The Meeting That Isn't Really About Revenue
A simple monthly habit that helps you make good decisions.
We want to share one of our favorite leadership tools for major gift fundraising teams: the Pipeline Check-In.
It's built specifically for your one-to-one fundraising — the portfolio of individual and institutional donors your team cultivates and asks directly, gift by gift.
What a Pipeline Check-In Actually Is
We've sat in a lot of major gift check-ins that sound something like this:
“I think that donor is interested.”
“I've been trying to get on their calendar.”
“They're probably going to give.”
“We should talk about strategy.”
Those conversations matter. Relationships are the whole point of one-to-one fundraising. But none of those sentences answer the real leadership question: what does our current one-to-one fundraising pipeline tell us we can reasonably expect to raise?
That's the purpose of a Pipeline Check-In. It's a monthly check-in built to answer exactly that question, and nothing else.
Start With the Facts, Not the Strategy
Before anyone brainstorms or problem-solves, the one-to-one fundraising team — relationship managers, gift officers, anyone holding a portfolio — works through every planned one-to-one gift ask and updates the facts.
Has the ask happened? Has the timing changed? Has the expected amount changed? Did we learn something new? Was a gift already made but never marked as funded? Has a new opportunity emerged?
Then add it up. Total the ask amounts and the expect amounts across the whole portfolio. That total is your estimated pipeline value — the plainest, most honest answer to “What can we reasonably expect to raise from one-to-one fundraising this year?”
That's it.
No debating donor strategy. No trying to solve everything in the room. Just one shared picture of reality. If a donor's situation genuinely needs a strategy conversation, name it and bring it to a coaching or one-on-one meeting instead. The Pipeline Check-In stays focused on the facts.
What Changes When You Do This Every Month
Something interesting happens when teams build this habit.
Instead of discovering in December that they're behind, they discover in September. Instead of wondering why they missed goal, they can see exactly where asks got pushed, where prospects dropped off, or where they simply need more opportunities in the pipeline.
Sometimes the news is better than expected. We've had clients uncover six figures in projected major gift revenue simply because opportunities hadn't been updated or gifts weren't connected correctly in the database.
Clarity works both ways.
How It Works Alongside Your Status Report
If you already keep a Status Report, the Pipeline Check-In is its partner tool for your one-to-one portfolio, not a repeat of it.
The Status Report answers, “What's booked and banked, and what's still missing?” It shows you where you stand today.
The Pipeline Check-In answers, “Do we have enough one-to-one fundraising activity planned to close that gap?” It tells you whether your pipeline can get you where you're going.
Together, they give a team the full picture: what's true right now, and whether what's planned is enough.
From “How Are We Doing?” to “What's Next?”
The point of a Pipeline Check-In isn't to prove whether you're succeeding or failing. The point is to understand what's true today so you can make good decisions tomorrow.
When teams have that clarity, strategy conversations get better. They're no longer asking, “How are we doing?” They're asking, “What's the next best action?”
That's a much better leadership conversation.
Try It With Your Team
Want to try it with your one-to-one fundraising team? Here's how:
Pull out your current list of planned one-to-one asks.
Block 30 to 60 minutes, monthly, with everyone who holds a one-to-one donor portfolio.
Go donor by donor and update the facts only — timing, amount, status.
Total the ask and expect amounts to get your estimated pipeline value.
Compare your pipeline value to your gap. Use this information to make strategy decisions all month.
Do it again next month.
If you'd like the simple Pipeline Check-In agenda we use with our clients, reply to this email or schedule a free 15-minute conversation. We're always happy to share the framework and walk you through how organizations are using it to create calmer, more confident fundraising teams.
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