Where Development Operations Fits Into the Gift Cycle
Posted by [email protected] on Aug. 4, 2026 / Subscribe 0
By: Carolyn Moatz, AFP-GPC Marketing Committee Member and Managing Consultant, Schultz & Williams
In fundraising, the focus is on what the gift officer does to bring in gifts, but a gift officer is only as good as the team behind the scenes. Working together can make both the gift officer and the development operations team perform at a higher level, raising more money for their organization.
Your development operations team may be more familiar with your donors than you think. Even if they are not doing prospect research, they are entering gifts, reviewing lists, and seeing notes every day. They can help with each stage of a prospect’s lifecycle.
Identification
Identification is key to having a robust pipeline to pull new prospects from. Naturally, your organization should regularly screen new prospects. These prospects can be truly new to your organization or be screened after being identified by giving history or other factors, like event attendance or suggestions from staff or board members. Using a wealth screening coupled with prospects’ relationship to your organization, your operations team can identify new prospects for your pipeline. One easy way to work together is with a process to quickly identify new prospects. For annual giving officers, you can review lists of new donors at any level, as well as donors who give at mid-level (generally in the $500-$2,500 range, depending on the organization) and are not assigned to anyone.
While some organizations can easily fill a portfolio with donors, other, usually smaller, organizations find themselves looking at the same pool of prospects over and over. To find new prospects, brainstorm with gift officers on how we can refresh stale lists. This may be looking at lapsed donors to re-engage, finding people in your database who have shown a deeper connection to your cause through volunteering or giving to similar organizations, or looking outside your database to people you can get introduced to by your board or other stakeholders.
Cultivation
Prospect research at this stage is a two-way street. Gift officers may feel like they have all they need to head out there and cultivate. At this point, the development operations team becomes reliant on the gift officer to verify and update the research. Researchers should have verified as much as they could, but getting to know the prospect is the best verification and may also turn up additional wealth or interest indicators. Either of these indicators may be a reason to shift an ask – either to ask for the right size of gift, or to ask for support in a different area of your organization. After a visit, provide a contact report that details all of these indicators. By documenting and updating the profile, we can be sure that the solicitation is properly tailored to the prospect taking all of the cultivation into account.
Solicitation
As you prepare an ask, work with your operations team to both identify the right ask, as well as create a proposal that aligns with your organization's standards and meets the donor’s expectations and needs. Working together, you can create a proposal template that includes information about the project, as well as options to present to the prospect for gifts at different levels. This proposal also serves as a talking point for recognition – you can determine if the donor wants to take advantage of a naming opportunity, and how they want their name listed on plaques, in publications, or not at all.
The proposal is separate from the gift agreement. The development operations and finance teams can create a gift agreement template that provides your auditors with the language they need to book a pledge while still being able to personalize the document to the donor. This template should outline the project the gift will fund, details about donor recognition, and a specific payment schedule. The donor recognition details should include how and where the donors’ names will be listed, which should also be tracked in your database for ease of access. Your operations team can help ensure that your business office will accept the agreement as something they can include in reports, while the gift officer can ensure that the donor will be happy.
Stewardship
Just like your relationship with your donor doesn’t end when they make a gift, neither does your relationship with your operations team. Since your donors will continue to be in your portfolio, your operations team will help you keep on track with stewardship. Your operations team can track pledge reminders and report dates in the database, and get those steps started so they are ready to send on their due date. Finance offices are also important here to make sure the gift is being spent in accordance with the agreement. Development operations usually serves as the liaison between finance and development and work with the finance office to get reports on funds to determine how they are being invested and spent.
In prospect meetings, continue to keep track of your stewardship prospects. The stewardship period can be a good time to move your prospects into a more appropriate prospect pool. Maybe your annual fund prospects are ready for a major gift ask, or your major gift prospects should be moved to a stewardship officer after making a large gift.
A Team Approach
Gift officers and development operations working together keeps the entire development office on track for reaching its goals and connecting with more people. By communicating with each other, you will get the fullest picture of a prospect as possible and set your organization up for a long-term relationship with your donors. If you don’t have one, set up a portfolio review session with your team to jump start a better prospect management program.
Author: Carolyn Moatz,
AFP-GPC Marketing Committee Member,
Managing Consultant, Schultz & Williams
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