- A sixth of donor-real estate wealth is invisible to single-residence screening. Measuring the full portfolio adds $13.1 billion in value and $9.2 billion in equity.
- One in four donors own a second property and 25.9% hold two or more. The average multi-property donor carries $718,221 of equity beyond their primary residence.
- Portfolio value, equity, and liquidity can be embedded in donor screening to identify prospects with the financial ability for major gift-giving.
Fundraising teams have long relied on a donor's home as a window into their wealth. The problem is that the window only shows one room. Because wealth screening is anchored to a single address, the vacation home, the investment condo, the inherited land — and the equity inside them — stay invisible, as does the donor's true potential.
Across 49,383 affluent, owner-occupied households in five major U.S. markets, Cotality identified an additional $13.1 billion in property value and $9.2 billion in equity – uncovered by expanding donor capacity analysis from a single residence to a full property portfolio.
With property data, nonprofits, universities, and healthcare foundations can uncover hidden capacity, prioritize outreach, and identify major gift opportunities that may already be sitting within their existing donor files.
The blind spots in traditional donor screening
Conventional donor screening treats the home a donor lives in as the sum total of their real estate holdings. That creates two significant blind spots:
- It ignores secondary assets: Wealthy individuals rarely keep all their assets under one roof. Vacation retreats, investment condos, and commercial real estate all sit outside of standard single-address lookups.
- It conflates property value with actual liquidity: A high-value home saddled with a heavy mortgage tells a very different story than a modest home owned free and clear. Traditional screening often evaluates home value in a vacuum, ignoring the equity and leverage that dictate whether a donor is financially ready for gift-giving.
Simply put: fundraising platforms often underestimate donor wealth because additional residential, commercial, and investment properties remain hidden. A portfolio-level approach allows fundraising teams to see the full picture, making it easier to identify prospective donors.
Moving from addresses to portfolios
By expanding donor assessment from a single residence to a full portfolio, Cotality uncovered 15.2% more property value and 15.7% more in equity.
We also found that one in four donors own multiple properties, proving that secondary holdings aren't exceptions – they're common among high-capacity prospects. These multi-property owners hold an average of $718,221 in equity beyond their primary residence.
Zooming in to look at one specific donor profile, traditional methods identified one property and $1.9 million in estimated capacity. But through the lens of the full portfolio, that same donor profile expands to 14 properties and an estimated capacity of $7.7 million.
This example demonstrates the opportunity for fundraising teams. The donor was already in the database. The team just needed the visibility to recognize their full giving potential.
Analyzing equity, liquidity, and readiness
These high-capacity donors don't just tick the boxes on paper. Their wealth is liquid and their community ties are strong, putting them in an optimal position to give.
For the 88.6% of primary residences for which a combined loan-to-value (CLTV) is available, two-thirds have a CLTV ratio below 50%. Even more telling, 98% of donors included in the sample hold at least $25,000 of home equity, and 23.7% own their home with no outstanding mortgage.
Most of these donors are also long-term residents with deep roots in their communities. Based on the 91.4% of primary residences with a recorded sale date, 56.7% have lived in their home for a decade or more.
This kind of stability allows substantial equity to build up. At the same time, long-term residents are more likely to have strong community affiliations, which means they may be more generous in their donations to local institutions.
Get a portfolio view of donor wealth
By evaluating a donor’s complete real estate footprint rather than a single home, development teams get an accurate, realistic measure of donor capacity – moving past guesswork to understand the full scope of a homeowner’s giving potential.
The signals already exist. With Cotality, you can properly identify them to re-score your donor files. Using property, valuation, lien, and ownership data, we reveal hidden wealth, equity, and readiness.
What if your most valuable donors are hidden within your existing database? Contact us to streamline prospect research and find major gift opportunities that traditional donor screenings may miss.
