This article will walk you through how to navigate and read the Chart View of the Connections section of a person's profile.

 

 

What is "Connections"?

The Connections section of a profile tells you what other individuals in the WealthEngine database have a connection to your prospective donor. You can think of it as being like LinkedIn - just with public data! 

For example, let's say that you are looking at the profile of "Jane Smith." You can utilize this area either to identify exciting new leads from Jane's community or to discover whether you and Jane know anyone in common. In this way, Connections will ensure that you are fully leveraging your relationships and making the most out of their wider ecosystem.


Not all connections are the same! Please note that if someone is a connection of Jane's, that does not mean they are close friends with her - however, WealthEngine has identified a definite link. 




Table View 

"Table View" is the default option for the Connections section of a profile. This will present much of the same information (information that will be outlined in this article), but in list form and with less flexibility in filtering. 


However, in this article, we are focusing on the Chart View...




Chart View 

The "Chart View" option is far more dynamic and is designed so that you can easily identify your person's most exciting connections. 

Each individual will be represented by a clickable bubble that will vary visually based on four key pieces of information: 

Type:

The color of the bubble will be decided by the type of connection: Personal, Nonprofit, Business, or Multiple. This describes the source of the tie. For example, if two people sit on the same board they will be classed as having a Business connection. If one person is another's spouse, that will of course be Personal. 

Strength: 

The location of the bubble in the main display will in great part be determined by the "Strength" of the connection. The Strength is a numerical score that factors in both the type of connection (e.g. personal vs business) and the number of overlaps the system has found between the two individuals. For example, some close partners work together frequently and sit on multiple boards together. Strength is intended to indicate how close that relationship might be. 

Their Connections:

The size of someone's bubble will depend upon the number of connections they have. After all, each person who is "connected" to Jane will of course have their own robust WE Profile, which means that they will also have their own Connections section and a list of people to whom they themselves have been tied! The larger the bubble, the more profiles they have been linked to. 

For example, let's say that Jane has connections with two people: Sarah and Robert. Sarah has five connections, while Robert, who sits on a number of boards, has 50. Robert's bubble will be larger than Sarah's.

Bubble Number:

Each bubble will be labeled with a number identifying how many individuals are represented there. After all, if Jane has a lot of connections, some of them might have the exact same type, strength, and a number of connections. When this happens, they will be grouped together into a single bubble. You can view all of those individuals simply by clicking on the bubble. 


These four factors are key to reading the Connections section and will allow you to evaluate Jane's connections with just a glance. 




Graph Layout

Let's say that you are looking at Jane Smith's profile! If you click into the Connections section and select Chart View, you will find that the bubbles representing each person are arranged on a graph. The graph is based on the connected person's Strength and Net Worth, which means you can easily gauge how promising they might be as another potential donor. 

  • Note: Net Worth is a modeled score predicting the difference between the person's total assets and total debt. 




Customizing View and Applying Filters

There is a fair amount going on in Connections, so if Jane Smith has a large number of connections, it can be overwhelming. To save time and simplify things a bit, you can streamline your view: 


Number of connections

As stated previously, not everyone will have the same number of connections. If Jane Smith has an overwhelming number then you can limit your current view to the top 10, 50, or 100 people.


Connection Type

There are three types of connections: Personal, Nonprofit, and Business. If you are interested in one type, you can go to the legend to the right of the graph and click on that category. Those bubbles will then be highlighted.


You probably also want to make sure that you are focusing your attention on Jane's most promising connections. There are a number of ways that you can apply a filter to make sure you are doing that:

Strength

The Strength is a number predicting the level of closeness between Christopher and Jane. It ranges from 1 - 5, and the higher the number the better. 

Net Worth

The Net Worth is a modeled score predicting the difference between this person's total assets and their total debt. 

P2G

The P2G stands for “Propensity to Give” and it is a sophisticated measure of their propensity for general philanthropic giving. This is our flagship score, and it likely presents the most complete picture of the person.

  • Note: For a complete understanding of how to read this score, see our P2G Guide. 

Inner Circle

If you switch the Inner Circle toggle on, the graph will show only the bubbles of individuals who are members of your Inner Circle List. 


This tells you that you and Jane Smith both know this individual - which means that they may be able to help you get a warm introduction! You can use this to make sure you’re fully leveraging your existing relationships. The Inner Circle is a critical feature and one that you have to set up manually. Make sure that you do this asap, as it is time-sensitive!

  • Note: For more information and instructions on setting it up, see our Inner Circle Guide.

Total Connections

"Total Connections" refers to the number of overlaps that exist between Jane and the person she is connected to. For example, if she sits on three different boards with that person, the number of connections will be 3. 


Search Bar

You can use the Search Bar above the graph to specify a person's name, an organization, or even a job title. The graph will then display only those people who match your search. 

 



Learning about an individual connection

The Connections section of Jane Smith's profile will of course help you learn more about Jane herself. However, there might also be times when you want to focus on a specific connection of hers in order to learn more about that individual. As an example, let's look at David Carey, who is a connection to Jane.


Bubble Size 

Bubbles will vary in size based on the number of connections that person has. David's bubble will be significantly larger than another person's bubble if WealthEngine has been able to link his profile to a greater number of people. 

  • Note: Keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean that David is more strongly connected to Jane Smith. 

Bubble Color

The color of the bubble is based on the nature of David's connection to Jane. There are four categories: Personal, Nonprofit, Business, and Multiple. The legend to the right of the graph will identify which color applies to which group. 

Bubble Preview

If you hover your mouse over a bubble you will see the names of the person or persons represented by that bubble. , 

Profile Preview

When you click on the bubble, the system will provide a preview of David's profile (as well as any other people represented by that bubble). This preview will include net worth, the type and strength of his connection with Jane, and their "Total Connections" - aka the number of overlaps between David and Jane that we have identified.


In the above example, you can see that David and Jane have a total of 3 business connections. Hovering your mouse over the field will list each of them. 

You will then be able to access David's profile by clicking on his name. If you decide that he is someone you want to cultivate, you can then save his profile to your My Profiles section, where you will be able to easily view and export it.