These Three Dashboards Show You Where Your Campaign Is Headed

Campaigns generate a lot of data – gifts, prospects, proposals, visits, pledge payments, and campaign milestones – the challenge isn’t finding data, it’s honing in on the data that actually help leaders make decisions.

We’ve found that successful campaigns typically rely on three connected dashboards. Each answers a different question:

• Are we making progress?
• Do we have enough in the pipeline to make more progress?
• Are we doing the work to continue to grow that pipeline?

Viewed together, these dashboards provide a complete picture of campaign health.

Dashboard 1: Campaign Progress

Are We Reaching Our Goal?

This is the view most boards and campaign committees expect to see. It focuses on commitments already secured and shows how those commitments contribute to overall campaign success.

Key views often include:

• Progress toward the overall campaign goal
• Progress by campaign priority or funding area
• Progress by donor constituency
• Progress by gift type or restriction
• Progress by fiscal year or campaign phase
• Many organizations also track campaign-specific success measures that aren’t tied directly to dollars raised, such as Board participation or planned gifts secured

The goal is simple: provide a clear picture of what has been accomplished.

But campaign leaders cannot drive using a rearview mirror. Past results matter, but future success depends on what is still to come.

Dashboard 2: Campaign Pipeline

Do We Have Enough in the Pipeline to Reach the Goal?

If the progress dashboard shows where the campaign stands today, the pipeline dashboard shows where it is headed.

At the heart of this dashboard is the campaign gift table.

A gift table outlines the number and size of gifts required to achieve the campaign goal. The pipeline dashboard helps leaders evaluate whether enough opportunities exist to fulfill those requirements. The gift table should include:

• Gift requirements by level
• Gifts already secured by level
• Planned solicitations by level (note that it may be helpful to include the expected amount from the solicitation, rather than the ask amount)

The most effective versions also connect campaign planning to prospect management, so that leadership can see not only the opportunities already in the pipeline but also the broader pool of prospects who may help fill future gaps.

Questions this dashboard answers:

• Which gift levels are fully covered?
• Where do we need to continue to build our pipeline?
• Do we have enough prospects to achieve the remaining goal?
• What gift levels require immediate attention?

This dashboard often identifies campaign challenges months before they appear in the results.

Of course, gifts do not enter the pipeline on their own.

Every future commitment begins with relationship-building activity.

Dashboard 3: Relationship Manager Activity

Are We Doing the Work That Generates Future Gifts?

The third dashboard focuses on the activities that drive campaign outcomes.

While campaign progress is a lagging indicator and pipeline is an intermediate indicator, fundraiser activity is a leading indicator.

This dashboard helps leaders understand whether relationship managers are moving prospects through the campaign process.

Key views often include:

• Visits and meaningful contacts
• Portfolio prospects due for a contact
• Prospect stage progression
• Next steps and upcoming actions
• Proposal activity

The purpose is to support accountability for outreach metrics and, more importantly, to identify where momentum is building and where opportunities may be stalling.

Questions this dashboard answers:

• Which prospects have not been engaged recently?
• Where are opportunities getting stuck?
• Are assigned prospects receiving appropriate attention?
• Are prospects advancing through cultivation and solicitation stages?

Understanding these trends early allows campaign leaders to intervene before pipeline problems become campaign problems.

Bringing the Views Together

Each dashboard tells an important story, but the real value comes from seeing them together.

Campaign progress shows what has been achieved.

Campaign pipeline shows what is likely to be achieved.

Relationship manager activity shows whether the work is happening that will make future success possible.

When these three views are connected, leaders gain the visibility they need to guide a campaign proactively rather than simply report on results.

Because in the end, the question isn’t just “How much have we raised?”

It’s “Are we on track to achieve the campaign we planned?”