Date:
, ,
-
, ,
Location:
On Tuesday, October 2nd, Apra members linked together on the latest Apra Twitter Chat. Jessica Balsam, Director, Prospect Management, with the University of Washington and Marissa Todd, Prospect Research Analyst, with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art led a discussion on managing the pipeline that reached over 1700 twitter accounts through 66 contributors.
Some highlights from the conversation include:
What kind of information do you track on prospects before they get a proposal?
- We assign each prospect to as many pools as possible. No pool is given priority over another pool. This is one way we uphold our open cultivation philosophy.
- Before we start a proposal, staff can assign themselves for qualification, we typically have research ratings added to the record, and we'll capture contact information and actions.
- Previous interest, demonstrated through engagement or giving is usually the most fundamental piece of info that makes someone look interesting to us
What kind of visualizations do you use to make pipelines easy for staff to use and understand?
- Lessons learned from my experience: When showing a pipeline, don't neglect showing finished work. For a while I was only displaying proposals that were intended asks, response pending, or verbal commitment. Basically only showing the work yet to do- not success stories!
- As an RE (classic) shop, we do most of our reporting through exports and further manipulation. My AVP is mostly interested in the actual names and dates and amounts and usually prefers spreadsheets to visualizations.
- I think measuring turnover rates can be helpful as moving people up thru the pipeline--how fast do you get them in, ask (or DQ), and get them out? That's a future wish to delve into.
How do you get gift officer to pick up prospects and keep them moving in the pipeline?
- We used to produce a new leads report (monthly, I think) and we did an analysis of how many of those prospects had been picked up into portfolios
- We've recently started adding a "Research Strategy" to our profiles, in which we explain why this person or organization looks like a good prospect.
- Proactively provide validated research information and strategy recommendations
Search #aprachats to read more about managing the pipeline, and stay tuned to @Apra_HQ for future Twitter Chats!