Fall is a time of change. Whether it’s the leaves turning or preparing your home for winter, we’re entering a season of reflection, planning for the future, and facing new challenges. In many fundraising organizations, fall can also mean it’s time to set goals for the coming fiscal year.
Goal setting for philanthropy can be daunting, especially in an ever-changing environment and shifting organizational priorities. Rest assured, the data already contained in your donor pipeline can inform realistic goals for total fundraising, donor retention, and new donor acquisition for success in the next fiscal year.
The Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) defines a donor pipeline as “[t]he group of organizational constituents that comprise the […] prospect pipeline for a gift officer, department, program, region or initiative.” These donor and prospect pipelines are full of data – not just basic information on your closest supporters – that can inform what your organization is prepared to do in the future.
A balanced prospect pipeline is crucial for planning key fundraising activities, preventing the cycle where a great year is followed by a poor one due to a depleted pipeline. To use your pipeline to best predict your likely annual dollars raised, you must segment your prospects into three tiers:
- Tier 1 for those ready to be solicited for a major gift within the next 12 months,
- Tier 2 for those in early cultivation, with the goal of solicitation within 12-24months and
- Tier 3 for new prospects needing qualification to determine if they should continue towards solicitation or be disqualified as a prospect.
By strategically allocating your time and effort to each group, you ensure a constant flow of prospects. As your Tier 1 opportunities close, your Tier 2 and Tier 3 are ready to move up and take their place, allowing you to hit your goals year after year. By consistently tracking your progress and understanding the conversion rates between these tiers, you can project your future fundraising totals with greater accuracy.
When setting goals and executing from a segmented, strategically planned pipeline, top fundraising professionals consistently demonstrate three key traits: they are strategic, focused, and disciplined.
- To be strategic, a gift officer must ensure every prospect interaction is intentional, with a clear, defined next step to move the relationship forward through cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. This deliberate approach transforms a simple conversation into a productive step toward a gift.
- Being focused means strategically “right-sizing” your portfolio, by managing a well-balanced number of prospects and prioritizing and organizations most likely to engage and contribute. This prevents resources from being wasted on an unmanageable, unlikely, unproductive list.
- Finally, discipline is the ability to stay on task and avoid distractions, dedicating time to the work that truly drives results.
By embodying these three traits, a gift officer can use their balanced pipeline of prospects to not only hit their current year’s goals but also to confidently and accurately predict their likely annual dollars raised, ensuring repeatable success year after year.
An organization’s donor pipeline contains information on their historical performance, as well as clues to future successes. Utilizing your donor data to build your fundraising goals for the next year’s support, and the years beyond, allows you to make data-informed decisions to empower you to achieve your goals.
How have you utilized your donor pipeline to plan for your organization’s future? Share your success stories with us at research@gobelgroup.com.
