Welcome to “Start here,” an updated series of blog posts about getting started doing prospect research in countries around the world. The original “Start here” series appeared on the International Fundraising Intelligence blog in 2015. (IFI became Beth Bandy Research & Consulting last year.)
Full prospect research in the countries covered in this series will require many different sources, but the ones highlighted here will help you orient yourself, whether you are new to international prospect research or are a fundraiser just starting to work with prospects in a particular country.
Manager
This German-language publication is a go-to source for business information and the latest scoops about the industries in which your prospects work. Manager also publishes an annual guide to the 500 wealthiest individuals in Germany, which you can purchase as a digital copy. The magazine and website are in German but can be translated with Google Translate if you can’t read the language. (If you use Chrome as your browser, you can install a browser extension that allows you to click a button and translate an entire page for ease of reading.)
“Profile: German Family Businesses”
This article on the Camden FB website gives a good introduction to “the driving force of Germany’s economy and … much of its success as the second biggest exporter in the world.”
Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen
Learn about Germany’s charitable foundations and search for specific foundations in a country-wide database on this website of the Association of German Foundations. Basic information is available in English, while the directory of foundations and other material is in German.
Immobilien Scout 24
To get a quick overview of where wealth is concentrated in Germany, zoom in on this interactive property value heatmap on the Immobilien Scout 24 website. The site also allows you to search by address (in German).