comprehensive tool can actually save you money by replacing multiple other subscriptions. When you’re evaluating cost, look at customer stories and case studies to see the tangible results other organizations have achieved. This helps frame the expense as a strategic investment in your mission’s growth.

Always Start with a Free Trial or Demo

You wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive, and the same rule applies to software. A live demo is your chance to ask specific questions related to your nonprofit’s goals and see how the platform works in real-time. Even better, a free trial allows the people who will be using the tool every day to get a feel for the interface and its workflow. Make sure your team knows how to use the tool effectively by asking for training resources or attending a webinar. Getting your team’s buy-in is crucial for a successful rollout.

Related Articles

• 6 Best Nonprofit Fundraising Tools (2025 Guide)
• How to Automate Donor Outreach & Build Relationships
• 5 Best Donor Segmentation Software (2025 Guide)

Frequently Asked Questions

My nonprofit is small and has a tight budget. Are these tools still worth it? This is a great question, and the short answer is yes, absolutely. Think of it less as an expense and more as an investment that can pay for itself. Instead of spending your limited budget on broad appeals that might not land, a prospecting tool helps you focus your time and money on individuals who have already shown an interest in causes like yours. Even finding one new major donor or a handful of dedicated monthly givers can provide a return that far outweighs the cost of the software. Many tools offer tiered pricing or nonprofit discounts, so you can start with a plan that fits your budget and scale up as you grow.

How is a donor prospecting tool different from the CRM we already use? It's easy to get these two confused, but they serve very different, complementary purposes. Your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is your system of record; it’s where you manage and track your relationships with existing donors, volunteers, and supporters. A donor prospecting tool, on the other hand, is your discovery engine. It helps you find new potential supporters and enriches the data you have on your current contacts, giving you insights into their giving capacity and interests. The best-case scenario is when your prospecting tool integrates directly with your CRM, so all that valuable new information flows right into your existing donor profiles.

We're active on social media, but it's not leading to donations. How does a tool specifically help with that? This is a common frustration. You build a great community of followers, but they remain anonymous faces in the crowd. A tool like GoodUnited is designed to solve this exact problem by turning your social media channels into a real fundraising pipeline. It helps you start one-on-one conversations directly in DMs, at scale. This allows you to personally welcome new followers, share compelling stories, and guide them toward making a donation, all without asking them to leave the platform. It bridges the gap between a casual "like" and a committed financial supporter by building a genuine, personal connection.

Is gathering all this donor information ethical? This is such an important question to ask. Reputable donor prospecting tools compile information that is already publicly available, such as real estate records, political contributions, and public company affiliations. The goal isn't to be invasive but to be respectful of a potential donor's time and interests. By understanding a person's philanthropic passions and giving capacity, you can make sure your outreach is relevant and your request is appropriate. It’s about making a thoughtful, informed connection rather than sending a generic, unsolicited ask.

How much time does my team need to commit to actually make one of these tools work? While these tools are powerful, they aren't magic wands. They require a strategic commitment. Initially, you should set aside a few hours for your team to get trained and comfortable with the platform. After that, it's less about adding a huge new task and more about weaving the tool into your existing fundraising work. Instead of spending hours manually searching for prospects, your team will spend that time using the tool's insights to craft personalized outreach. The right tool should ultimately save you time by making your research and outreach far more efficient and effective.