Policy Statement
To maximize philanthropic support of the campus, the University of California, Berkeley will follow standard practices for engagement with prospective donors. Prospective donor interactions will be recorded in the campus’s official advancement database, the Cal Advancement Data System (CADS). A relationship manager (Primary Manager) will be assigned to prospective major gift donors in order to coordinate and facilitate the prospective donor’s engagement with the University.
Scope of Policy
This policy affects:
- Gift officers
- Deans, directors, and department heads
- Faculty and staff soliciting on behalf of the campus
- Development and alumni relations staff
Why We Have This Policy
Significant and varied fundraising efforts occur throughout the University, with development staff engaging with numerous prospects with diverse philanthropic interests. The Prospect Management Policy supports fundraising efforts across campus, ensuring that prospective donors receive coordinated communications and gift solicitations that reflect their interests, inclination, and capacity.
The Policy has three main objectives:
- Build lasting relationships with prospective donors and encourage repeat donations
- Ensure that campus prospective donors receive well-planned solicitations that maximize their gifts
- Maintain a collaborative, informed, and professional fundraising process
Procedures
The Prospect Management Policy focuses on prospective donors in active portfolios.
An active portfolio consists of an appropriate number of prospective donors who are being moved through the solicitation cycle. Gift officers work with Prospect Development to establish and maintain a portfolio of potential donors who have an existing or probable interest in the University. Gift officers record their engagement in CADS as they develop and maintain relationships with their prospective donors.
Prospect Development provides customized research and analysis to inform prospect strategy, works closely with gift officers to create and maintain optimum portfolios, identifies new prospects, ensures that the gift pipeline is up to date, and assists gift officers in tracking and reporting progress toward their goals.
University Development and Alumni Relations, on behalf of the Chancellor, evaluates gift officer metrics and progress toward campaign goals, reporting the information to the Vice Chancellor of University Development and Alumni Relations and development managers across campus.
Relationship Management
To ensure a high quality experience for prospective donors, the University will employ a relationship management system to track and coordinate prospective donor engagement.
Any prospective donor actively engaged and assigned to a major gift officer will have a Primary Manager. For prospects engaged by more than one gift officer, there will be one Primary Manager, and any other assigned gift officer will be a Secondary Manager.Annual gift prospects, corporate and foundation prospects, and gift planning prospects may or may not have a Primary Manager.
The purpose of the Primary Manager assignment is to establish and maintain a philanthropic relationship between the assigned prospective donor and the University. Primary Manager assignments and solicitations will be based on documented donor interests.
Primary and Secondary Managers will be professional frontline fundraisers and will have an active solicitation plan for all assigned prospective donors. To be assigned as a Primary or Secondary Manager, a gift officer must have a documented active relationship with the prospective donor, with the exception of newly identified prospects requiring qualification.
All University of California, Berkeley Foundation trustees and members of the Board of Visitors will be assigned a Primary Manager from University Development and Alumni Relations. Most principal gift prospects will be assigned a Primary Manager from University Development and Alumni Relations.
Prospect Development will manage the assignment process for Primary and Secondary Managers. Every Primary and Secondary Manager will have a dedicated Prospect Development Analyst supporting their prospect strategy, research, and prospect management needs.
In the cases where a prospective donor has multiple existing relationships with campus or multiple documented interests, factors to be reviewed to determine the Primary Manager assignment will include: substantive contact reports, giving history to campus and external organizations, event attendance, and interest codes.
In the case of disagreement or uncertainty about Primary Manager assignment or solicitation strategy, the final decision will be made by the Vice Chancellor of University Development and Alumni Relations (or designated representative) and the Director of Prospect Development.
Primary Manager Role and Responsibilities
The Primary Manager’s responsibility is to establish a relationship between the University and their assigned prospects, with the goal of soliciting major gifts. The Primary Manager will assess and document all interests of an assigned prospective donor. The Primary Manager will facilitate the relationship with all units in which a prospective donor has an interest. The Primary Manager will coordinate campus engagement for all assigned prospective donors, including collaboration and communication with all Secondary Managers, deans, directors, faculty, and volunteers. The Primary Manager is responsible for collaborating with deans, directors, and/or faculty working with prospective donors and ensuring that their engagement with prospective donors is recorded in CADS.
The Primary Manager will develop and oversee the execution of a comprehensive engagement and solicitation strategy for all assigned prospective donors. The Primary Manager will ensure that the next steps for each managed prospect are documented and executed.
Secondary Manager Role and Responsibilities
The Secondary Manager will be any gift officer assigned to a prospective donor who already has a Primary Manager. The Secondary Manager will work in conjunction with the Primary Manager to establish a robust philanthropic relationship between the University and their assigned prospects.
