Your Blackbaud® eTapestry® system is set up to manage finalized transactions. Gifts, pledges, pledge payments, and recurring gifts are all transactions that can be tracked in eTapestry out of the box.  But many fundraising programs are more complex, needing the ability to track gifts that are not yet closed.  How do you keep track of “in-process” gift opportunities from prospective donors?

More importantly, how do you manage a pipeline of major gift opportunities through a series of “moves” to keep prospective major gift opportunities on track to a desired final outcome?

The answer to these questions is a system of user-defined fields, queries, and reports that collect and manage data on prospective donors and prospective major gift opportunities.

Tracking major gifts and moves management in eTapestry

In order to track major gifts with moves management in eTapestry, you must track three sets of data. Each data set creates actionable information that will keep your major gift fundraising and moves management program on track.

1. Active Major Gift Prospects

The first and most basic data set is a list of active major gift prospects.

Your database may contain thousands of constituents. All of these constituents have different characteristics, qualities, and preferences, but not all of them are viable major gift prospects. As a result, you need to pinpoint those constituents that are viable and nurture them toward a potential major gift.

Segment prospects from the rest of your constituent pool with user-defined fields on the constituent defined fields page.

2. Open Major Gift Opportunities

Once you identify a prospective major gift donor, you can start tracking an open major gift opportunity.

A major gift opportunity is a “not-yet-final” or “in process” prospective gift that you will cultivate toward a finalized transaction.

An open major gift opportunity is a prospective major gift that is not yet closed. A group of open major gift opportunities creates a pipeline of prospective major gifts.  Use a report of all open major gift opportunities to keep your major gift program on track, as well as forecast close dates and the total value of your pipeline.

Track major gift opportunities on the journal contact or journal note in eTapestry.

3. History of Major Gift Moves

The cultivation and nurturing process for prospective and open major gift opportunities may take time and may include a number of activities with a prospective donor.

Keeping track of all “touches” your organization has with each active major gift prospect allows you to analyze past actions, build on the relationship you make with each constituent, and create an organizational knowledge backup of your relationship with each prospective donor.

In addition, if your major gift opportunity funnel has a standard set of steps for prospects, you can track those steps with a history of major gift moves.

Add moves to your database as journal contacts.

Taking your eTapestry database to the next level

A system of fields, queries, and reports that capture data on active major gift prospects, open major gift opportunities, and a history of major gift moves can streamline your major gift fundraising program.

Not only can eTapestry help your organization manage the data of your major gift fundraising program, but it can also help you to improve the efficiency of your major gift program.

With the ability to track major gifts and moves management in your eTapestry database, your eTapestry system becomes a single, organization-wide location for all fundraising and constituent data.