Interactions: Contact Method Dictionary

Interactions: Contact Method Dictionary

Taken from Chapter 7 of the Prospect Management Policies & Procedures Guide manual from February 21, 2019.

7 Interactions

Interactions serve as a way to transparently track the University’s contact with its constituents. By entering Interactions into GAIL, Development Officers are not only providing important information to other Development Officers, but also preserving institutional history with that specific constituent (A.10).

7.1 Meeting Contact Methods

A “Meeting” is a contact with a prospect that represents a meaningful interpersonal effort to further engage the prospect or move the gift conversation forward. A fundraiser’s “Meeting” record in GAIL should clearly convey a face-to-face meeting with a donor or prospect that involves a meaningful and strategic discussion about engagement, partnering, and/or their individual giving. An “Initial Meeting” or “Return Meeting” should only be entered as such if the meeting was a scheduled, face-to-face meeting to talk about engagement, partnering, and/or a specific gift or fundraising plan.

 
When entering a “Meeting” in GAIL, the following pieces of information are required in order for it to be counted in a Development Officer’s monthly meeting totals (A.11.4).
 

Please see FAQs for answers to common questions about Meetings.

Type How to Fill Out

Location

The location should be as specific as possible – “John Doe’s office at Chick-fil-a headquarters in Atlanta, GA.”

Purpose

The purpose can range from a general description (such as: “To determine John Doe’s affinity and capacity to make a major gift to UGA”) to a more specific purpose (such as: “To meet with John Doe and his lawyer to determine the specific wording of John’s bequest to the College of Education.”)

Summary

The summary should mention all relevant information discussed during the meeting that is pertinent to the engagement or expected gift including: the prospect’s ability or inclination to make the gift, any details concerning the prospect’s relationship with UGA, and any important personal or biographical details (such as: children and info about their schools, spouses and their jobs, hobbies, etc.)that may need to be preserved in institutional history.

Next Steps

The summary should mentionall relevant information discussed during the meeting that is pertinent to the engagement or expected gift including: theprospect’s ability or inclination to make the gift, any details concerning the prospect’s relationship with UGA, and any important personal or biographical details (such as: children and info about their schools, spouses and their jobs, hobbies, etc.)that may need to be preserved in institutional history.

7.1.1 Initial Meeting

An “Initial Meeting” is one in which the Development Officer is meeting with a prospect for the first time for the specific purpose of discovery/engagement or speaking about a gift to UGA. An “Initial Meeting” may also be referred to as a “Discovery Visit” in conversation, but the official term embraced by UGA Development is “Initial Meeting.” The Development Officer may have previously interacted with this prospect in a personal or professional setting (e.g., at Rotary Club or a fundraising event) but an “Initial Meeting” signifies the first planned and scheduled conversation about fundraising.

Note: A Development Officer will only have one “Initial Meeting” with a prospect.

7.1.2 Return Meeting

A “Return Meeting” is one in which a relationship has already been established with the prospect, and the Development Officer is returning to further the engagement effort and/or fundraising discussion.

Note: A Development Officer will most likely have several “Return Meetings” with a prospect.

7.1.2.1 Stewardship Meeting

A stewardship meeting is a type of ‘Return Meeting’ that should be used for any meeting that is helping continue the prospect’s relationship with UGA and may be connected with an effort to cultivate and solicit for a new (future) major gift.

  • To enter a Stewardship Meeting, use the ‘Return Meeting’ contact method.

Note: Stewardship meetings do not include attending an event like an art opening at the donor’s invitation or delivering a stewardship gift, this type of activity is considered a Stewarship Interaction.

7.2 Other Types of Contact Methods

In addition to “Meetings,” several other meaningful contact methods for Interactions should be recorded in GAIL. These Interactions are of value as they are often important to move the gift conversation forward. While a Development Officer may have a meaningful conversation about a gift through one of these contact methods, it should never be entered as an “Initial Meeting” or “Return Meeting.”

7.2.1 Campus Interaction

The “Campus Interaction” contact method should be used for scenarios where the prospect is on campus for some specific purpose and interacts with a Development Officer (e.g., a tour of a building, a class speaking engagement, or a drop-by meeting while the prospect is visiting the campus).

7.2.2 Email

7.2.3 Event Interaction

The “Event Interaction” contact method should be used when a Development Officer interacts with a prospect at a group event, whether the event is a specific fundraising event (e.g., 4-H Gala or a small dinner gathering of prospects) or a more general UGA event (e.g., Bulldog 100 or a school’s tailgate event).

7.2.4 Fax

7.2.5 Financial Advisor Interaction

The “Financial Advisor Interaction” should be used when a Development Officer is meeting with a representative of a donor, such as a financial advisor or lawyer. This will often be used in relation to planned gifts.

7.2.6 Letter

7.2.7 Board or Committee Interaction

The “Board or Committee Interaction” contact method should be used for any Interaction with a prospect that takes place surrounding a board or committee meeting. Even if a sidebar conversation occurs with a prospect during the course of the board or committee meeting, the Interaction should still be entered as a “Board or Committee Interaction.”

