DonorAtlas was designed to make prospecting a breeze, whether you've been using wealth screening tools for years or are discovering prospect research for the first time. But even the most intuitive tools have hidden depth. Many teams only tap a fraction of what DonorAtlas can do, missing opportunities to uncover high‑potential prospects and build stronger donor relationships faster.

In this article, we'll walk through three commonly overlooked features in DonorAtlas that can help fundraising teams identify stronger prospects, uncover hidden connections, and build more targeted outreach lists.

1. Understand the Difference Between “Who Donates” and “Who Cares About”

The DonorAtlas platform makes prospecting new donors easy; all it takes is entering any combination of publicly available information. For example, you might search “donors in Boston, Massachusetts who give to environmental causes and have a net worth over $5 million.” Within seconds, DonorAtlas populates a list of matching prospects based on verified public records.

Many fundraisers solely start their DonorAtlas searches using this “who donate” or “who give” search. However, few realize the “who donate” filters solely for individuals who have already given to a specific cause. This approach works well for broad issue areas like general education or health, where the donor pool is large.

However, for more niche missions (say, an organization dedicated to ballet) the “who donates” search can quickly return limited results, especially when applying filters like geography or capacity. Because this filter draws only from public philanthropic giving records, you might end up with just a handful of qualified leads.

A better approach is to try “who care about”. This search expands your reach to include individuals who may not have a recorded donation but show clear signs of interest. For instance, DonorAtlas recognizes people who:

• Are members of ballet or dance‑related associations
• Hold board positions at related organizations
• Participate in advocacy or professional groups tied to the issue

These individuals might not yet have a public giving history, but they're often mission‑aligned and more receptive to outreach. By knowing when to switch between “who donate” and “who care about,” your team can find prospects who not only meet your criteria (wealth, location, or influence) but also share genuine passion for your cause.

2. Expand and Populate Your Network

The Network feature in DonorAtlas helps users uncover meaningful connections, giving you access to warm introductions that can lead to your next top advocate or major donor. Based on the people you've added, DonorAtlas automatically suggests strong connections (such as individuals who have served on the same board, attended the same university, or even co‑founded a company together).

For many nonprofits, DonorAtlas pre‑populates this Network section with known board members. For consultants, advocacy groups, and political campaigns, their starting network may be smaller. Even established organizations often begin with only a few automatically detected connections, typically three to five board members. That's a great foundation, but it's just the beginning.

To unlock the full potential of this feature, teams should actively expand their network routinely. By clicking the “+ Add” button in the top right corner, you can manually include additional contacts such as:

• Major donors
• Long‑time supporters
• Ambassadors or advocates for your organization
• Influential community members tied to your mission

These individuals don't need to be official board members; what matters is that they have meaningful relationships that can lead to introductions. By expanding your network beyond the default inputs, you dramatically increase the chances of uncovering warm introductions and second‑degree relationships that might otherwise stay hidden.

To get the most out of DonorAtlas, we highly recommend that your team regularly updates and continuously expands members in your Network.

3. Filter Your Network to Find the Best Prospects

One of the biggest advantages of building a strong network in DonorAtlas is the scale of connections it unlocks.

A typical supporter might have 50 connections, but high-profile individuals (such as well-known board members or major donors) often have hundreds. These connections can come from:

• Shared board service
• Former classmates or alumni networks
• Professional affiliations
• Personal relationships

While this level of connectivity is powerful, it can also be overwhelming. A single well-connected person might produce 400+ potential prospects.

This is where network filtering becomes essential.

Using the Filters panel in the top-left corner, teams can refine results based on criteria such as:

• Issue interests
• Political leaning
• Giving capacity
• Location
• Philanthropic history

Filtering allows you to turn a massive list into a manageable, highly relevant group of prospects that your team can realistically prioritize.

Final Thoughts

Successful prospecting isn't just about identifying wealthy individuals — it's about finding people who genuinely share your mission and can be reached through meaningful connections in a reasonable amount of time. DonorAtlas empowers fundraising teams to do exactly that by uniting philanthropic data, relationship networks, and issue alignment in one platform.

When fundraisers balance searches for proven donors with those who simply care deeply about their cause, they uncover high-potential prospects that might otherwise go unnoticed. Expanding your network within DonorAtlas further increases access to warm introductions — the most effective path to new relationships. And with smart filters, teams can quickly refine broad connection lists into a focused, high-priority group of leads.

Together, these capabilities make DonorAtlas a more powerful prospecting engine — helping organizations spend less time searching and more time building lasting donor relationships.