Triple vs iWave: comparing donor intelligence platforms for 2026

TL;DR

iWave is the prospect research tool most experienced researchers have used at some point — its PRO (Propensity, Readiness, Opportunity) score is a de-facto industry standard, and its philanthropic giving database is one of the largest. Triple is the modern alternative: it generates briefs on demand, keeps data fresh continuously, and is built for fundraisers as much as researchers.

Pick iWave if your team has a dedicated prospect researcher building deep manual profiles and you trust the PRO score as a portfolio heuristic. Pick Triple if you want every fundraiser to self-serve a research brief in minutes and your CRM to stay fresh in the background.

What is iWave?

iWave, founded in 1991 in Prince Edward Island, is one of the oldest and most widely used prospect research platforms in North America. Its flagship output is the PRO score — a three-factor model assessing Propensity (affinity signals), Readiness (capacity and liquidity), and Opportunity (timing). Researchers use iWave's profile builder to assemble briefs from integrated data sources: wealth indicators, philanthropic giving, foundation records, and political contributions.

Strengths: the PRO score is well-understood and trusted across the sector; philanthropic giving coverage is extensive (iWave indexes a very large volume of named gifts); and the profile builder is powerful in the hands of a trained researcher. Weaknesses: it is researcher-centric rather than fundraiser-centric; the interface has a real learning curve; and the platform is not continuously refreshed — the onus is on the user to re-pull data.

What is Triple?

Triple is an AI-native donor intelligence platform. It connects to your CRM, continuously enriches every contact, and generates two-page research briefs on demand that stitch wealth signals, philanthropy, recent news, and affinity into a single pre-meeting read. Triple's search layer lets fundraisers ask natural-language questions — "who in our pipeline has sold a company in the last year" — without building a Boolean filter.

Feature comparison

When iWave is the right call

• You have a dedicated prospect researcher whose primary job is building profiles.
• The PRO score is entrenched in your portfolio-management process and your team trusts it.
• Deep philanthropic-giving research is the single most important capability you need.
• You prefer a researcher-led workflow and do not want fundraisers to self-serve.

When Triple is the right call

• You want fundraisers, not researchers, to drive the tool.
• Briefs should be generated on demand rather than assembled manually.
• The CRM must reflect current reality at all times.
• You are scaling a portfolio faster than researcher headcount.
• Natural-language search and liquidity alerts are deal-makers, not nice-to-haves.

Pricing

iWave pricing typically ranges from the mid four figures to low five figures annually for small shops, scaling into the mid-five figures for enterprise accounts depending on user count and modules. Triple is priced per team as an annual platform subscription with continuous enrichment included.

Five reasons teams move from iWave to Triple

1. Fundraisers can self-serve a complete brief without asking a researcher first.
2. The CRM updates continuously — no more "when was this last screened?" conversations.
3. Natural-language search makes ad-hoc prospecting instant.
4. Alerts fire on liquidity and board events, not on a weekly report.
5. One platform replaces iWave + a separate alert tool + a separate search tool.

Frequently asked questions

Can Triple produce something like the PRO score?

Yes — Triple includes a composite affinity-and-capacity score by default, and teams can customize the weights per campaign or officer. The output is conceptually similar to PRO but computed continuously rather than on-demand.

Is iWave's philanthropic data bigger than Triple's?

iWave has indexed named-gift data for decades and remains strong there. Triple's coverage is comparable on static named-gift records and materially better on recent gifts (indexed in days, not months). For long-tail historic gifts below $10K, iWave is often deeper.

How long does it take to migrate from iWave?

Most teams complete a full migration in 4–6 weeks, including CRM integration, field mapping, and researcher retraining. Running both platforms in parallel for a quarter is a common and safe pattern.

The bottom line

iWave is the prospect researcher's tool. Triple is the whole team's tool. If research is a bottleneck in your pipeline, Triple removes it — fundraisers self-serve, briefs are ready on demand, and the CRM stays current in the background.