The PM Podcast – “Right Out Of The Gate: A Conversation with Bill TeDesco”

Host: Jay Frost
Guest: Bill TeDesco, Founder of DonorSearch
Date: October 4, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features a candid, wide-ranging conversation with Bill TeDesco, the founder of DonorSearch and a leading figure in nonprofit fundraising intelligence. Host Jay Frost delves deeply into Bill’s personal and professional journey: growing up in Pennsylvania, the impact of early loss and strong values, his path from landscape architecture to tech entrepreneurship, and the creation and sale of DonorSearch. Along the way, listeners get a unique blend of untold stories—family, tragedy, legacy, and the role of data and AI in transforming philanthropy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Life: Family, Values, and Resilience

• Upbringing in Pittsburgh: Bill describes modest beginnings—raised by a single mom after his father died at age two, alongside two brothers.
• Core Values: Honesty, hard work, and a focus on education, shaped largely by his mother’s sacrifices as a night nurse ([05:35], [07:29], [09:11]).
• Impact of Loss: Bill shares the emotional challenge and faint childhood memories:

  "I used to tell folks he was coming back." — Bill TeDesco [06:59]

2. Education & Unlikely Beginnings

• First-Gen College: Realization at a family funeral that they were the only branch attending college ([09:11]).
• Landscape Architecture at Penn State: Entered because of a shared interest with a roommate, not a long-standing dream ([12:36]). The program's rigor cut 200 entrants down to about 30.
• Technical Spark: Early interest in computers led to integrating technology into planning.

3. Formative Work Experiences

• Study Abroad in England: Fascinating story about designing a town plan in Laycock, England, ultimately ignored by locals, compared to seeing his student designs in Pittsburgh actually implemented ([17:06]–[23:21]).

  "Literally every plot of ground that I had designed or suggested they change, they had followed it." — Bill TeDesco [21:36]

• Data Layering/Theoretical Foundations: Bill connects how layering maps in landscape architecture (soils, vegetation, etc.) is similar to compiling donor data sets ([25:28]–[27:23]).

4. Career Shifts: From Technology Sales to Nonprofit Development

• The Computer Industry's Turbulence: Collapse of direct sales led to introspection and “quality time with the kids.”
• Development Work: A nudge from his wife led to his first unpaid development role, quickly proving his tech/sales skills transferred to fundraising ([29:16]):

  "Your whole process at work is very similar to what I do in development... And never to be spoken again, the similarities between sales and development." — Bill TeDesco [29:16]

5. Innovation in Fundraising Analytics

• Target America & WealthEngine: Moved from providing research to hospitals to leading new technology products and forming WealthEngine ([34:27]).
• Market Inflection: Dot-com boom/bust, business partnerships, and navigating buyouts and stock-based compensation.

From Layoffs to Entrepreneurship

• Learning from Setbacks: Getting passed over in mergers led to Bill launching his own ventures. Tried to build a game-changing prospecting tool with Jay Frost before focusing on DonorSearch ([38:59]–[40:18]).

6. Building DonorSearch & Industry Leadership

• Founder’s Journey: DonorSearch started at home, buying a critical data set despite operational challenges (“homemakers hand-keying data”)[61:06] and scaling to millions of records ([61:20]).
• Focus on Data Quality: A year or two cleaning records highlighted the early, unstructured state of nonprofit data ([61:25]).
• Growth: Successfully expanded DonorSearch to a company recently acquired by EverTrue, with his children staying on after the sale ([62:41]–[64:53]).

7. Philanthropy Markers: Data-Driven Fundraising

• Six Predictors of Major Giving: Real estate, business affiliations, foundation trusteeships, charitable giving, and (controversially) political donations ([41:56]–[47:39]).
• Political Donor Insight:

  "When you get to lifetime giving of like $5,000 politically, it's a dead-on marker for people that are going to have a high correlation to making larger gifts charitably... at $10,000, the correlation is almost 100%." — Bill TeDesco [45:40]

8. Technology Advancements: AI and Cost Decline

• Tech Evolution: Radical reduction in research cost—from dollars to pennies per profile ([49:26]).
• Complete Donor Profiles: Today’s profiles pull dozens of data sources and now incorporate AI narrative and predictive tools.
• The Next Phase: Bill foresees increasing power demands for AI, premium data services becoming standard, and the bar rising for prepared, personalized donor engagement ([53:47], [57:31]).

9. Reflections on Legacy & Values

• What Lasts: Impact measured not by accolades, but client outcomes and staying true to serving nonprofits.

  “We were able to do good things and in the process, to do well ourselves... If the client doesn't say yes, that's what I want to do, don't promote it. Just stick with the stuff that works for them.” — Bill TeDesco [67:35]

• On Retirement:

  "Now I'm in the middle of a small horse farm, and I can do whatever I want, go wherever I want..." — Bill TeDesco [66:33]

• On Family and Team: Both his children and former employees are part of his pride in what he built ([64:53]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You got out. These people can't get out of here. They're stuck here. You got out. You got a degree, got an education. Why are you even considering coming back?” — recounting advice from a friend about not returning to a stagnant hometown ([00:00], [11:39])
• “I have no idea where I left the plans... but literally every plot of ground that I had designed or suggested they change, they had followed it.” — on discovering his impact by accident ([21:36])
• “Landscape architecture... you would lay those on top of each other and then what would pop would be the places where... the ideal place for building would be. In many regards, that's very similar to what we ended up doing with prospect research.” ([25:28])
• “When you get to $10,000 [in political lifetime gifts], the correlation is almost 100%... It's an incredibly good measure of disposable income.” ([44:40])
• “If I'm a non profit... do you really want to pay somebody 50 bucks to put together the profile and you have to wait a day, or do you want it for a quarter and start reading it before you head out?” ([53:47])
• “DonorSearch was purchased by a good company EverTrue. It’s a real nice match... They saw the wisdom in the data we collected and especially what we were doing with AI.” ([62:41])

Important Segment Timestamps

• [05:35] – Bill’s childhood, family struggles, and core values
• [09:11] – The revelation about being first in family to attend college
• [12:36] – Why he chose landscape architecture
• [17:06] – Study abroad story; seeing his Pittsburgh town plan implemented
• [25:28] – The analogy between layering maps and prospect data
• [29:16] – How his wife suggested a move into development/fundraising
• [41:56] – The six key data markers for predicting major donor giving
• [44:40] – The unique predictive value of political giving
• [49:26] – Radically declining costs and the future with AI
• [62:41] – DonorSearch acquired by EverTrue; reflections on transition
• [67:35] – Looking back: what brought the most joy

Conclusion

Bill TeDesco’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and relentless curiosity—from a kid climbing Pittsburgh hills to an industry-defining founder. His impact on data-driven philanthropy and donor intelligence is clear, but it’s his grounding in family values and the pursuit of service—“do good things and in the process, do well ourselves”—that defines his legacy for colleagues, the nonprofit field, and listeners alike.