The Secondary Manager is responsible for communicating and coordinating with the assigned Primary Manager. The Secondary Manager will aid the Primary Manager in assessing and documenting all interests of an assigned prospective donor. The Secondary Manager will help the Primary Manager with coordinating and facilitating campus partners’ engagement for all assigned prospective donors. The Secondary Manager will collaborate with the Primary Manager to develop and execute a comprehensive engagement and solicitation strategy for all assigned prospective donors.
Active Portfolios
To ensure active portfolios, Prospect Development will conduct a minimum of four portfolio reviews per year with all gift officers carrying a major gift portfolio.
A Primary or Secondary Manager must maintain an active relationship with all assigned prospects. There must be recorded substantive contact (by the gift officer or a member of their unit) in CADS within the past year to maintain a Primary or Secondary Manager assignment. A Primary Manager may be assigned to a new prospective donor for the purpose of qualification. For these prospects, the Primary Manager will have six months to qualify the prospective donor. Prospective donors not qualified during the time period will be unassigned or reassigned to another gift officer. The gift officer will be notified by Prospect Development of any inactive prospective donors before they are unassigned.
The Prospective Donor Pool
To help gift officers focus their attention on the most likely prospective donors, Prospect Development rates prospective donors’ gift capacity, as well as documents interests, relationships, and other relevant data.
Capacity Rating
Prospective donors are assigned a gift capacity rating that reflects an estimation of overall capacity to give to any nonprofit organization over a five-year period.
|
Capacity Rating |
Capacity Range |
|---|---|
|
1 ($100M+) |
$100M+ |
|
2 ($50M+) |
$50M-$99.9M |
|
3 ($25M+) |
$25M-$49.9M |
|
4 ($10M+) |
$10M-$24.9M |
|
5 ($5M+) |
$5M-$9.9M |
|
6 ($2M+) |
$2M-$4.9M |
|
7 ($1M+) |
$1M-$1.9M |
|
8 ($500K+) |
$500K-$999K |
|
9 ($250K+) |
$250K-$499K |
|
10 ($100K+) |
$100K-$249K |
|
(96) Cannot Be Rated |
Indeterminable |
|
(99) Not Major Gift |
Not Major Gift |
|
(IN) International Major Gift |
International Major Gift |
Predictive Model Scores
Prospect Development creates and maintains predictive models that can be used to identify potential major gift donors. Predictive models with the broadest applicability include:
- Implied Capacity Score – Estimated likelihood that the individual is wealthy enough to have a high giving capacity ($250K+). Scores range from zero to 100, with higher numbers indicating a higher likelihood. This score is applied to all prospective donors.
- Major Gift Score – Estimated likelihood that the individual will make a major gift. Scores range from zero to 100, with higher numbers indicating a higher likelihood to give a major gift. The score is only applied to degree holders.
- Gift Planning Score – Estimated likelihood that the individual will make a planned gift. Scores range from zero to 100, with higher numbers indicating a higher likelihood to give a planned gift. The score is only applied to degree holders.
Major Gift Prospects
Both gift officers and Prospect Development are responsible for identifying major gift prospects. Gift officers are responsible for recording prospect engagement in CADS. Prospect Development is responsible for maintaining major gift solicitation plans in CADS.
Annual Gift Prospects
Both gift officers and Prospect Development are responsible for identifying annual gift prospects. Gift officers are responsible for recording prospect engagement in CADS.
Gift Planning Prospects
The Office of Gift Planning in University Development and Alumni Relations maintains gift planning prospect data. The results of gift planning discussions are recorded in CADS, and the Office of Gift Planning is responsible for maintaining gift planning solicitation plans in CADS.
Corporate and Foundation Prospects
Foundation Relations and Corporate Philanthropy (FRCP) in University Development and Alumni Relations assists in the identification and solicitation of corporate and foundation prospects. FRCP records contacts and strategies for corporate and foundation prospects in CADS and is responsible for maintaining solicitation plans for corporations and foundations in CADS. FRCP coordinates closely with unit-based corporate and foundation gift officers.
Solicitation Plans
Solicitation plans are the mechanism for tracking a prospective donor through the solicitation cycle. The movement of the prospective donor through the solicitation cycle is recorded in contact reports and by the readiness stages on solicitation plans.
Readiness Stages
Each solicitation plan will have a readiness stage that indicates where the prospective donor is in the solicitation cycle. All contact reports, prospect strategies, ask information, and assignments are recorded in CADS to help ensure a coordinated engagement of prospective donors.
- Annual Solicitation – The gift officer is soliciting the prospective donor for a gift of under $25K.
