New Frontiers in Pipeline Development Study
About this brief
This study aims to help advancement leaders build sustainable major gift pipelines by re-orienting their focus on three groups of overlooked prospects: 1) assigned but overlooked prospects, 2) high-potential unassigned prospects, and 3) developing-potential prospects.
Executive summary
Higher ed fundraising has enjoyed banner years of late. Total dollars raised have increased significantly, inspiring colleges and universities to launch ambitious campaigns.
As overall fundraising returns have climbed, advancement leaders have begun to look to the future and consider their institutions’ long-term revenue sustainability. Unfortunately, the situation as they see it is far from secure.
A small number of mega-gifts from well-established donors have powered higher ed’s recent fundraising growth. Yet few institutions can boast of a well-developed pipeline of on-deck major gift supporters. Without a cohort of donors rising through the gift pyramid, advancement leaders will find themselves unable to continue the current climate of fundraising success in the coming years and decades.
Best practice institutions maximize major gifts from overlooked prospects by adopting a segmented strategy for managing the prospect pyramid. They focus on three imperatives:
- Overcoming the barriers preventing MGOs from increasing coverage within their portfolios
- Accelerating portfolio churn to free up room for high-potential, unassigned prospects
- Scaling personalized cultivation for tomorrow’s prospects by engaging other areas of the advancement enterprise in the work of pipeline development
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