What Wealth Screening Can—and Can’t—Tell You

Wealth screening can be a powerful tool for fundraisers. It helps us estimate a person’s potential giving capacity, gives us insight into their business interests, board service, and even provides clues about their profession, age, religion, and ethnicity. It can flag past large gifts, suggest areas of philanthropic interest, and sometimes even help us identify relationships—like who they live near or might be connected to through professional networks.

All of this can be incredibly helpful. But here’s the thing: wealth screening is not the whole story.

What it can’t do is capture the nuance—the intention, emotion, or motivations behind someone’s giving. It can’t replace the trust and understanding built through a real relationship.

Recently, we ran a wealth screen for an organization and the estimate came back at a mid-range giving level. But what the data didn’t reflect was what the organization already knew: this individual had a deep, personal connection to the mission. They wanted to devote the entirety of their philanthropic giving over the next few years to help bring the organization’s bold vision to life. And they were working closely with their financial advisor to structure a transformational legacy gift.

No screening tool could have predicted that.

So yes—use the data. Let it inform your strategies. But don’t let it define your approach. The most valuable insights often come not from a report, but from a conversation. From listening closely. From building trust over time.

That’s where the magic happens.

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Frances Roen is a Georgia girl at heart, and has been graciously adopted by beautiful, snowy Minnesota. She is a forty-something daughter, friend, mom, wife, and entrepreneur, and is always on the look-out for a perfectly

fried piece of chicken.

Frances is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) with nearly 20 years of experience fundraising and has raised over $200M for nonprofits. She has held fundraising positions at The Bakken Museum, Augustana Care Corporation, and YouthLink and consulted with dozens of nonprofit clients across the globe. In these roles, she has been responsible for all aspects of fundraising including comprehensive campaigns, major and planned gifts, annual funds, events, communications, corporate partnerships, and volunteers.