WealthEngine Releases New Ratings & Scores for Effective Wealth Intelligence

BETHESDA, Md., April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- WealthEngine, Inc.™, the leading provider of sophisticated wealth identification and prospect research solutions announced today at the AFP 2012 International Conference on Fundraising event the release of new and enhanced ratings and scores for effective wealth intelligence. The expanded offering includes Wealth Insight scores for Total Assets, Net Worth, Liquidity and Estimated Annual Donations, as well as several Wealth Attribute ratings to determine philanthropic inclination.

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"For nonprofit and fundraising professionals, the use of analytics is essential for identifying, segmenting and targeting those donors with the best ability and propensity to give.  It's the key to meeting their fundraising goals and to driving their organization and mission forward," explains Tony Glowacki, President and CEO of WealthEngine. "WealthEngine's new ratings and scores will give our clients transformational insight on their donors and prospects. Previously, market ratings and scores offered useful constituent segmentation, however, WealthEngine's new ratings and scores go a step further to rank order donors and prospects for greater reliability and more effective fundraising programs."

"The success of our recent $500 million campaign can be largely attributed to the use of WealthEngine's scores as the baseline factor in determining a prospect's ability to make a donation and the propensity of them doing so," explains Jim Beikler, Assistant Manager of Prospect Research at Colorado State University. "As we start the planning phase for our next fundraising campaign, with the goal yet to be determined other than bigger, we couldn't be more excited to leverage WealthEngine's new ratings and scores to help us develop a gift table and validate gift pyramids with wealth, affinity and capacity information."

Data analytics play an equally important role in the strategy and decision making process for nonprofit and commercial organizations. WealthEngine's scores and ratings are valuable predictive indicators that can be used when developing strategies to target those with the right attributes, enabling clients to focus on efficient and effective communication to the right people. Organizations that target affluent individuals can use this insight to reach new market segments, target customers with the right product offerings and focus on those prospects with the greatest potential.  

Included in the suite of ratings and scores are new and improved Wealth Insight scores for Total Assets, Net Worth, Liquidity and Estimated Annual Donations, as well as several Wealth Attribute ratings to determine philanthropic inclination. These scores were developed and validated using actual, individual-level data and advanced statistical techniques, resulting in the most accurate and powerful scores available in the marketplace today. This approach is unique in that most wealth ratings are based on aggregated, Zip +4 levels. "Using individual-level data to develop the scores prevents one household with a multi-million dollar income from skewing the average incomes of other households in the tract, and avoids classifying renters as homeowners and subsequently inflating actual assets," explains Benjamin Post, Director of Analytics at WealthEngine. "It also allows for age to be included as a factor and to account for the reality that asset behavior varies dramatically by age."

WealthEngine's scores were created from over 50 different algorithms that take into account the amount of data available in the match as well as what source the data originated from.  The scoring algorithms have been validated against 'truth' files that statistically represent the U.S. population, further establishing their accuracy in predicting a valid score.  As Mr. Post explains, "Our validation process indicated that our scores are statistically valid at 95%, to within one range above or below.  In other words, in over 9 out of 10 cases, our score values will be accurate to within one range higher or lower than the score range we provided. This means that the scores can direct you, with unmatched reliability, to your best constituents time and again." 

More than 3,500 organizations across a variety of industries rely on WealthEngine to identify and cultivate their best donors, customers and prospects. Over 20 years, WealthEngine has built a strong reputation as the leading provider of prospect research tools and analytic solutions that have helped nonprofit clients collectively raise billions in funds. In the commercial sector, WealthEngine is regarded as the leading business development solution used by luxury goods marketers, financial advisors, banks, insurance companies and others whose business is focused on affluent and high net worth individuals and families.

On Thursday, April 26 at 1:00pm and 2:00pm Eastern, Benjamin Post and Kimberly O'Donnell of WealthEngine will host complimentary half-hour webinars to discuss the application of WealthEngine's ratings and scores for effective wealth identification. Nonprofit organizations may register for the 1:00pm webinar here, and commercial organizations can register for the 2:00pm webinar here.  For more information on WealthEngine's ratings and scores, please visit www.wealthengine.com or contact WealthEngine at [email protected].

About WealthEngine, Inc.™
WealthEngine, Inc.™ is a leading provider of sophisticated wealth identification and prospect research services to charities, hospitals, institutions of higher education, political campaigns, advocacy groups, and other nonprofit organizations, as well as to firms that offer luxury goods and financial services. More than 3,500 clients use WealthEngine for comprehensive research on individuals, companies and foundations. Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, WealthEngine serves both the United States and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.wealthengine.com.

Communications Contact: 

WealthEngine
Kimberly O'Donnell
[email protected]
T: 240-722-4383

SOURCE WealthEngine, Inc.