Colleges that win the most contributions — in terms of dollars raised per student — have done so in part by spending more money than other institutions to hire full-time staff members to conduct research on alumni and other potential donors, according to a new survey.

The survey, conducted by WealthEngine, a Bethesda, Md., company that offers online donor-research tools, was based on responses from 61 educational institutions. All but three were colleges and universities.

The institutions were divided into two groups, 17 of which were designated as “high performing” fund-raising organizations. Those institutions raised $2,234 to $25,712 in contributed income for each enrolled student; those that were private raised more per student.

The high-performing organizations had two or three full-time prospect researchers, as they are called, for every one researcher reported by the remaining 44 institutions, the survey found.

The researchers in the high-performing institutions were providing their service to larger numbers of development officers. They provided information to eight or nine fund-raiser colleagues, compared with half that number served by researchers in less successful organizations.

The survey, “2009 Best Practices in Prospect Research in Higher Education Fundraising,” will be available on October 15. A free copy can be ordered online by filling out this order form.