Instrumentl's Peer Prospecting features are crafted to empower Nonprofit Professional Plan users to discover, track, and analyze peer organizations. These tools streamline the process of identifying funders of similar nonprofits, saving you time and boosting your research efficiency.
Peer Prospecting allows you to create a comprehensive, long-term grants strategy on an even deeper level than Reverse Search (Recipient Profiles)!
***Note: Peer Prospecting is currently unavailable on Consultant Plans.
Value Add of Peer Prospecting
Strategically utilize insights into the "who", "what", "when", "where" and "why" of funding for organizations like yours to bolster your grants success.
Recipient Profiles (Reverse Search) vs Peer Prospecting
You may be wondering, 'How do I benefit from Peer Prospecting insights if I already have access to Reverse Search / Recipient Profiles on the Standard Plan?'
Here are some areas of added value unique to Peer Prospecting:
Find high ROI Funders
Understanding the ROI of a funder from a vast array of 990 information and websites is hard! Often they don't show you the full picture, nor do they truly highlight the funder's real interests and motivations. By identifying funders who have given to your peers, you are identifying funders with real evidence of funding similar work to your own nonprofit.
Understand how you compare
Keeping an eye on peers helps you understand how you are "performing" as a nonprofit. If very similar peer organizations are pulling in significantly more money, it might be worth understanding how and from where. This can influence your overall funding strategy.
Uncover the mystery of repeat funders and mutual funders
Combing through 990s and synthesizing funding data for peers takes initial time investment, but the insights you gain are incredibly valuable. Knowing the full story between a peer and a funder can be extremely helpful going forward. Has this funder been giving to them for many years? Is the funding increasing or decreasing for that peer? If they are a mutual funder, are they giving more or less to my peers?
Peer Prospecting provides the answers, putting you steps ahead on the path to success.
Getting Started
To get started with peer prospecting, add your Organization EIN by going to Account > Organization Profile.
The 4 components of Peer Prospecting:
1. Peer List
Access the Peer List in two ways:
Select Peers under the 'LISTS' section within the left-hand navigation bar (scroll down below 'PROJECTS').
2. Click the Create Peer List (or Edit Peer List) link found in the Filter dropdown menu under both Funder and Opportunity Matches.
In the Peer List, you can add or remove peers on the left-hand side, while the right-hand side displays the 990 data for the selected peer.
Note: Currently, only U.S. nonprofit peers (990 filing entities) are supported.
To add a peer:
Select the + Add Peer button.
Search for the peer organization.
Click the purple '+' button next to the selected peer to save it to your Peer List.
2. Detailed Recipient Insights
Organization Comparison
Quickly see how you stack up against other organizations with our comparison table. Key metrics are highlighted and differences are shown to help you identify potential peers based on size, revenue, and grant history.
Funding History
Get a detailed view of peers' past awards with two viewing options:
All Time Funders (default): Lists all funders, showing:
Average Amount: Average received from each funder, with comparisons to the funder's typical award.
Last Granted: Most recent grant year.
Total Awards: Total number of awards. Click the down arrow to expand details.
***Select the "chevron" button to expand a peer's complete funding history from the selected funder:
By Year: Visualizes award details for each year.
3. Filter on Funder Matches
Narrow down Funder Matches to those who have awarded your peer organizations. The encircled number next to Edit Peer List indicates the total number of organizations you've saved to your Peer List.
4. Filter on Opportunity Matches
You can also filter your Opportunity Matches for grants from funders who have given to your peers!
If you're interested in all the ways Instrumentl uses 990 data to strengthen your grants strategy with actionable insights, dive into a full rundown of our 990 search tools to research funders.
We're continually improving and expanding our platform's features and functionality. With features like Peer Prospecting, Instrumentl's platform allows you to unleash the possible.
Contact Us 
Curious about Peer Prospecting or other 990 search features? Message our support team using the chat bubble when logged into your account, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.