Service Area 5

Research & Market Intelligence

Good decisions in funding and strategy depend on good information. Identifying the right donor. Understanding the funding landscape in a new sector. Benchmarking performance against peers. Assessing whether an emerging opportunity is worth pursuing.

Abbey Solutions provides advanced research and market intelligence to inform these decisions. We combine deep sector experience with structured research methodologies and modern data tools — including, where useful, AI-assisted research and analysis — to identify opportunities, assess markets, and generate insight that organisations can act on.

Overview

Research at Abbey Solutions is designed to support decisions, not to produce reports for their own sake. Our work is targeted, structured, and built around the questions our clients actually need to answer — which donors to approach, which markets to enter, where peer organisations are succeeding or struggling, what the funding landscape will look like in two or three years.

Our researchers come from a mix of sector, academic, and analytical backgrounds. We use professional research databases, primary source material, peer interviews, and modern analytical tools, and we apply judgement throughout — because data without context is rarely actionable. Where AI-assisted research can accelerate the work or surface patterns at scale, we use it. Where structured human analysis remains the right tool, we use that. The aim is always the same: better-informed decisions, faster.

Research outputs are designed for use, not for shelving. Reports are concise, prioritised, and built around the decisions they support. Where appropriate, we deliver in formats that integrate directly with client systems — pipeline trackers, CRM-ready prospect records, structured briefing notes — rather than as stand-alone documents.

What we do

Our research and intelligence work covers a defined set of areas.

  • Donor and funder identification and profiling

    Structured research on individual major donors, trusts, foundations, corporates, and other funders. Outputs are designed to support engagement, not just record-keeping.

  • Market mapping and opportunity analysis

    Comprehensive analysis of funding markets, programme areas, or geographic regions, structured around the strategic questions clients are trying to answer.

  • Competitor and peer benchmarking

    Structured comparison against peer organisations on income, programmes, positioning, or performance, supporting strategic and fundraising decisions.

  • Prospect pipeline development

    Structured pipelines built from research, prioritised by alignment, capacity, and probability of success.

  • Thematic and sector research

    Deeper analytical work on funding trends, sector dynamics, or emerging issues, designed to inform strategic positioning.

  • Pre-due diligence screening

    Structured background research on prospective donors, partners, or grantees, providing the foundation for any subsequent enhanced due diligence work.

Our approach

Four principles shape our research work.

Targeted

Research effort is focused on relevant and high-value opportunities. We don't produce comprehensive databases; we produce prioritised, decision-ready intelligence.

Structured

Clear methodologies, consistent outputs, transparent sourcing. Clients should be able to see how we reached a conclusion, not just what the conclusion is.

Insight-led

Analysis matters more than data. We don't deliver raw research dumps; we deliver structured insight, with the reasoning behind it visible.

Actionable

Outputs are delivered in formats that support immediate use — pipelines that can be loaded into a CRM, briefings that can be taken into a meeting, mapping that can be used for board presentation.

Typical outcomes

Clients we work with on research and intelligence typically come away with:

  • High-quality, prioritised prospect pipelines built on evidence and ready for cultivation.
  • A clear understanding of funding markets, sector dynamics, and emerging trends.
  • Stronger targeting and engagement strategies, grounded in funder research.
  • Better-informed decision-making across fundraising, strategy, and grant-making teams.
  • In-house teams better equipped to interpret and act on research output.

Who we work with

Organisations and donors requiring high-quality intelligence to inform funding, strategy, and investment decisions. This includes charities and NGOs developing new fundraising programmes or entering new markets, foundations and family offices identifying and assessing funding opportunities, and senior leadership teams needing structured analysis to support strategic decisions.

How this connects to our other service areas

Funding & Growth

Prospect research is the foundation of structured pipeline development, and most fundraising engagements involve research-led targeting from the outset.

Philanthropy & Donor Advisory

Opportunity identification and NGO sourcing draw directly on our research capability, particularly for donors funding internationally or across unfamiliar sectors.

Governance, Risk & Due Diligence

Pre-due diligence screening provides the structured background that enhanced due diligence builds on, and the two services often work in sequence.

Case study

Case study coming soon

A real case study will be featured here once content is finalised. The strongest research case studies will show clear downstream impact — for example, prospect research that surfaced major donors who later gave significant gifts, or market mapping that informed a successful expansion into a new region or funding stream.

Talk to us about research and market intelligence

Whether you need structured prospect research, market mapping for a strategic decision, or pre-DD screening on prospective donors and partners, we'd welcome a conversation about what might be useful.

Discuss a research project