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  Prospect Information for Free – on the Net Research

Canadian FundRaiserYes, you can get prospect information – for free – on the Net

There’s a story here: Last fall The Wired Nonprofit ran an article on all the free sources of information about donor prospects available to US nonprofits. We got pretty excited about this idea, and tested out all the sources … wouldn’t you know it, not one of them had one iota of information about Canadians, not even about Conrad Black, who one would think pretty effectively straddles the border.

It’s taken a while to identify whether Canadian nonprofits could also, as Susan O’Leary said of her US compeers last fall, “from the comfort of your office, … gather a wealth of information about your best prospects via the Internet.”

We took our plight to KCI  Ketchum Canada, fecund source of information, and Shannon Rafferty, Consultant – Research Services, provided the following extensive and intensive listing for us (and you):

Canada 411, www.canada411.ca

Yahoo Canada People, http://ca.people.yahoo.com

The Yellow Pages Group manages Canada 411 and the search engine allows searching by person or business, as well as reverse phone number and reverse address searches.  The web site also allows you to search by postal codes by location to retrieve a list of postal codes for that particular city or town. Yahoo Canada People’s search allows similar searching as Canada 411, but has the option to search for an individual’s eMail address.

Canadian equivalent to the Ultimates and Yahoo People Search USA

Google Canada, www.google.ca

Google has various different searching options, and the one that we use is the Google Canada web site. This allows for narrowing down searches to just Canadian sites. The Google web site advanced search tips page, www.google.ca/help/refinesearch.html has various tips on how to search successfully. In addition to phrase searching using quotes (“ ”), there is also a synonym search. If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde (~) sign immediately in front of your search term. For example “John Smith” ~donor will retrieve results with donor, donation, donated, donors, etc. This will allow you to find web sites that list John Smith as either a donor, or state that he made a donation, etc.

Canadian equivalent to Google.com

Monster Canada Salary Centre, http://salary.monster.ca

This site allows searching for salary ranges based on job category, title and either postal code or region. The web site produces a chart demonstrating the salary range for that particular occupation.

Canadian equivalent to Salary.com

ZoomInfo, www.zoominfo.com

This site allows some Canadian-based searching. For instance, searching on Gwyn Morgan, Former President and CEO and current Chair of EnCana in Calgary, retrieves his employment history, board membership and affiliations, education and various links to relevant web sites, which include bios and articles. The company also provides information on some Canadian companies, such as description, key players and various web references.

Canadian equivalent to ZoomInfo

CBR (Canadian Business Resource), www.cbr.ca

While the majority of this web site is fee-based, some profiles on individuals and companies are available for free. The Corporate Profiles include a business description, key players, location, key financials and related companies. The Executive Profiles include biographical information on the individuals, including employment history, education background and some community involvement.

Canadian equivalent to ZoomInfo

Globe Investor, www.globeinvestor.com

Yahoo Finance Canada, http://ca.finance.yahoo.com

Globe Investor and Yahoo Finance Canada provide free search engines for current prices of stocks for public Canadian companies, which allow you to calculate an individual’s current known wealth indicators.

Canadian equivalent to USA Today Investors Tools

SEDI (System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders), www.sedi.ca

Established by the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, this site provides access to Canadian individuals’ insider reports. The site is searchable by name, company or by the issuer, and the results are illustrated through a chart that shows the filing date, transaction date, nature of transaction, number of shares and unit price.

Canadian equivalent to USA Today Investors Tools

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/menu-e.html

Canadian registered charities are required to file an annual information return (T3010) with the CRA. This site provides free searching, by name, city or province of more than 80,000 charities in Canada. The T3010s are archived from 2000 on, and highlight programs of interest and funding breakdowns, directors/trustees, financials and key donations.

Canadian equivalent to Guidestar

Multiple Listing Service (MLS), www.mls.ca

MLS, managed by the Canadian Real Estate Association, lists current properties for sale in Canada, and lets you view some of the selling prices in different neighbourhoods.

Canadian equivalent to Domania and Yahoo Real Estate

University Meta Site: York University, www.yorku.ca/prorsfaq

This site lists various free prospect research sources.

System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval  (SEDAR), www.sedar.com

SEDAR is the system where Canadian public companies electronically file their securities related information, such as annual reports, financial documents, and annual information forms. The web site is searchable by company. SEDAR is archived since 1997.

Canadian equivalent to EDGAR

Canadian News Wire (CNW), www.newswire.ca

CNN Matthews, www.cnnmatthews.com

Both web sites provide free access to current press releases from companies, associations, unions, nonprofits, municipal, provincial and federal governments. Both web sites offer the option to set up eMail alerts.