- Qualification – The gift officer is qualifying the prospective donor’s interest in giving opportunities as well as the prospective donor’s giving capacity. Gift officers have six months in which to qualify a prospective donor.
- Referred to other Program – The gift officer qualified the prospective donor and determined their interest in giving is better suited to another fundraising unit. The prospective donor is directly referred to a fundraiser working for that unit.
- Cultivation – Interest in the University has been qualified and the prospective donor is being engaged at deeper levels.
- Proposal Development – The gift officer is developing a preliminary solicitation strategy for the prospective donor. The target ask date and target ask amount are required for this stage.
- Solicitation in Progress – The gift officer asked the prospective donor for a gift. The actual ask date and actual ask amount are required for this stage.
- Gift Stewardship – A gift was made and the donor receives appropriate stewardship. Movement back into the solicitation cycle is at the discretion of the gift officer. The commit date and commit amount are required for this stage.
- Donor Stewardship – The donor made their ultimate gift to campus and will receive ongoing stewardship. This stage is primarily used for gift planning solicitation plans. The commit date and commit amount are required for this stage.
- Turned Down – The solicitation was turned down by the prospective donor, or the prospective donor committed to a gift but never made the gift. The solicitation plan is inactivated. Movement back into the solicitation cycle is at the discretion of the gift officer.
- Non Responsive – Following three attempts by three different methods, the gift officer is unable to contact the prospective donor. The solicitation plan is inactivated.
- Canceled – Engagement with the prospective donor never started, or the gift officer has decided not to pursue the prospect. The solicitation plan is inactivated.
- Disqualified – The gift officer has disqualified the prospective donor as a major gift prospect for UC Berkeley at this time. Reasons for disqualification are recorded in CADS. The solicitation plan is inactivated.
Glossary
Active Relationship: An active relationship is a relationship between a gift officer and a prospective donor where substantive contact has occurred within the past year, and the contact has been recorded in CADS.
Cal Advancement Data System (CADS): The development database of record for the University.
Contact Report: Information recorded in CADS of any activity or contact involving gift officers, deans, directors, faculty, or volunteers with a prospective donor. Contact reports contain the results of qualification, engagement, and solicitations, and provide details on the reasons for turndowns or why the individual is not considered a current prospective donor.
Donor: An individual who has made a gift to the campus.
Gift Capacity Rating: The scale used to indicate the estimated total philanthropic potential of a prospective donor over a period of five years.
Gift Officer: Any campus employee with direct responsibilities for soliciting gifts. Deans, directors, and faculty work with gift officers to record fundraising goals and activities. Also known as a fundraiser.
- Principal Gifts Officer: Primarily soliciting individuals rated 1-5
- Major Gift Officer: Soliciting individuals for gifts of $25K or more
- Gift Planning Officer: Primarily soliciting individuals for deferred gifts
- Foundation Relations and Corporate Philanthropy Officer: Primarily soliciting foundations and corporations for gifts of $25K+
- Annual Gift Officer: Primarily soliciting individuals for gifts under $25K Portfolio: A list of prospective donors, defined by capacity ratings, giving relationships, and indications of interests, whom the particular gift officer is actively engaging in activities intended to result in gifts.
Primary Manager: The gift officer assigned to coordinate campus wide activities to engage the prospective donor, communicate plans and outcomes with campus fundraising colleagues, and monitor and facilitate prospective donor’s movement through the solicitation cycle.
Prospect Management: A system managed by Prospect Development in University Development and Alumni Relations to ensure that every gift officer maintains an active, manageably sized portfolio of the best prospective donors, and that gift pipeline information and contact reports are recorded and communicated through CADS.
Prospective Donor: Prospective donors are those alumni, parents, friends, students, corporations, and foundations thought to have the capacity and interest to make a gift to the University. A prospective donor includes those who have not yet given a gift, as well as prior donors who may give future gifts. Also known as prospect.
Readiness Stage: An indicator of a prospective donor’s position in the solicitation cycle.
Secondary Manager: The gift officer assigned to a prospective donor who already has a Primary Manager. The Secondary Manager collaborates with the Primary Manager to coordinate campus wide activities to engage the prospective donor, communicate plans and outcomes with campus fundraising colleagues, and monitor and facilitate prospective donor’s movement through the solicitation cycle.
Solicitation: The strategies and processes used by gift officers to ask prospective donors for a gift to the campus.
Solicitation Cycle: The process of identifying potential donors and strategically moving them through established phases of progress toward making a gift. Also called the fundraising cycle.
Solicitation Plan: The mechanism for tracking a prospective donor through the solicitation cycle.
Strategy: Plans for developing relationships with prospective donors that incorporate their philanthropic interests and optimize their giving to campus.