Whether you are in the first quarter of the new year, the third quarter of your fiscal year or somewhere in between, Richard and I believe it’s always good at the beginning of April to assess caseload performance against what you expected over the first three months of the new year.
I know you may be in the middle of a hundred different things, and you may feel you don’t have time to stop for a moment and reflect on where you are – but at Veritus we believe it’s important and it helps you focus moving ahead. Yep, reflecting on what has happened helps you focus on where you are going.
One thing that may motivate you to actually report on how your last three months have gone is to set up a meeting with your direct supervisor for early next week. That gives you a good week to put a quarterly report together. I know personally that when I have a pending due date, I get it done. Otherwise, it’s just keeps getting pushed back. I remember once I procrastinated on a quarterly report so badly, I got the report finished just before the next quarterly report was due.
That was not good.
Okay, here is what you should be evaluating for the first quarter of 2018:

1. Caseload revenue — Review how the same donors performed this year vs. last year AND how they are performing against their goals.
2. Identify donors who are ahead of goal and those that are behind goal. Report to management on the story behind each donor. For those behind goal, report on the strategic approach you are taking to get those donors back on track.
3. Report on your caseload donors by the following:

• Caseload Pool size — This the “holding tank” for donors who may end up on your caseload. How many donors do you have in this group?
• Number of donors you are qualifying — Identify donors that you are currently trying to qualify into your caseload.
• Meaningful contacts — How many and what kind of meaningful contacts (contacts that move the relationship forward) have there been with your caseload donors? How does that compare to your goals?
• Transformational Donors — How many donors in your caseload have you targeted for a six, seven or eight figure gift, and where are you on your timeline for a solicitation?

4. Check your spirit. Now this might seem out of left field, but your manager (if they are good) wants to know how you are personally doing with your work. Is your work load right? Are you being pulled out of your caseload doing other tasks? Are you running into any barriers with program or finance? How can your manager better support you? All of this affects how you feel about how effective you are at your job.

I guarantee that if you go into a meeting with your manager prepared with this information, they will be elated. This will show you are proactive and thinking about the right things with your donors. Even better, it will help you focus on what you need to do in the next quarter to get back on track to meet the overall goals you have with your caseload.
The first quarter is done, you’ve evaluated what you have done… now, where are you going?
Jeff
PS — For more on reporting back to management, check out our free White Paper, “Six Ways to Do What’s Expected in Major Gifts.