# iWave Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is iWave the right Nonprofit solution for you? Explore 93 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/229663/iWave/reviews --- iWave 4.4 (93) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/229663/iWave/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 26th, 2026 # Reviews of iWave Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 4.6 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews EC Eli C developmentLegal Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “It was overall positive but ultimately didn't do much for donor prospect for us, but a great tool for newer non-profits looking to build their donor base.“ September 3, 2025 JB Josephine B Contracted Development SpecialistNon-Profit Organization Management, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “I think the cost is kind of high. And I believe that with your cost breakdown being by the profiles, is hard because you don't know if someone is worth spending your profile "token" on until after often times.“ May 21, 2025 EC Eli C developmentLegal Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “It was relatively easy to use with good tutorials and resources for novice users.“ September 3, 2025 CS Christopher S Director of DevelopmentNon-Profit Organization Management, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Search function is challenging.“ April 3, 2025 SH Sara H Senior Development ManagerMuseums and Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The screening feature is excellent and the system will create profiles for the records you select.“ November 27, 2023 Ann A Prospect Research CoordinatorFund-Raising, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I recently got switched to a different customer service representative and I'm having a hard time receiving a response from her on a couple of occasions.“ April 4, 2024 Ann A Prospect Research CoordinatorFund-Raising, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It is the best product for researching in regards to fundraising that I have ever used.“ April 4, 2024 SH Sara H Senior Development ManagerMuseums and Institutions, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Not as easy to use as I'd hoped in terms of researching a donor and creating a profile.“ November 27, 2023 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 93 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use VR Verified Reviewer Associate Director, Development Research Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "iWave PRO" September 25, 2018 5.0 iWave is my go-to prospect research resource. It's one of the first places I look for information when I open up a case. Customer support is prompt and effective. Pros It has a very user-friendly interface and displays results in a clear way. Unlike some other subscription-based products of its nature, it makes no attempt to bulk data together into a single record, eliminating the problem of false ID matches. Rather, it lets you go through and verify each component separately. I love the donations section as it links right to annual reports/donor rosters! Cons I wish it would do either nickname/similar name matching, or at least provide results where the name starts with the same letters. Review Source JB Josephine B. Contracted Development Specialist Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A great program, if you can afford it!" May 21, 2025 5.0 I have liked the program, but have felt that it is costly and not sure if my organization will continue to want to pay for it. But I've enjoyed it. Pros It gives us the ability know more about our donor and be able to ask for funds much more confidently. Cons I think the cost is kind of high. And I believe that with your cost breakdown being by the profiles, is hard because you don't know if someone is worth spending your profile "token" on until after often times. Review Source BD Brandy D. Research Analyst Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Honest Review" February 1, 2022 3.0 Overall, my experience has been fine. Pros I like the ease of finding information. I like the idea that it can be easily exported (however, I can't stand the new profile format). Cons I absolutely hate the new profile layout. It looks childish and unprofessional and I've stopped sending it to fundraisers. Exporting it as a Word doc and editing it defeats the purpose of it being a time saving resource. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 14, 2022 Hi Brandy, thank you for your review and honesty regarding the profile layout. I have passed along that feedback to our team for review. Thanks again! WR William R. Assistant Director, Advancement Operations Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My experience with iWave has been excellent!" May 11, 2018 5.0 Quality data that helps us identify and target fundraising prospects. The software is a great value for the cost. The software has saved us a great deal of time identifying and researching new prospects allowing us to get them to our front line gift officers much sooner that we had in the past. Pros 1) Quality of data--accurate data including real estate, Thomson Reuters, D&B, RelSci and HEPdata to name a few of the databases available. 2) Affordability--great for offices on a tight budget. Great returns for a minimal investment. 3) Ease of use--the search features are intuitive. The 360 search tool is a great feature offering fast comprehensive searches with drill through capability. 4) The screening capability is intuitive to use and offers some customization for each batch. The results are returned quickly and can be used to rapidly identify top prospects and build profiles. 5) Customer support has provided thorough knowledgeable responses in a timely manner. 