From prospect development to PCI compliance, aasp has a library of industry best practices available to Apra members.

The aasp Best Practices program is the first of its kind to systematically address practices across the range of advancement services disciplines.

As an Apra member, enjoy access to the current aasp Best Practices free of cost.

Contact info@aprahome.org with any questions about accessing the Apra website. You can also send comments to bestpractices@advserv.org, and aasp committee members will look into your inquiry.

aasp's Best Practices in advancement services have been allocated to the following categories:

• Advancement Management
• Campaign Management
• Donor Relations & Stewardship
• Information Management
• Legislation and Our Data
• Prospect Development
• Records Management

Advancement Management

Campaign Management

• Advancement and Campaign Funding (2017)
• Campaign Branding (2017)
• Campaign Budgeting (2017)
• Campaign Counting (2017)
• Campaign Internal Readiness Assessments (2017)
• Campaign Planning and Operations - Abridged for Small Shops (2017)
• Campaign Planning and Operations - Abridged for Time (2017)
• Campaign Planning and Operations -Unabridged (2017)
• Campaign Stewardship (2017)
• Campaign Volunteer Management (2017)
• Prospect Development During a Campaign (2017)
• Prospect Development Leading Up to a Campaign (2017)
• Supporting a Building Campaign (2015)
• Transforming Reporting for Your Comprehensive Campaign (2017)

Donor Relations & Stewardship

• Digitizing Donor Relations
• Donor Recognition (2017)
• Donor Reporting (2017)
• Gift Acceptance (2017)
• Gift Acknowledgement (2017)
• Helping Donors Give Wisely
• Scholarship Stewardship (2017)
• Social Media (2017)

Information Management

• Data Integration
• Data Security
• Protecting Constituent Information
• Real-Time Data
• System Selection
• Using SharePoint to Automate the Advancement Services Office
• Volunteer Access to Information

Legislation and Our Data

• Overview – Legislation and Our Data
• Role of Ethics
• How to Implement a Privacy Program
• Maine
• Nevada, Oregon & Texas

Prospect Development

• Building a Gift Pyramid Table
• Conducting Prospect Research on a Shoestring (2020)
• Developing Engagement Scores
• Ethics of Prospect Development
• External Engagement & Collaboration in your Organization
• Internal Collaboration in your Organization
• Maximizing Strategies for Donor Advised Funds (2017)
• Portfolio Optimization
• Prospect Capacity Ratings
• Prospect Coding
• Prospect Identification Analytics (2018)
• Prospect Management Policies & Procedures
• Prospect Management Reports
• Prospect Ratings
• Prospect Research Metrics
• Qualification & Disqualification of Prospects (2018)
• Research Request Forms and Formats (2020)
• Resources Researchers Use (2020)
• Screening Implementation Revised
• System Implementation & Management
• Using Social Media in Prospect Development (2018)
• Vetting Prospects
• Working with Demographic Data
• Working with Parent Data
• Best Practice in Principal Gift Programs
• PD ROI and Impact
• Best Practice in Prominent Alumni Research (2021)
• Building a Gift Pyramid Table (2021)

Records Management

• Anonymous Donors & Gifts
• Applying Recognition Soft Credits
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) (2018)
• Challenge & Matching Grants
• Courting Constituents Online
• Data Management
• Donor Advised Funds
• E-Campaign Data
• FERPA Compliance
• Gender Maintenance
• Gift Administration - Gifts versus Grants versus Contracts
• Gift Agreements
• Gift Processing
• Leveraging Social Media Networks
• Managing a Data Security Breach
• Matching Gift Administration
• Online Credit Card Fraud Prevention
• Partial Interest Contributions (2017)
• PCI Compliance
• Pledge Reminders
• Pledge Write-off Standards
• Quid Pro Quo Contributions
• Recording and Receipting Gifts in Kind
• Recording Intentions to Give
• Records Management -Naming Standards
• Records Management Responsibility
• Reporting Advancement Expenditures and Comparing ROI
• Fulfilling Impossible Requests from Important People (2019)
• Gift Officer Transitions (2019)
• Prospect Management Reports (2020)
• Best Practice in Developing Engagement Scores (2021)