by Zoe Hawkins, Client Delivery Specialist at Atticus
I think Atticus is the coolest thing since sliced bread. While most people think donor research is just wealth screening, Atticus takes the approach of looking at a philanthropist’s whole story, including motivations, patterns, and hidden connections in order to give our non-profit clients the best chance of creating a relationship.
As part of the Client Delivery team, I research people who deeply care about causes that really matter. It is my job to connect them to organizations with urgent needs who don’t even realize how close a potential major partner is.
Bridging the gap between generosity and need is the space I live in. Every day, my team wakes up and asks, “What are the hardest problems our clients are facing and who can help them fund the solutions to those problems?”
The View From My Desk
My job isn’t to just hunt for wealth, but to look for alignment. When I’m researching a philanthropist, I ask myself, “What has shaped this person? What themes run throughout their story? What pain and joy have they experienced? Where has their generosity shown up historically? What does their capacity look like? How and why are they aligned to a specific organization?”
I am not looking at just one type of donor or issue, but a variety of donors across an array of issues. Because our job includes looking at large data sets, we often start to identify patterns across donor groups that we can then use to help educate our clients.
Recently, we were able to provide unique insight to a client about how to approach a client. At first look, it appeared as though a donor prospect’s foundation was running out of money and could potentially be missing a key piece of the puzzle: capacity. However, through our team’s research, we identified that the donor had shifted their foundation asset strategy and was actively moving money through the foundation rather than simply holding it there. What looked like low capacity was actually strategic giving – a signal to our client that capacity and generosity were at a high. We shared this insight with our Client Success Team, who was able to take this information directly to the client and turn it into actionable information.
When Moonshots Become Home Runs
Atticus is like the baseball team’s waterboy. We aren’t the main show, but we want more than anything to give our clients the energy and resources they need to succeed. For example, after uncovering a client’s hidden gem (a donor already in their network who was capable of giving more), our team’s research revealed a passion for his local symphony. Our client’s major gift officer was able to strategically connect with the donor about the symphony, which built trust quickly, and resulted in the donor doubling his giving.
In another case, an Atticus client used one of our in-depth profiles that included the donor’s social media and hobbies to craft a bold text about their shared interests that resulted in a stranger prospect turning into a real relationship and a major gift within 90 days of the first attempted contact.
And more recently, one client met with an Atticus-surfaced hidden gem and in under 60 days received a gift 10X their previous highest gift. That donor was so aligned with the mission that he introduced the organization to nine friends and organizations he thought would care too.
The “Let’s Try Something Else” Mindset
There are real challenges facing philanthropy today: an aging donor base, more private giving channels than ever before, growing needs among vulnerable populations, and non-profit teams navigating burnout, turnover, and limited networks.
However, Atticus is like a 40-hour-a-week hope machine. I believe more in the future of philanthropy than ever before because I get to see both the generosity and the impact up close. Atticus combines strategy, data, and human insight to connect those pieces and create real wins for our clients. We notice patterns and share what we’re learning. We build new tools when old ones stop serving well. We listen when MGOs say, “This part is really hard.”
Pathways was developed in response to gift officers lamenting that they needed warmer introductions. We built something to solve that problem. It works so well that a fly on the wall in my at-home office might see me clapping in excitement when I find a client’s board member goes to church with a major donor who quietly and passionately funds aligned work. I joke that it deserves a Nobel Prize, but I’m only half joking. Being a part of Atticus is exciting, because we find innovative ways to solve our clients’ hardest problems.
Built to Keep Moving
A lot of tools tell you who has money, but Atticus focuses on who cares. When an organization partners with Atticus, they are not just gaining access to a platform or a dataset. We are not just a subscription that shows up in your inbox every month. Atticus clients gain fundraising momentum through a team that genuinely cares about the success of their work, the sustainability of their mission, and the people doing the hard work every day.
As a former public educator at a Title I school, I know the weight of heart-centered work: limited resources, constant crises, permanent exhaustion. If that’s where you are, Atticus can meet you there.
Atticus exists so you can spend less time guessing, hunting, and feeling stuck, and more time connecting and empowered to do good work. We have the privilege of blowing wind in the sails of organizations who have already charted their course.
Atticus wants to help you solve your hardest problems and stand alongside you while you do.
Atticus team, 2025
