Major gifts

What this screen is for

Major gifts is a tab in Fundraising. It has five parts: At a glance, Pipeline, Proposals, Portfolios and Plans. A proposal is one ask to one person: what it's for, how much, and when you expect an answer. Each proposal moves through six stages: Identified, Cultivating, Asked, Committed, Declined and Stewarding.

Start a proposal

1. Open the person's record and go to the "Asks & pipeline" tab.
2. Click "+ New ask".
3. Fill in "What is the ask for?", "Ask amount", "Expected close" and the "Stage". Add "Probability you'd put on it" if you have one in mind, the "Fund it lands in" and the "Officer who owns it".
4. Click "Create proposal".

Move a proposal along

1. Open Fundraising, then Major gifts, then Proposals.
2. Click "Move" on the row, choose the new stage and click "Save the move".
3. When you move it to Committed, Steward asks "How did it come in?". Choose "As a pledge (they promised it)" and Steward writes one pledge for the ask amount, or "As a gift already on file" to link a gift you have recorded.
4. When you move it to Declined, choose a reason under "Why?". The reason stays on the record, even if you reopen it later.

An example

Margaret Chen has given $1,000 a year for six years. You add a proposal on her record: "Lead gift for the new barn", $25,000, expected close June 30, stage Cultivating, probability 50%. Her ask now counts in "Open pipeline", and $12,500 of it counts in "Weighted". In June she says yes and promises it over two years. You click "Move", choose Committed and "As a pledge (they promised it)", and the pledge closes itself when the money arrives.

What the numbers mean

Open pipeline: the ask amounts on every proposal still at Identified, Cultivating or Asked.

Weighted: each open ask multiplied by the probability you set by hand. A proposal with no probability is left out.

Due this quarter: open proposals whose expected close falls in this quarter.

Asked this year: the ask amounts on proposals that reached Asked, Committed, Declined or Stewarding in this fiscal year.

Committed this year: what people said yes to in this fiscal year.

What Steward doesn't do here

Steward never sets a probability for you, and never sends anything from this screen. A proposal is your record of the ask; the conversation stays yours.