 Yes,
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]. |
Board Management.
Meetings are expensive and should be managed effectively.