From the Nominator

In 2018 The University of Cincinnati Foundation was in the quiet phase of campaign with significant expectations for fundraising. Simultaneously, the Prospect Development (PD) team, a pillar of the Technology, Information and Philanthropic Strategy (TIPS) team, was on a trajectory of significant growth, moving from the traditional “research department” to strategic partner.  

The PD team wanted to improve how they partnered with the Development Officers (DO). They looked to the data for insights and the findings were clear: There was capacity in the system and there was room for improvement on how DO’s kept abreast of their activity. 

35% of prospects had never been visited or hadn’t been visited in more than 5 years. Only 23% of managed prospects were measured as high capacity and high affinity. Yet, fundraising results remained consistently high. The team knew that DO’s needed data at their fingertips, which quickly told them what they needed to do to advance a relationship. 

The PD team had their own goal, and foundation leadership had a second charge. Leadership looked to TIPS and PD with three goals: 1) find a way to monitor the health of an ask 2) forecast the pipeline closures and 3) make the data so consumable adoption was organization wide. 

PD’s goal and leadership’s charge led to the creation of PAM and DWIGHT – a friend to help and a true workhorse that gets the job done. (PAM = Portfolio Activity Measure. DWIGHT = Forecasting Discounting Methodology.) These tools changed how we looked at data, drove results, and strategically partnered throughout the organization.

From the Judges

Fun theme, deep work and engagement from staff. Creative and innovative at the same time!