Why advancement is hard to run today
1. A donor’s story lives in five places
Gifts, visits, notes, and outcomes sit in different systems.
2. Restricted funds sit unspent
Restrictions live in old agreements, so eligible students go unmatched.
3. Impact never makes it back to the donor
Student outcomes never connect to the funds that paid for them.
2 · The ontology we build
The advancement model
We bring your systems, outside data, and policies together, model the domain, and compute what it runs on.
A slice of the full model: the labeled objects are the ones this work runs on most.
Gift officer
A fundraiser with a portfolio of donors.
- portfolio_size
- integer
- region
- geo
- logsInteractionmany
- managesDonormany
- preparesProposalmany
Interaction
A visit, call, event, or note with a donor, as the officer recorded it.
- kind
- enum
- occurred_on
- date
- summary
- text
- is logged byGift officerone
- engagesDonorone
Proposal
An ask in progress: the amount, the purpose, and where it stands.
- ask_amount
- money
- purpose
- text
- stage
- enum
- suggested_ask
- An ask sized to the donor's capacity and the need it would fund. From donor and funding need.
- is prepared byGift officerone
- asksDonorone
- would fundFunding needone
Donor
An alum, parent, friend, or foundation that gives or might.
- affiliation
- enum
- first_gift_on
- date
- capacity_band
- enum
- likely_to_give
- Chance of a gift in the next 12 months. From interaction, gift, fund, and the outcomes of the funds they support.
- Æ’lifetime_giving
sum(gifts.amount)- Æ’lapsed
max(gifts.received_on) < today − 18 months
- is managed byGift officerone
- is engaged throughInteractionmany
- is asked inProposalmany
- makesGiftmany
Gift
One gift or pledge payment, received and designated.
- amount
- money
- received_on
- date
- kind
- enum
- is made byDonorone
- goes toFundone
Fund
An endowed or current-use fund and what it can pay for.
- kind
- enum
- market_value
- money
- payout_rate
- percent
- Æ’spendable
market_value × payout_rate − sum(awards this year)- ƒretention_gain
retention(pays.supports) − retention(matched students without an award)
- receivesGiftmany
- meetsFunding needmany
- is governed byRestrictionmany
- paysScholarship awardmany
Restriction
Who a fund may support, read from its gift agreement into typed rules.
- majors
- list
- min_need
- money
- home_region
- geo
- Æ’eligible_now
count(students where matches and enrolled and unmet_need > 0)
- governsFundone
- matchesStudentmany
Funding need
Something the institution needs funded: aid for a program, a lab, a position.
- purpose
- text
- amount
- money
- priority
- enum
- is addressed byProposalmany
- met throughFundmany
Scholarship award
Money a fund pays to one student for one term.
- amount
- money
- term
- term
- is paid fromFundone
- supportsStudentone
Student
A student a fund can support, with need and progress from the rest of the model.
- major
- string
- class_level
- enum
- unmet_need
- money
- is supported byScholarship awardmany
- is eligible underRestrictionmany
What it enables
3 · What we deploy on top
Applications, agents, and workflows on the model
Each one reads the model and changes it only through governed actions.
Advancement HQ
For advancement leaders and officers: donors likely to give, funds with eligible students, and the impact of every fund.
Award from fund: Advancement confirms the restriction
Donor briefings
Before each visit, assembles giving history, interests, and what past gifts made possible, and suggests an ask sized to a real need.
Gift impact
Reports what each fund did for the students it supports, and drafts impact reports for officers to send.
Send impact report: Officer approves every draft
4 · Outcomes
What the advancement model lets you do
1. Put restricted funds to work
Awards are matched before the term
Financial aid officeWhat the model sees
Every fund’s restrictions and the students eligible today
2. Brief officers before every visit
Advancement HQ prepares the briefing and the right ask
Gift officerWhat the model sees
Giving history, interests, and the outcomes of past gifts
3. Re-engage lapsed donors with impact
Outcome reports go out instead of standard appeals
Advancement leadershipWhat the model sees
What each lapsed donor’s last gift made possible
4. Size every ask to a real need
Proposals model the impact before they go out
Gift officerWhat the model sees
What a new gift would fund, and who it would reach
5. Steward every fund automatically
Stewardship reports are drafted for review
Gift officerWhat the model sees
Outcomes for the students each fund supports
Projected value when a change goes live, and realized value against a holdout, a matched group, or the prior cycle, reported separately.
Share of restricted funds put to use
Lapsed donors who renew after an outcome report
Fund awards matched to eligible students
Start with Advancement
We scope the first domain with your team and agree on the outcomes to measure.
