How to Use Influential Introductions to Open Doors That Emails Can't

The Research That Opens Doors: Why Influential Introductions Change Everything

Most fundraisers think of research as a wealth exercise. You pull a screening report, you look at giving capacity, you estimate net worth. Then you determine what your Ask amount will be.

And then you wonder why you still can't get a meeting.

Here's what I want you to shift: the most powerful research in major gift fundraising isn't about what someone can give. It's about who they are, what they care about, and — critically — who in your world already knows them.

That's the research that opens doors.

What an Influential Introduction Actually Is

Most board members, when they want to help, do something like this: they send a quick note to a fundraiser that says *"I know someone you should reach out to — here's their email."* And then they step aside.

That's a referral. It's kind. But it's not an influential introduction.

An influential introduction is something different. Board member Dana writes directly to Prospect Dominique — and copies the fundraiser. In that message, Dana doesn't just say "you should meet Dominique." Dana shares *why they are on the board*. Why this mission personally matters. How the organization is making impact. And then Dana invites Dominique to learn more — because Dana has shared in important Why.

That's what makes it influential. Dominique isn't being handed off to a fundraiser, but hearing from someone trusted about why this work matters enough for that person to give their time and leadership to it. The mission is introduced through relationship, not through a pitch.

And when the fundraiser follows up? It's not the feeling of a stranger making a cold call. The fundraiser is someone that Dana just vouched for, in the context of a mission Dana clearly believes in.

The introduction itself is already connection-based. The relationship starts with values at the center — before a gift is ever mentioned.

The key is the research that gets you there. You have to know enough about the prospect to find the right connector — and know enough about the connector to ask them in a way that sets up a real, meaningful message.

A Yearbook and a Cell Phone Pioneer

Years ago, I was working with a team at United Way of King County that was trying to get a meeting with a very prominent prospect. We had access to a remarkable connector — one of the early pioneers of the American cellphone industry. If anyone could get a meeting, it was him.

But an influential introduction isn't just about who has the most impressive name in the room. It's about whether there's a genuine connection to build on.

So we did the research. We read the prospect's full bio. And there it was — he had attended Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington. (My father taught there, which is why it stuck in my mind immediately.)

We checked our connector's deep background. Also Newport High School.

They graduated two or three years apart. They had never known each other. But they had walked the same hallways, had some of the same teachers, grown up in the same community.

We pulled an old yearbook.

Our connector reached out directly to the prospect — with the shared history as the opener and his own passion for United Way's mission woven in. Not a pitch, not an ask. Just a genuine *we have something in common, and I want you to know why this work matters to me* moment. It became a real conversation. And that conversation became a relationship worth cultivating.

The connection was always there. We just had to look for it.

And of course, we suggested that the yearbook make an appearance at the meeting.

A $267,000 Gift That Started With an Outlier

This one is closer to home — and it's a story about what happens when someone on your team is paying attention.

I was working at the Orthopaedic & Arthritic Hospital in Toronto (now part of Sunnybrook). It was year-end, and a $5,000 check arrived in the mail. That was a significant and unusual gift for our organization — but what caught my eye wasn't just the amount.

The check came from someone who wasn't on our mailing list. The name on the envelope didn't match any donor record. And when I traced the donor ID, it pointed to a woman with a different last name. We just were not sure of the connection.

Then I looked at the name on the check itself.

It was immediately recognizable. This was an executive Research in Motion, which was at the height of its influence in Canada at the time.

I went back further. We had received a previous $5,000 gift, but it had been assigned to the woman who received the mailing. I dug around and we kept copies of our deposits. Bingo, the check (cheque) was not actually from her, but from this gentleman. (Which is not only NOT best practice, but is not according to Revenue Canada rules, but that is a whole different post!)

End result, o follow-up beyond the standard thank-you. No one had noticed.

Except, I noticed.

We sent an urgent note to the board: did anyone know this person? Within a short time, a board member came forward. They had gone to high school together.

That board member reached out directly — not to talk about a gift, but to say thank you, to share why the hospital's work mattered to him personally, and to learn more about why this donor had given. What came out of that conversation was something I've never forgotten.

"My mum was basically housebound until she got her knee surgery. She has a new lease on life. She can garden again. She can walk."

That was the donor's Why. A son who watched his mother get her life back, and wanted to do something about it. We arranged a hospital tour and a conversation with a physician. He could see his mother's story reflected back in the work we were doing every day.

The result was a $267,000 stock gift.

And it started because I was keeping a close eye on the donor reports — looking for outliers, even when we were busy, even when it would have been easy to process the check and move on.

What This Means for You

The research that matters most isn't always what shows up in a screening tool.

Sometimes it's reading a full bio and noticing a high school name you recognize. Sometimes it's tracing an unusual check back to a family connection. Sometimes it's asking your board — quietly and specifically — "Do you know this person?"

The connections are often already there. They're in the LinkedIn profile you haven't pulled up yet. They're in the bio you skimmed instead of read. They're in the donor report from three years ago that nobody followed up on.

Your job is to be the person who looks. Who traces the thread. Who asks the right question of the right board member before someone else's year-end deadline passes.

Because when you find that connection — and you make that introduction count — you're not just getting a meeting.

You're starting a relationship that was always waiting to begin.

Q: How do I actually find these connections? I don't have a research team — it's just me.

You don't need a research team. You need curiosity and a few reliable tools.

Start with LinkedIn — it's one of the most underused research tools in fundraising. A prospect's profile will often tell you where they went to school, where they've worked, what boards they sit on, what they care about. Read it fully, not just the headline.

Then read their full bio wherever it exists — a company website, a nonprofit board page, a news article. Look for the details that feel specific: the hometown, the university, the community organization. Those are the threads.

Once you know what you're looking for, bring it to your board — but ask specifically. Not a general "does anyone know this person?" but something like: "We're hoping to connect with someone who graduated from the University of Washington in the late 1990s and sits on the Seattle Art Museum board. Does that ring a bell for anyone?" Specific questions get real answers.

Q: What should I be looking for in my donor reports to spot this kind of opportunity?

The thing that will slow you down most isn't the looking — it's not knowing what you're looking for. So here's a simple habit: when you're reviewing gifts, flag the outliers. A gift that's significantly larger than usual. A name you don't recognize. An address that doesn't match your mailing list. A last name that doesn't seem connected to the donor record it's linked to.

Those are the moments worth pausing on. Not every one will lead somewhere — but some of them will lead somewhere remarkable. The $267,000 stock gift in this post started with a $5,000 check from someone who wasn't even on the mailing list. It was easy to miss. It was also easy to catch, if you were paying attention.

You don't have to spend hours on this. You just have to slow down long enough to notice what's unusual.

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Beth Ann Locke is the founder of The Fundraiser Coach and has been an embedded fundraiser for 30+ years and focused on major gifts for 20 years. She coaches major gift fundraisers and nonprofit leaders to build genuine donor relationships and secure transformational gifts. Learn more at thefundraisercoach.com.