Every nonprofit should be using a Donor Development Pipeline. Almost every for-profit business software comes with a Pipeline built-in; almost no nonprofit software does. Why?

What's a Donor Development Pipeline?

A Donor Development Pipeline is a sequence of phases, where the completion of one phase leads directly to the next phase. It's a simple way to define and visually layout a process. Good Pipelines allow you to understand each relationship you're developing visually. They allow you to see and understand the entire cultivation process and assign specific relationships to specific teammates. You can create a Pipeline to define and manage any function you want! 

Here's an example of a Donor Cultivation Pipeline:

Discovery -> Proposal -> Negotiation -> Closure -> Stewardship

Why should you care?

According to Harvard Business Review, organizations have 18%-28% higher revenue growth when they use a defined Pipeline than organizations that do not.

You might be thinking, "sure, but that's business; this is different." People say business is all about relationships- and they're right. That's true in the nonprofit space to the power of 5. It's ALL about relationships when it comes to donor development. That's what a Donor Development Pipeline gives you, a structured way to build meaningful relationships through a defined process. Though the process specifics are, of course, different, the principle remains. Having a defined Pipeline leaves less to chance, gets everyone on the same page, and keeps you and your team focused.

What do you mean, it's all about relationships?

Knowing that 88% of funds are coming from the top 12% of donors, 76% from the top 3%, I'd bet that nonprofits that define and implement a Pipeline will likely see even more significant growth than their for-profit counterparts. Nothing makes a major donor happier than seeing an organized team having a significant impact AND the capacity to share that impact with the donors that made it possible in a timely and personal way, in a way that allows those donors to celebrate! That is only accomplished when you and your team are working from a rock-solid process.

How many more lives would you impact next year if your revenue grew by 20%? What would that look like on your bottom line? I'd guess 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars. Or a difficult question, how much has this lack of process cost you over the years?

All of this might be overwhelming if you're hearing about Donor Development Pipelines for the first time now. Maybe you have an excellent cultivation process, but only your Director of Development knows what it is, who's in it, and you're not comfortable with that (which you shouldn't be). 

It's easier than you think to get started! 

Not so long ago, we were in the same boat, managing the majority of our annual budget on spreadsheets. Let me tell you, spreadsheets just don't cut it, especially if you're anything other than a one-person shop. You need a collaborative environment that keeps your whole team's eye on the same Donor Development Pipeline and goals. Something that shows you every prospect currently in your Pipeline and which team member is stewarding them.

We started focusing on this problem and realized: there are no tools in the space to solve it. So we built one. 

Stay calm! I know you're thinking about how much you hate learning a new system, no matter how great it sounds. Here's the cool part: We're nonprofit people. We know what it takes to build a donor base, and more importantly, we know the things that over-complicate a system. We left all of them out.

Let's get practical. Here's what I call the "Big Four." I don't know why I call it that, but I like it. It's the four SIMPLE steps to get Dot Drives up and running in your organization:

1. Customize your Donor Development Pipeline phases and best practices.

2. Identify and upload Contacts through our simple import.

3. Assign teammates to each of the Contacts so nobody gets left behind.

4. Add those contacts to your Development Pipeline.

After you complete these four steps (we're here to help you through the whole process), you have a customized fundraising pipeline with your best practices, givers, and teammates all engaged in the process. 

On average, these steps take about an hour. 

Ok, so what should you do right now? Right this second, if you want to implement a Donor Development Pipeline into your fundraising best practices?

Book a demo.

We'll get to know you and your organization, walk you through Dot Drives, and show you how to use it and how it would work in your team. We'll show you how simple it can be to implement a proven system to increase revenue.