Storytime and Lessons: The Dreaded Portfolio
Dear Diary,
My story times are thrilling. If you missed the one I shared in May 2020, here is A Prospect with a Limited Digital Footprint for your reading pleasure. Today, I want to tell you a story involving portfolio development. I believe many of you will relate to it, the dread, and lessons.
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Years ago, I had to create a portfolio for a new senior director of major gifts named Maxine. Maxine was going to be a working manager for a team of fundraisers and hold a portfolio of 100 prospects/donors. Unfortunately, the “new” portfolio was an adoption case in which Maxine would be adopting the majority of the former senior director’s portfolio. The issue with this portfolio was that it was weighted – 75 percent in stewardship, 20 percent in cultivation and 5 percent in qualification.
Throughout our time working together, the former senior director and I discussed her displeasure with her portfolio. The people in stewardship were prospects with renewal and increased giving potential. The people in cultivation all required connectors and relationship management either from our board of directors or from other key stakeholders. We were expecting principal gift level gifts from these prospects. Her portfolio had a few people in qualification, but she had no time for outreach; She was too busy with managing connectors and board members. This former senior director consistently shared her dismay and dislike for her portfolio – it was a dreadful situation. One of my favorite moments was when she shared her hopes and dreams to do more qualification work. I wanted this for her as well, but due to priority and time allocated to the rest of her portfolio and team – things were not going to change. The leadership team was very aware of her situation, but her focus had to remain on the priority cases.
Fast forward to my new senior director, Maxine, and the moment I handed her the same portfolio (slightly cleaned up) with the addition of a handful of prospects to qualify. Her adopted portfolio was weighted - 65 percent in stewardship, 25 percent in cultivation and 10 percent in qualification.
I was determined to give Maxine a chance at qualification work. I was also candid about her portfolio make up. The purpose of the portfolio was to manage and steward principal gifts and long-term prospects and donors. This was not going to be a “fun” portfolio in the sense of discovery or qualification work, but with guidance and revitalized energy we (as partners) could organize her time to allow for some qualification. I ensured that prospects to qualify were a mix of donors recent and past with no engagement, and those self-identified with interest to learn more about our organization.
Maxine was full of excitement and feistiness. She wanted to have the best handle on her work, priorities, and portfolio, and she felt empowered knowing that I would be right there for her with my handy dandy reports and portfolio dashboard.
Lessons
1. A portfolio is just a list of names. When you add capacity, geography, prospect stage, total giving to date, etc. – the list becomes an actionable data set that informs you of the depth and breadth a fundraiser can work with.
2. You don’t always meet fundraisers, especially senior-level fundraisers, who love qualification work, therefore, when you have them on your team they’re an absolute pleasure, full of energy and ready for an adventure.
3. Establishing an open flow of communication and transparency with your fundraiser allows for flexibility and intentional partnership.
Until next time,
July 15th!
