The dog days of summer are officially here. The office is a little quieter and the only thing filling up your inbox are Out of Office replies. It’s a great time to step back and tackle some bigger issues that usually sit on the back burner. Welcome to our Summer Checklist.
A portfolio is a gift officer’s best friend. Or at least it should be. We get the sense that isn’t always the case.
OK, we get more than a sense. We know portfolios can be a nightmare to navigate, with things constantly getting lost in the shuffle.
But done right, a good portfolio can be your most powerful ally. So…how do you get it there? We’ve got a few ideas.
Related: What is the optimal fundraising portfolio size?
Who Are Your Prospects, Really?
The more you know about your prospects before you pick up the phone (or send an email, or text or however you like to do it), the better off you’ll be. And now it’s easier than ever to really (and we mean really) understand who someone is than it’s ever been.
With EverTrue, you get access to the TrueView of the people in your portfolio. You’ll get wealth indicators, career info, interests and much, much more. That info really allows you to start the conversation on the right path, with an idea of what people will respond to and subjects that will resonate with them from the very first interaction.
And since major gift prospects are 2X as likely to be engaged on your social channels, you’ll also be able to quickly filter based on social activity to give you a good idea of who might be ready to talk sooner than later. Set up notifications so any time a key prospect engages on social, you get notified immediately, allowing you to follow up immediately or build a plan you feel confident in.
And just because we’ve got all that fancy stuff doesn’t mean old school is completely out the window. Contact reports remain a valuable tool, but now you can search keywords across all contact reports to make them even more of a tool you can rely on.
Know Exactly Where Everyone Is
Sometimes you gotta do the little things. Like check in on prospects who haven’t been contacted in a while or get a quick idea of how long that ask has been on the table. But the key word there is little things. That stuff shouldn’t take up a ton of your day. You’ve got more important things to do, and that information will help you actually do it.
EverTrue allows you to see every aspect of your portfolio at a quick glance. Know exactly what stage any given prospect is in at any given moment. It seems simple…but for lots of people right now it’s buried in a complex spreadsheet or deep in an inaccessible database. And that’s not doing anyone any good.
We can also help surface prospects that haven’t been contacted in a while directly to your attention. That way you’ll know they should be at the top of your list when it comes time to sit down and do a little outreach.
Teach it To Feed Itself
If you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for life. If you teach a portfolio to surface new prospects, you’ll never have to worry about your pipeline again.
OK, that might not be completely accurate. But! It will definitely help out quite a bit.
Think about what your biggest indicators are for qualifying major gift prospects. It will be different for each school, but everyone has a few things they look out for. Is it wealth indicators? A job title? Location? Something even more interesting?
Whatever yours might be, by creating filters that look for the exact identifiers you’re after, you’ll become aware when a new prospect pops up. By spending a little time setting up those filters and some notifications for when a new prospect joins the pool, you’ll start auto-filling the top of your funnel without lifting a finger.
Join us next week for the final installment of the Summer Checklist for gift officers. Missed the first? Catch it here.
good idea of who might be ready to talk sooner than later. 
