Funding pipeline

A funding opportunity is the work record for a possible contribution. It links the constituent, operating organization and owner, and holds the subject, expected value, expected close date, probability, next step and status. The status sequence includes New, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Won and Lost. Qualification moves the opportunity to Qualified; that status triggers proposal submission. Closing uses a separate named workflow. The Funding pipeline view makes the next decision visible without reducing the relationship to a single expected amount.

• Own the next action. The owner records a next step on the opportunity and uses a follow-up record when a call, meeting, email or task must be assigned.
• Qualify with a trace. Qualification logs activity, changes the status to Qualified and writes an operation receipt. That status triggers proposal submission.
• Close with an outcome. Close Outcome takes a caller-supplied Won or Lost outcome and reason, then records a receipt.

Agree what evidence the team wants before calling an opportunity qualified, who may run proposal submission and what reason is expected when closing a case. Set an expected close date that reflects the funder decision window. Decide whether probability is maintained by owners or reviewed by the director. Agree how owners use Negotiation during a pilot.

A community group is considering an operating-support grant. The relationship manager opens an opportunity with the group as constituent, the right contact, an expected value and a dated next step. After the first conversation, qualification logs the activity and moves the case from New to Qualified. Reaching Qualified triggers proposal submission, which logs an email activity and moves the case to Proposal. The team checks that the message was actually sent. If the group requests revisions, the owner updates the next step and funding case lines. On a final decision, the director uses Close Outcome to record Won or Lost and checks the operation receipt for the action.

The team should open the parent opportunity before treating this screen as a complete account of the case. Compare its owner, constituent and current status with the linked records, and resolve any disagreement while the conversation is still recent.

During the pilot, have the owner explain each status change using the related activity and receipt. The director can then distinguish a deliberate move from an outdated expected close date. Check the next step after every funder response, even when the expected value stays the same.

• Funding pipeline — Open opportunities with owner, expected close date, value, next step and status.
• My funding opportunities — The current owner’s cases needing a next action or decision.
• Funding opportunity board — Open cases grouped by status without a date-driven layout.

Opportunity qualification; Outcome close.