Case Study: University of Pennsylvania achieves major-gift prospect growth and $600M in campaign commitments with WealthEngine

University of Pennsylvania - Customer Case Study

The University of Pennsylvania’s Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) supports fundraising across 25+ schools and central units but faced a common challenge: scarce prospect research resources and a decentralized prospect pool during its multi‑year Making History campaign. DAR needed a scalable, accurate electronic screening solution that could handle both very large batches and small-targeted lists while providing the detailed data prospect researchers require to assign ratings and prioritize outreach.

Penn partnered with WealthEngine for periodic electronic screenings, following a three-step process (select prospects, screen electronically, capture and integrate results) and combining capacity estimates with internal inclination indicators in a custom Access database. The approach enabled focused research, smarter assignment of prospects to fundraisers, targeted event invitations and travel itineraries, and use of predictive modeling for inclination. Outcomes include a prospect pool of about 40,000 individuals capable of $25,000+ gifts, roughly 14,000 prospects added during the campaign (9,000 of whom became donors) contributing $600 million in commitments, and ongoing efficiency gains across 25 researchers and 150 frontline fundraisers.

University of Pennsylvania

Bob Baer

Senior Director of Business Analytics