Moves management

Why it matters

Major gifts rarely happen by accident. They come from a series of planned contacts, each with a purpose. Moves management makes those steps visible, so nobody waits a year for a follow-up and nobody gets asked before they are ready.

For a small team, the discipline matters more than the software. Know each top prospect's stage, write down the next move and its date, and review the list every week.

How Steward shows it

Steward has a major gifts pipeline under Fundraising. Moving a donor from one stage to the next asks what happened, and that note is saved as a move on their timeline. Steward may suggest a move, but it never moves a donor forward on its own. The officer decides.

Related terms

• Portfolio A portfolio is the group of donors and prospects assigned to one fundraiser, who is responsible for building a personal relationship with each of them.
• Cultivation Cultivation is the work of building a relationship with a donor or prospect before you ask for a gift: visits, tours, updates and conversations that deepen their interest in your mission.
• Major gift A major gift is a gift large enough that your organization handles it personally, with visits, a tailored ask and close stewardship. The dollar threshold is set by each organization, not by the sector.