Beyond the Portfolio Review

Last year, USNA AA&F shared how a metrics-driven approach, portfolio restructuring, and cadence-based outreach contributed to a 50% increase in meetings and a record-breaking fundraising year.

But generating momentum is only part of the story.

As the team grew and expectations increased, the challenge became less about creating activity and more about maintaining consistency across portfolios, across fundraisers, and across donor relationships.

In this candid conversation, AJ Bauer, Associate Vice President of Development, will share what scaling fundraising has actually looked like inside USNA AA&F—from onboarding new fundraisers and managing portfolio health to using data and donor insights to support better decisions and more meaningful engagement.

You’ll hear what’s working, what’s still evolving, and why consistency, not complexity, has been one of the biggest drivers of success.

What You’ll Learn

• What happened after USNA AA&F’s 50% increase in meetings, and what the team is focused on now
• How a growing fundraising team maintains consistency across portfolios and donor engagement
• What a metrics-driven fundraising culture actually looks like day-to-day
• How managers use metrics to coach fundraisers and prioritize activity
• What defines a healthy portfolio and how to identify warning signs before they become bigger challenges
• How structured outreach has evolved from implementation to daily practice
• How donor intelligence and portfolio visibility support better fundraising decisions

Most importantly, AJ will share the lessons, challenges, and open questions the team is still actively working through as they continue to grow.

Because the most valuable fundraising conversations aren’t about perfect models, they’re about what happens after the initial success.

Who Should Attend?

This session is designed for:

• Advancement and development leaders responsible for team performance and pipeline growth
• Major gift officers looking to build more consistent engagement and follow-up
• Advancement operations and strategy leaders focused on portfolio health and efficiency
• Leadership annual giving teams building scalable donor engagement programs
• Fundraising teams working to create stronger alignment between activity, visibility, and results

If your team is trying to create more consistency across portfolios, improve fundraiser accountability, strengthen donor engagement, or move from reactive outreach to a more intentional fundraising operation, this session will provide practical ideas you can take back to your own organization.