Managing Prospect Pipelines and Forecasting Fundraising Returns, In and Out of Campaigns

APRA Virtual Seminar Replay 
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Presenters: Sylvia Galen and Jon Thorsen

Session Description
Effective prospect management programs use metrics to drive data-based decision making. One of the key metrics for every fundraising program is the bottom line: How much money will we raise?

This APRA Live! Virtual Seminar will review ways to forecast revenue at various stages of the donor pipeline, both during and between campaigns. Processes and reports that utilize forecast data will also be reviewed. Ways to ensure that the appropriate information is captured, updated and applied will be discussed.

Session Objectives

• Focus on key prospect characteristics and data elements to track and report
• Discuss the best ways to report numbers, as well as the meaning behind the numbers
• Analyze the level of forecast “accuracy” – and learn why too much might not be a good thing
• Review ways to apply forecasting to goal setting and even campaign priority setting
• Assess ways to present aggregated information to fundraisers and other stakeholders in meaningful ways

About the Presenters:

Sylvia Galen is the Associate Director of Prospect Development at The Nature Conservancy where she manages a team focused on implementing prospect management tracking as well as improving prospect data. During her time at the Conservancy, Sylvia has trained users on the fundraising database as well as written end-user documentation. Prior to joining the Conservancy, Sylvia worked as a high school history teacher.

Jon Thorsen is Director of Advancement Services at The Nature Conservancy. He joined the development profession in 1987 and has led research and advancement services operations for such organizations as Princeton University and the American Red Cross. Jon has given presentations on many facets of the development profession at conferences of ADRP, AFP, APRA, CASE and other organizations. He is a frequent contributor to industry journals and his column Up to Speed is published monthly at workingphilanthropy.com. A former president of APRA, he received the association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1999.