DonorSearch vs Kindsight (Oct 2026): wealth screening, AI prospect summaries vs Kindsight Intelligence agents, quote-only vs printed iWave prices, and the researcher who checks every profile

What this comparison covers

This page is for a prospect researcher, major gifts director, or development director choosing a wealth screening and prospect research vendor, or renewing one. It is not legal, tax, or gift-acceptance advice; a named person owns every donor-facing message, gift record, ask amount, and funder submission.

DonorSearch facts come from its home page, DonorSearch Ai page, Enhanced CORE page, generative AI page, and screening page, read on 24 October 2026, and EverTrue's 29 June 2026 release. Kindsight facts come from its pricing page, Kindsight Intelligence page, and iWave page, read the same day. Single-vendor detail: DonorSearch AI review and Kindsight AI review.

The real difference is where the AI sits. DonorSearch puts predictive models on your own file and writes summaries from its research data; Kindsight is building agents that plan trips, scope screens, and draft briefings and contact reports. Both rest on the same thing: matching your donors to public records. Wrong matches are the main risk in both, and neither vendor's AI removes them.

Ground rules for either choice: the prospect researcher confirms identity and checks every wealth or giving claim; the major gifts director sets every ask amount; the executive director signs the contract and the data agreement. Donor privacy promises and opt-out requests are honored before any list is used. This comparison is not a ranking.

Major features (with how someone uses them)

Examples at a glance: each feature has a concrete example from a real job plus a short Try this you can run this week.

1. Test both on ten donors you already know (primary)

What it is: Neither vendor's accuracy can be judged from its marketing. DonorSearch's generative AI page tells users to “always review outputs from any generative AI tool”; Kindsight's Kindsight Intelligence page says human review is “built into every workflow.” The cheapest test is your own file: ten donors your researcher knows well, screened by both, marked line by line.

Pick donors with common names, recent moves, and a spouse with separate assets — the cases where matching goes wrong. A clean result on easy names tells you little.

Concrete example (prospect researcher at a regional hospital foundation) She sends ten known donors to both demo teams. One vendor attaches a real-estate holding that belongs to a donor's adult son; the other lists a foundation board seat from a namesake in another state. She marks each wrong match and unsupported wealth claim in a two-column sheet, and the development director brings that sheet to both contract calls.

Try this

Primary workflow:

Pick ten donors your prospect researcher already knows well. Run them through a DonorSearch and a Kindsight trial or demo screen, and have the researcher mark every wrong match and unsupported wealth claim in each before either contract is signed.

2. Quote-only vs printed starting prices

What it is: DonorSearch prints no prices; donorsearch.net/pricing returned 404 on 24 October 2026 and every product page asks for a demo. Kindsight's pricing page prints iWave starting prices: Starter from $4,500 (1 user, up to 1,500 subscription screens, 750 live profiles), Professional from $5,800 (3 users, 5,000 screens, 2,500 live profiles), Premium by contact. The page doesn't say whether iWave prices are annual.

A printed starting price is a floor, not a quote. Ask both vendors the same questions in writing: users, screens, live profiles or monitored records, AI summaries included, CRM integration, renewal terms.

Concrete example (development director at a 20-person arts nonprofit) She sends both vendors one list of questions. Kindsight's quote starts from the printed Starter tier; DonorSearch quotes a one-time screen and an annual subscription. She lays both in one sheet with the same columns, notes which AI features are included and which are extra, and the executive director compares them line by line.

Try this

Same questions to both:

Send both vendors one written list: users, screens, profiles, AI summaries, CRM integration, and renewal terms. Have the development director put both answers in the same sheet before the executive director decides.

3. DonorSearch Ai models on your own file

What it is: DonorSearch's DonorSearch Ai page describes two models trained on your organization's own giving history: Acquisition (who is likely to make a first gift) and Retention (who is likely to give again). Its Enhanced CORE page adds national models such as Most Likely to Raise, which predicts who is likely to make the highest-value gifts in the next 12 months. DonorSearch's page quotes a customer who cut mailing volume by 75%; that is a customer statement, not our measurement.

A model trained on your history learns your past habits, including who you never asked. Check what the list leaves out as well as what it puts in.

Concrete example (annual fund manager at a 12-person animal shelter) The Retention list flags 300 donors as likely to lapse. She compares it with last year's actual lapsed donors and finds the list misses most monthly donors whose cards expired. She keeps the model list for the phone campaign and adds a separate expired-card follow-up the model wasn't built to catch.

Try this

Check what it leaves out:

Compare a model's likely-to-lapse list with the donors who actually lapsed last year. Have the annual fund manager note who the list missed before it drives any appeal.

4. AI prospect summaries vs KI Briefings

What it is: DonorSearch says its generative AI turns wealth and philanthropic data into “clear, concise prospect bio summaries,” produced in ProspectView Online 2 (generative AI page, screening page). Kindsight's Kindsight Intelligence page lists KI Briefings, which pull giving history, involvement, and key relationships into one summary before meetings, and a Prospect Summary that turns screening and profile data into a written narrative. Kindsight quotes the Texas A&M Foundation saying briefing prep time fell by about 95%; that is the customer's figure.

A summary reads the same whether its facts are right or wrong. If the screen matched the wrong person, the summary describes a stranger in confident prose.

Concrete example (major gifts officer at a private school foundation) Before a visit she generates a summary for a parent who gave last year. It lists a hospital board seat; the prospect researcher confirms it belongs to someone with the same name in another state. They strike it, and the officer adds a rule to her prep notes: no summary goes into a meeting folder until research has initialed it.