Martindale Lawyers, www.martindale.com

This site provides searching, including Canada, for lawyers by last name, firm or location. The bios include contact information, practice areas, educational background, and a link to the law firm.

Canadian Who’s Who, 1997, www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi

The Canadian Who’s Who has provided free access to its 1997 edition on the Internet. The 15,000 biographies on prominent individuals are searchable by first name, last name, birth year, city or by full text.

Strategis, www.strategis.ic.gc.ca

The Government of Canada maintains the Canadian Company Capabilities database of 50,000 records on various companies. Profiles on each company may include contact information, locations, business description, and limited financials.

Report on Business Top 1000 Companies in Canada,  www.globeinvestor.com/series/top1000/2004

Published annually by the Globe and Mail, the magazine ranks the 1,000 largest public companies measured by assets. The web site also ranks the top 300 private companies, 50 top income trusts, 50 largest employers and 50 top-paid executives.

Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, www.canadas50best.com

Launched in 1993, the Best Managed Award recognizes companies that are Canadian-owned and managed, focussed on their core vision, creating stakeholder value and excelling in the global economy. The web site offers the option to search by company name and some companies have short descriptions.

IMAGINE Caring Company program www.imagine.ca/content/getting_involved/corporations/find_a_caring_company.asp?section=involved

EMAGINE Canada Program www.imagine.ca/content/programs/emagine/members/current.asp?section=action

Imagine Canada Caring Companies are those that have a policy of donating a minimum of 1% of average domestic pretax profits to charitable and nonprofit organizations. Emagine Canada is a list of entrpreneurs who have committed 1%-5% (or more) of their equity to nonprofit organizations. Each web site has a listing of those who have committed to the programs.

National Post Entrepreneur Profiles,  www.canada.com/nationalpost/entrepreneur/moreentrepreneur.html

The National Post maintains a listing of successful entrepreneurs. Each entrepreneur has a bio on him/her and his/hercompany.

Scholarships Canada, www.scholarshipscanada.com

This web site allows searching for scholarships, awards, bursaries and grants offered by the institution and by company or individual.

Order of Canada, www.gg.ca/honours/nat-ord/oc/index_e.asp

Provincial Orders
, www.gg.ca/honours/prov/index_e.asp

Maintained by the Government of Canada, the Order of Canada site allows searching by individual’s first name, last name, city, province or level of award; each individual has a short bio. Also available are the provincial orders.

Directory of University and College Corporate Board Linkages, www.caut.ca/en/publications/linkages

Managed by the Canadian Association of University Teachers, this annual directory lists the directors of universities and colleges in Canada. The directory is searchable by university or college or by the individual’s corporation.

Rich 100 List, www.canadianbusiness.com/lifestyle/article.jsp?content=20051205_73206_73206

Canadian Business Magazine publishes this ranking annually.  The list includes the top 100 wealthiest Canadians.

Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs, www.profitguide.com/w100

This web site provides the rankings for the top 100 women entrepreneurs in Canada, and each winner has a short bio. Compiled by Profit Magazine.

Ontario Ministry of Finance – Salary Disclosure www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/publications/salarydisclosure/2005

In Ontario, the Ministry of Finance is regulated to disclose public sector employees who are paid a salary of $100,000 or more. This list covers employees in the government, municipalities, hospitals and public boards of health, school boards, universities, colleges and other public sector employees.

For further information: see web sites listed, or Gillian Morrison, Vice-President, Research Services, KCI Ketchum Canada, 416/340-9710, [email protected].

 
Canadian FundRaiser
Canadian FundRaiserSince 1991, the Canadian FundRaiser™ newsletter has been updating nonprofit managers twice-monthly on news, trends, tips and analysis of developments in the fields of fundraising and nonprofit management.

Our service, originally simply a twice-monthly newsletter, has expanded over the years to include workshops, books, back-issue search and Special Advisories for our member/subscribers. And the complete package is now the Canadian FundRaiser™ Nonprofit Sector Management Information Service.

Current Members can search back issues here, renew their Membership, or correct their address information in our secure files.

Through the generous support of a number of Supporting Sponsors, at the head of them our Lead Sponsor, UNxVision Internet Fundraising Solutions, we have avoided price increases for many years, and been able to provide some services at no cost.

Please take a look at the current issue of Canadian FundRaiser™ eNews, and if you haven’t done so already, sign up ­ at no cost ­ to receive future issues. Visit our Key-To-The-Sector Workshop Centre. Ask about Advertising & Sponsorship opportunities. Or send us an article suggestion. We’re waiting to hear from you.

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