6) The developers at iWave are always striving to improve their product. They seem to roll out a new feature each year that only enhances the value of the product, without increasing the cost. Moreover, they listen to their customers and try to include new features and databases requested by users. iWave has been a great tool for our office for about ten years. It is used not only by prospect research, but also by the biographical and gift teams who use iWave to locate constituents and research matching gift companies. I have been involved with prospect research for about 20 years, and I feel that iWave has developed the best desktop research product I have used so far. Cons Honestly, there isn't anything that I do not like about iWave. One thing on my wish list would be the addition of a general news database, but this is not a deal breaker for me. Review Source MM Matthew M. Development Analyst Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My favorite resource, paid or otherwise" February 4, 2022 5.0 My favorite resource, paid or otherwise, would definitely have to be iWave, with the reason being that it offers effectively everything (with the only exception being the lack of capacity calculator). It is always my first stop when trying to find anything from contact information to job titles to stock data, it very often provides even more complete and comprehensive giving information than Research Point, and its company search feature is an incredibly useful tool indeed. My job would be significantly more difficult without it. Pros The product has the ablility to search from contact information to Job titles to Stock data. It very often provides even more complete and comprehensive giving information than Research Point, and its company search feature is an incredibly useful tool indeed. Cons iWave has a lack of capacity calculator which would help gauge an individuals total wealth. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 14, 2022 Hi Matthew, thank you for your review! iWave Capacity is an estimated five-year dollar amount of what an individual could potentially give. To learn more about iWave's capacity calculation, please reach out to your Client Success Manager or our support team, we'd be happy to hear any feedback you have! LE Laura E. Campaign Prospect Researcher Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A Much Needed Resource for Prospect Research" January 27, 2022 5.0 Some of the information I come across is actually more up to date and more expansive than the results I come up with elsewhere. I therefore consider it to be essential for us to continue to use. Pros For my particular needs, I find iWave to be the best resource to go to for real estate information, donor giving and board memberships. Of course there is much more information out there that iWave delves into. It's very easy to use, with tabs for category clearly marked on top, and sections on the side to get screenings, create profiles and access news if it falls under your subscription. Cons My organization never bothered with mass screenings, as we use ResearchPoint for that because it integrates easily with Raisers Edge. My impression was that it didn't work as well, if at all, with Raisers Edge, which prevented us from fully using iWave. Reason for choosing iWave Pricing and features combined Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Hi Laura, thank you for your review! Good news! iWave does integrate with Raiser's Edge NXT. Please don't hesitate to reach out to our great support team or your dedicated Client Success Manager to learn more about how this integration works! VR Verified Reviewer Director of Prospect Development Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "powerful datasets, gold-standard interface" May 14, 2018 4.0 Pros iWave PRO brings together excellent datasets for professional background, charitable giving, real estate, and other areas. The interface is the best in the industry, making it very easy to query based on prospect names or indirectly. Results can be easily exported for additional analysis and reporting. Cons The profile-building feature is not strong, and the company has been cagey about its batch screening functionality. Review Source Jennifer F. President Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A fantastic all-in-one prospect research tool!" May 17, 2018 5.0 This software has made a big difference for my team - it makes us better and faster. Pros Yes, it has the key database sources I want, but what really makes this a great tool for me is that I can throw a name into it and get started. That's never going to work well with a really common name, but so often I know enough and need to recognize my prospect and get information quickly. iWave PRO gets me there. Cons If I could wave a magic wand, I'd wish that I could create a PROfile that could export with more plain text that I could manipulate. Because there's always external data I want to add. But, hey, I get it that there's only so much software can do! Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Prospect and Research Associate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "IWave is very easy to use with great features, and the customer support is exceptional." May 10, 2018 5.0 Pros I get an intelligent snapshot on a prospect in a flash with various data sets. Creating prospect lists for individuals and corporations using various data sets like real estate, Thomson Reuters, donations, alumni and Prospects of Wealth. Qualifying prospect lists (PROScore/RFM) is impressive and has helped our Major Gifts pipeline. The Canadian and US foundations information in IWave is up to date and is very useful. Cons Duplicates in giving history - this can impact on scoring the prospect (on # and amount). RelSci data is not very dynamic and is not local for my use. