Setting and Editing Prospecting Criteria

Your Prospecting Criteria are a way for you to define information about your organization to help Impala identify the best prospects for your organization. Once you have set your criteria, Impala will use them to curate your suggested prospect lists and match funders to your organization.

Setting your Prospecting Criteria

Step 1

If you haven't previously identified your Prospecting Criteria, you can do this by clicking on the Let’s Get Started button in the center of your homepage, or on the Set your Prospecting Criteria task in the Make the most of Impala sidebar.

Already set your Criteria and need to edit them? Skip to instructions on how to edit here.

Step 2

This will open up the first screen of the setup wizard, which will ask 4 quick questions to set your criteria.

The first step asks about your geographies of impact. We will suggest funders who have historically provided support to nonprofits who are headquartered within the geographies you select.

Search in the box and select the geographical location(s) where your organization provides services. Geographies can be defined by city, county, or state and must be located in the United States.

If you are connected to an organization's profile, Impala will pre-populate the location of your organization as listed on your profile. Locations can be removed by clicking the x. 

If your organization does not have a specific geographical focus, or you are focused internationally, select the checkbox below the search bar to include the entire United States.

Click Next step to continue.

Step 3

The next step is defining the causes that your organization focuses on.

Click the + Add cause button to see the available cause areas.

Cause areas have been pulled from IRS NTEE codes but also expanded. You can type to search for a cause area or look through the menu of categories and subcategories. 

Select your cause(s) and click Confirm, then Next step to continue.

Step 4

Lastly, you'll need to identify organizations similar to your own. These peer organizations are ones that support similar causes to you, are located in the same area, or are of a similar size.

We recommend selecting at least 5 peers, but adding as many relevant organizations as possible. Impala provides an AI-generated list of options that you can use, or you can choose your own. Click on the x to remove an organization. You can search for organizations by name or EIN and click to select and add them.

Impala will search through the funders of these peers to incorporate in your suggestions, and peer-based ecosystem.

When you're done, press Next step.

Step 5

The final step is to add in some Fundraising Goals.

Input your overall fundraising goal to help focus your strategy and communication on a fundraising project.

Impala will use your target grant size amount in the match score and will look for funders who give your selected amount to first year grantees.

If you don't wish to add fundraising goals, select the checkbox "I'll complete my fundraising goals later".

Editing your Prospecting Criteria

If you've previously set your Prospecting Criteria and would like to adjust them, you can do so!

Note: Impala for Fundraisers Premium and Enterprise subscribers can create multiple prospect lists. For more information, see here.

Step 1

From your homepage, click Edit prospecting criteria in the Manage my prospect list area.

Step 2

Or, from anywhere on the platform, click on the Active Prospect List dropdown in the upper right hand side of the navigation bar and select Edit prospecting criteria.

Step 3

Make any changes you would like within each step of the wizard.

When done, press Complete on the final screen.