Try this

Initial before use:

Generate summaries for five prospects your researcher already knows. Have the prospect researcher check every fact against the source records before any summary reaches a gift officer.

5. Kindsight's Trip Planning Agent and contact reports

What it is: Kindsight's Kindsight Intelligence page lists a Trip Planning Agent that “ranks who to see, where and when” — with the line “You set the itinerary” — and contact reports from rough notes: turn a voice memo into a CRM-ready report with action items, checked for missing details and privacy risks. DonorSearch's pages we read do not describe a trip or contact-report agent; its generative AI page mentions drafting emails and summarizing prospect data (DonorSearch generative AI page).

A ranked trip list is a suggestion about people. Relationship history the system can't see — a recent loss, a board disagreement, a promise made over dinner — belongs to the gift officer.

Concrete example (major gifts officer at a university foundation) Before a three-city trip, the agent suggests twelve visits. She drops two donors the advancement team asked her to leave alone this quarter, adds one long-time volunteer the list missed, and after each visit records a voice memo; she reads every generated contact report before it is saved to the CRM.

Try this

You set the visits:

Have the gift officer review every name an AI trip plan suggests and read every generated contact report before it is saved to the donor record.

6. Privacy, opt-outs, and where the data goes

What it is: DonorSearch keeps a database opt-out page where individuals can ask to be removed from its data services. Kindsight's Kindsight Intelligence page says donor data is “never used to train models” and is held for a 30-day window for quality assurance. Both are vendor statements; your contract and data processing agreement are what bind them.

Prospect research uses public records about people who never agreed to be researched. Your donor privacy statement should say you do it, and opt-out requests should be honored before any list is used.

Concrete example (executive director at a 40-person community health nonprofit) Before signing, she asks both vendors for their data processing agreements and how they handle opt-out requests. She has the prospect researcher add a do-not-research flag to the CRM for donors who asked to be left alone, and checks that the donor privacy statement on the website mentions prospect research.

Try this

Flag opt-outs first:

Have the prospect researcher add a do-not-research flag for every donor who asked not to be researched, and the executive director read both vendors' data agreements, before any file is sent for screening.

Pricing context (October 2026)

DonorSearch: no printed prices. donorsearch.net/pricing returned 404 on 24 October 2026 and product pages ask you to request a demo; treat it as quote-only. Ask what a one-time screen costs versus an annual subscription, which models are included, how many ProspectView Online 2 users and AI summaries you get, and whether DonorSearch360+ for Salesforce is separate.

Kindsight (pricing page, checked 24 October 2026): iWave Starter starting at $4,500 (1 user, up to 1,500 subscription screens, 750 live profiles); Professional starting at $5,800 (3 users, 5,000 screens, 2,500 live profiles); Premium by contact. engage (AI writing) starting at $545, $1,095, or $3,295 per year. Ascend and the Fundraising Platform are by quote. No separate price is printed for Kindsight Intelligence.

Uncertainty: We did not test either product. Facts come from vendor pages as read on 24 Oct 2026 and EverTrue's 29 June 2026 release, and can change. Some Kindsight Intelligence features were announced for iWave in the third calendar quarter of 2026; confirm they are on your account. Customer figures (75% mailing cut, ~95% faster briefings) are vendor-published quotes. Prices for DonorSearch are quote-only.

When it’s useful (honest take)

Useful when you have a prospect researcher (or a development director who does that job), a donor file large enough that screening changes who gets a visit, and a rule that no screened name or AI summary reaches a gift officer until research has checked it.

Less useful when your file is a few hundred donors your team already knows, your CRM's built-in tools cover the job (Blackbaud AI, Bloomerang AI, Dataro AI), or the real need is grant research (Instrumentl vs Candid).

Related options (educational)

FAQ

Is DonorSearch or Kindsight cheaper?

We can't say. DonorSearch prints no prices (its pricing page returned 404 on 24 October 2026). Kindsight prints iWave starting prices of $4,500 and $5,800, with Premium by contact. Send both the same written list of questions and compare quotes line by line.

What AI does each one have?

DonorSearch: DonorSearch Ai custom Acquisition and Retention models, Enhanced CORE national models, generative AI prospect summaries in ProspectView Online 2, and DonorSearch360+ in Salesforce. Kindsight: Kindsight Intelligence with KI Briefings, a Screening Agent, a Prospect Summary, a Trip Planning Agent, and contact reports from voice memos.

How do we test accuracy before signing?

Screen ten donors your prospect researcher already knows, including common names and recent moves, through both. Have the researcher mark every wrong match and unsupported wealth claim, and bring that sheet to both contract calls.

What about donor privacy?

DonorSearch has a database opt-out page; Kindsight says donor data is never used to train models and is held 30 days for quality assurance. Both are vendor statements. Read the data agreements, mention prospect research in your privacy statement, and honor opt-outs. This is not legal advice.

Who approves outputs?

The prospect researcher approves every match, profile, and summary; the major gifts director sets every ask amount; the gift officer owns every visit and contact report; the executive director signs the contract and data agreement.

Optional next step (if seats overlap)

If you pay for a screening vendor, a CRM with built-in prospect tools, and AI seats that all summarize the same donors, map that overlap before the next renewal. Map the overlap with the $19 AI toolkit audit or the $9 AI toolkit spreadsheet. Email Audit $19 or Toolkit spreadsheet $9.

Checkout is live via Stripe. After you pay, we email delivery (spreadsheet) or intake next steps (audit).

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