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Organizational Development Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "More Scam than Service" August 12, 2023 1.0 frustration and aggravation because the product cannot perform as promised. Pros none, a complete waste, does not perform as promised during the sales run-up and preliminary exhibitions Cons everything about it is a complete waste of time and money, will not integrate as promised, too much missing data to provide actionable results, aggravation, aggravation on top of aggravation Reason for choosing iWave promised performance by a totally uninformed and apparently negligent sales force Review Source DG Donna G. Senior Prospect Researcher Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "iWave review" February 1, 2022 4.0 I appreciate being able to access various databases in one place. It makes my job so much easier. My only issue is a personal one in that I don't take the time to review all the products the software offers. I am very habitual when I'm doing my research. I am in and out of so many different types to software at a fairly quick pace. Pros iWave is my first go to for looking up real estate information. I mostly use iWave for CoreLogic. I heavily rely on this database for my field of work. I also find value in the Alumni search mode. Cons I cannot think of anything at the top of my head at this time. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 14, 2022 Hi Donna, thank you for your review. If you'd ever like to dive deeper into what iWave has to offer, please don't hesitate to reach out to your Client Success Manager or our support team, they'll be happy to help! AS Anna S. Development Research Analyst Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Very useful" January 27, 2022 5.0 Use it daily and find it to be the most helpful program overall that I use. Pros Thorough and up-to-date information across multiple databases. Easy to find information, for the most part. Cons One issue I'd like to see addressed is when you specify a state for an individual, it limits the donations data to organizations for that state. I want it to limit the individual (with a common name) to the state they live in, but I'd still like to see donations they give out-of-state. Any way to change this? Thanks! Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Thank you for your review, Anna! I've forwarded your feedback to the appropriate team. We're always aiming to improve our solution, please don't hesitate to send through your wants! HH Heather H. Associate Director, Leadership Research Fund-Raising Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Mission Critical Tool for Prospecting and Fundraising " January 28, 2022 4.0 Pros The new "Connections" feature is going to be very exciting to utilize and I see great potential for creative prospecting. iWave as a whole feels fairly intuitive to use and I appreciate that so many resources are compiled into one tool (D&B, DatabaseUSA, Thomson Reuters, foundation connections, etc.). Additionally, since I work closely with our planned giving team, I am appreciating the addition of a planned giving score and even with previously created profiles, all one has to do is simply click the refresh button to have the score added. Cons Occasionally I find that some of my filters within Real Estate, for example, will have changed and I need to go back in and reset them. In Real Estate, I would love the ability to click on a link to see/verify where the real estate information came from. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Hi Heather, thank you for your review! Glad to see you're as excited for iWave Connections as we are! Thank you for your feedback regarding sources for real estate information, I have forwarded that along to our product team. CK Christopher K. Consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Solo Consultant" February 1, 2022 4.0 Overall experience has been great. Customer service has been top-notch during my time using the product. I appreciate the emails telling me new or lesser-used product traits. Pros Integrate great sourced materials. Easy to look up real estate addresses, foundation outlays. One-stop shop where i can add significant value for clients. Cons As a solo user, the pricing is expensive. I need to work for roughly a week and a half straight/paid in order to break even (not considering taxes). I do consulting part-time so the cost really eats into this product driving income. Alternatives considered [Lexis for Microsoft Office](https://www.capterra.com/p/157351/Lexis-for-Microsoft-Office/) Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Hi Christopher, thank you for your review! We understand that as a solo user pricing is an important factor to you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to your Client Success Manager our our support team to learn some tips and tricks on how to see the best ROI with iWave! MD Maureen D. Advancement Support Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "iWave Review" January 27, 2022 4.0 Pros Initially, it is fairly easy to navigate. The initial customer support was very helpful. Cons Common names, it is hard to narrow down accurate data for people with common names. Live chat would be an improvement. Reason for choosing iWave Referrals were helpful Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 14, 2022 Hi Maureen, thank you for your review. We hear you on common names and we're always trying to improve our solution. Regarding chat, there is a function in iWave on the bottom right hand side where you can request to talk to a live agent, that feature can also be found on our support site! DB Danielle B. Assistant Director of Donor Research Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "We love iWave for the layers of insight it gives into our prospects. " May 10, 2018 4.0 We're able to find information via iWave's sources that we can't get at any other way. It fills in the gaps our other research solution leaves open, and it's flexible enough to let us work with data the way that works best for us. Pros iWave aggregates the information into easy-to-browse layers. We like that we can collect the relevant data into PROfiles, and that the system weeds out duplicate records on its own if we happen to add something to a previous PROfile that was already there. The breakout categories on philanthropic giving are helpful, as is the PRO Score. We frequently search giving by the foundation name, if we find one attached to a prospect, which we have a hard time doing in our other research solution. The wealth of business contact information in ZoomInfo is indispensable. Cons We're dying for the integration with Raiser's Edge to happen. We used to be heavier users of iWave, but when we integrated our other research solution to our database, we shifted usage over there. PROfiles are glitchy sometimes, and there's a lack of ability to sort and customize what goes into them compared to what we'd like to have. Review Source RW Rowena W. Advancement Associate, Research Museums and Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Review of iWave use for prospect researchers" February 3, 2022 4.0 I have had very nice experiences with customer support. I like the interface and ease of use. Pros It is easy to use and has a good listing of publicly available philanthropic donations. Cons There are no features I dislike, however I admit I use it for a few of its specific features. