Online Services for Address, Email and Phone numbers

Patricia Lewis

We are currently using LexisNexis for online real-time address, phone, email, lookups.  Are there any other competitors that anyone is aware of that would provide the same type of service? 

Jen Claudy

We are also looking to replace a Lexis-Nexis subscription.  Someone mentioned in another thread that you can pay by search instead of a subscription, which might be an option.  It would be great if Blackbaud would explore the possibility of building in access to LN as an option for RE or ResearchPoint.


That said, the first option I will be exploring to replace LN (we are still under a contract...) is www.MelissaData.com.  I don't think it offers as much data as LN (I use the previous address records, potential relatives, and possible email addresses sections the most), but I don't think that the ROI is there for LN (for my current org, anyway).  MelissaData does have some free lookup options and then other resources with a subscription.


I also use these free resources: www.BirthDatabase.com which gives birthdates but is based on landline phone data (or so I've been told), so anyone like me who doesn't have a traditional landline won't be listed, www.Legacy.com's Obit Finder finds published obituaries back to around 2000, and www.FamilySearch.org is the LDS church and offers a number of search options...the one I use the most is the link, and finds SSN records for people who are deceased (I have a search saved in my bookmark, and can't find a version of the page without search parameters to use in the link, so just disregard those).  Depending on the county, you can also research property records from the County Auditor's website or Property Valuation Website.  A few counties in my area also have marriage and divorce records that are searchable online (the mother's name is redacted on the marriage licenses, for security purposes).


I'm subscribing to this thread in hopes of learning about some other options out there!

Faith Murray

Patricia, do you do all your mailings in-house, or through third-party mailers?


Our third party mailers have been kind enough to send us their NCOA updates on our House Lists free of charge (just have to remind them to re-append the constituent ID), and our donor acquisition rental list broker will process our House lists through their Lexis Nexis subscription for a minimal fee. (We paid $250 last year for 20,000 records on a phone append.)


For individual searches, we have a (very affordable) subscription with White Pages Pro, which includes address and phone number searches, former addresses, "Do Not Call" registry information, and possible relations. I usually use PeopleSmart's freebie search to help identify if a donor is deceased. Unfortunately, they don't do email address, though.


For prospect screening, we have in the past used Donor Search - they give comprehensive wealth information, including real estate value, stock exchanges, basic info such as age and relationships, business affiliations, donations to other nonprofits and political parties, and publicly known philanthropic involvement. They will import the data into RE Notes for your select group of donors, and then you get access to their databases for individual searches. We only employed their services once, because to be honest, it was more data than we could actually use with our limited manpower. Basically the donor's whole life story, lol. Gives new meaning to Big Data.

Rachel Bailey

Faith Murray:


For individual searches, we have a (very affordable) subscription with White Pages Pro, which includes address and phone number searches, former addresses, "Do Not Call" registry information, and possible relations. 

Faith, we looked at a WhitePages Pro subscription and they quoted us $200/month.  What is your subscription fee with them and how did you negotiate it?

Myriam Saint Jean

Patricia Lewis:

We are currently using LexisNexis for online real-time address, phone, email, lookups.  Are there any other competitors that anyone is aware of that would provide the same type of service? 

I just used AddressFinder in the Data Health Center in Raiser's Edge. This can be run 4 times a year, and you also have the option of Deceased, email, and phone Finder once a year. We have the "Pro" package, and I'm not sure how much it cost to us. We also receive through our third party mailer the NCOA update which is after each mailing. The best option always depends on resources and goals, but I like the mix option.

Merllene Bendixen

We use AccuData's AlumniFinder http://www.alumnifinder.com/ for "one-of" (returned mail, need birthdate, home address, etc.)  searches. You can get addresses, birthdates, some phone numbers and email addresses. You pay if you have a hit.and no subscription charge.