We do not use "worth" estimates- there isn't a way to determine it, as far as I can see. We do rate by capacity and I have reviewed many formulae over the past year in preparation for our campaign. We also rely on wealth engine.

We use capability ratings and do not (attempt to) calculate net worth. We use two levels of capabilty research: one to quickly qualify a prospect during the identification stage and one to further detail all financial data that we can find during the cultivating and pre-solicitation (or, at least, that's the intention). We use the ratings to segment and rank the prospect pool. I have strong confidence in our ratings, which we also supplement with WealthEngine data when available and applicable.

When it comes to estimating capability of a prospect during the 'identification' stage, what does that look like? The only rating formulas I've used require the more extensive financial data.

Most of the formulas we use were gained from APRA conference sessions, for example: securities valued over $100K, real estate valued over $1M; income over $350K, sole ownership of a private company with $1M in revenue, or a gift to another organization over $100K. To give credit where it's due - those were from a Bentz Whaley Flessner led session. As you can see, during the ID stage we don't try to determine the specific range of capability, but qualify a person as capable of a major gift of $25K or more. It's a way for us to go through a large number of candidates to qualify them as prospects, and to get the fundraisers involved more quickly so they can make their qualification calls.

I would be curious to know if the capacity ratings and net worth calculations really make a big difference in how much money is asked and then raised. I think you can qualify people with assets but you can never know someone's debts and I've seen cases where someone had stock and a hefty salary but there was so much debt that the prospect had little interest in giving.