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 14, 2022 Hi Rowena, thank you for your review! If you'd ever like to dive into more of our features, please don't hesitate to reach out to your Client Success Manager or our support team! AR Alexander R. Prospect Researcher Philanthropy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Iwave review" January 28, 2022 4.0 Pros Resource sets, ease of use, ability to generate profiles quickly. Cons Way more data geared towards the United States, limited data on the last updates to certain donation sets. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Thank you for your review, Alexander. We understand the drawback of having limited data for Canada, this is due to Canada's strict privacy laws. RB Robert B. Director, DAPR Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "iWave PRO is my go-to resource" May 10, 2018 5.0 iWave PRO provides the most complete resources at the best value. Pros iWave PRO is comprehensive and easy-to-use. They have done a tremendous job aggregating data resources that key in on the most helpful information. With all that they already offer, they are always striving to provide even more content. iWave PRO allows me to research and qualify more prospects in a shorter amount of time. Cons iWave recently included on a trial basis data from Pipl. I appreciated both the content and how it was formatted. If possible, I would love to see this content restored on a permanent basis - either from Pipl or a similar vendor. Review Source BO Beth O. Research Analyst Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Decent Tool" January 27, 2022 4.0 Pros Ability to look into who holds a property; aggregate philanthropy information Cons Interface can be a little clunky; customization of searches leaves something to be desired. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Thank you for your review, Beth! I've submitted your feedback to our team. VM Veronika M. Research Development Officer Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Research Development Experience " February 1, 2022 4.0 Pros Great functionality, very important for the day-to-day activities of a research development team Great customer service Always adapting to the needs of customers Easy ability to go to source material/pdf of the annual reports for donations Cons Some of the features are not available for Canadian donors. Most notably, being able to filter donors to a particular "indicator" or field. This works for US organizations but not for Canadian organizations. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Hi Veronkia, thank you for your review! I have provided your feedback regarding Canadian donors to our product team! JB Jacqueline B. Research Analyst Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Prospect Research" February 1, 2022 4.0 Reliable information provided in an easy to navigate format. Pros Easy to use, extremely helpful prospecting tool. Cons I cannot think of negatives at this time. Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Thank you for your review, Jacqueline! CT Christian T. Prospect Researcher Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "IWave has been my go to source since Ive been in research. I know I can go there as a starting point" May 10, 2018 5.0 I am able to provide better quality information using the tool of IWave Pros The amount of information gathered in one place saves so much time in the research process. I feel secure in knowing that the information that is provided is accurate and the most up to date. This is truly money well spent. Cons I would like if IWave had a better way to provide/confirm email addresses. That's one of the biggest request that I get from fund raisers. Review Source NF Nicole F. Director of Research & Prospect Management Higher Education Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "I've been using PRO for a year now and have nothing bad to say about it. " May 17, 2018 5.0 It has been very helpful in not only identifying US prospects but also prospects in Canada. Pros From screening to just regular searches, I am regularly amazed at how easy it is to use. It is transparent about where the information is coming from which allows me to be more confident in my research. I also love how easy it is to download and export data that I can use and share with others in my office. The customer support has been top notch. My questions are always answered quickly and thoroughly and I really appreciate all of the tutorials available online. Cons I really don't know if I have a single bad thing to say about iWave. It has been a fantastic addition to our research products. Review Source FY Frank Y. Research associate Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Frank Yang" January 27, 2022 4.0 It’s easy to use and it’s in most cases accurate Pros It combines multiple sources of information and present them at the same place. Cons There’s not enough information about wealth and the wealth information it has seems to be a wild guess of the reality Review Source Response from iWave Information Systems February 9, 2022 Thank you for your review Frank. Your feedback is appreciated and has been forwarded to the appropriate team. Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Nonprofit](https://www.capterra.com/nonprofit-software/) ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.