7.2.8 Other

The “Other” contact method should be used for any Interaction that falls outside of the scope of the other labels. These interactions could range from interactions of a friendly nature (e.g., attending the wedding of a prospect’s child or the funeral of a prospect’s spouse) to chance encounters that progress into a fundraising conversation (e.g., sitting next to someone on a plane and then striking up a conversation about support after learning the person graduated from UGA).

Note: Use this option when you have a meeting that involves more than one Prospect. The meeting interaction should be on the main Prospect in the meeting. You can then add the guest as an interaction participant or by having their own ‘Other’ interaction. (11.23)

7.2.9 Phone Call

7.2.10 Pres/VP Meeting

The “Pres/VP Meeting” contact method is used exclusively by Central Development Donor Relations & Stewardship. It is reserved for instances when the President and/or Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations meet with a donor to further the relationship and fundraising process. This meetnig may or may not be the first time the President or Vice President have met the donor. This meeting will often include a Development Officer, who should enter his or her own interaction utilizing the Initial Meeting or Return Meeting contact method.

7.2.11 Prospect Narrative

The “Prospect Narrative” contact method is used exclusively by Central Development Donor Relations & Stewardship, the President’s Office, and the Principal Gifts Team to pull information into reports. Development Officers will generally not use this contact method.

7.2.12 Sky Suite Interaction

The “Sky Suite Interaction” contact method should be used for any interaction with a prospect in the Sky Suites during football season. Even if a sidebar conversation about fundraising happens in the Sky Suites, the interaction should still be labeled as a “Sky Suite Interaction.”

7.2.13 Social Media

The “Social Media” contact method should be used for communications that take place through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Because these forms of communication are often seen as more “personal” and less “official,” prospects may communicate in a more open and relaxed manner on these platforms. Therefore, in an effort to respect donor privacy, the Prospect Management Team asks that Development Officers summarize the highlights of these conversations rather than copy the entire text of the exchange when making “Social Media Interaction” entries in GAIL.

7.2.14 Stewardship Interaction

The “Stewardship Interaction” category should be used for any Interaction that is helping continue the prospect’s relationship with UGA but is not directly connected with an engagement effort or to solicit a new gift (e.g., attending an event like an art opening at the donor’s invitation or delivering a stewardship gift).

7.2.15 Stewardship Reporting

The “Stewardship Reporting” contact method is used exclusively by Central Development Donor Relations & Stewardship when a report is generated and sent to a specific donor. Examples of these reports include, but are not limited to Endowment Reports, Scholarship Gratitude Reports, Personal Impact Reports, Chair & Professorship Impact Reports, etc.

7.2.16 Task

The “Task” contact method should be used when entering planned or pending steps concerning internal tasks to be completed by Development Officers (e.g., “Create stewardship report” or “speak with Planned Givingrepresentative”).

7.2.17 Text Message

7.2.18 Top Campaign Prospect Notes

The “Top Campaign Prospect Notes” contact method is primarily used by the Principal Gifts Team to record notes about top campaign prospect strategy. Most Development Officers will not need to use this contact method.

7.2.19 Website

The “Website” contact method is generally used when utilizing a website’s contact form to reach out to a person or organization. It is also commonly used when submitting proposals through a website.

7.3 Contact Report vs. Interactions Not Tied to a Plan

When entering Interactions into GAIL, it is important for Development Officers to distinguish between Interactions that are part of a plan and Interactions that are not tied to furthering a specific fundraising effort.GAIL defines Contact Reports as simply “interactions tied to a fundraising plan.” For any Interaction that is part of a fundraiser’s plan and can be considered to be moving the gift forward, a Contact Report needs to be filed. Contact Reports are filed by either completing a step within a plan or using the “Add step and interaction” feature on the prospect’s Interactions tab (A.11.2, A.11.3).

Note: Interactions, once filed, cannot retroactively be tied to a plan as Contact Reports to complete plan steps. This connection must be made at the initial point of data entry.

7.4 Meetings with More Than One Development Officer in Attendance

If more than one development professional participates in a meeting, each fundraiser should enter his or her own unique Contact Report to receive credit for the meeting in the Impact Report. Simply adding a meeting interaction with “See X’s meeting comments” or copy/pasting someone else’s content will not suffice, and the meeting will be changed to an “Other” interaction.

Note: Additional Development Officers should not be listed as “Participants” in Interactions/Contact Reports. That field is used to assign the same Contact Report to additional prospects involved (e.g., a spouse, siblings involved in an estate conversation, or simply assigning duplicate content to a group of people at an alumni gathering.)

7.5 Deadline for Entering Interactions in GAIL

Interactions are to be entered into GAIL by 5:00 p.m. on the first business day of the month in order for the numbers to be included on that month’s Impact Report, which is generally distributed by DAR Leadership on the second business day of the month. Extensions will not be granted. However, any interactions not entered by the monthly deadline will still be included in Fiscal Year totals.

7.5.1 Major Gift Impact Report

The Major Gift Impact Report is an internal report distributed by DAR Leadership detailing Development Officers’ fiscal year-to-date progress. This report is focused on Major Gifts and Major Gift Officers, although some Leadership Annual Giving Officers are listed secondarily. The Impact Report transparently reports “Asks” for the fiscal year as well as revenue that has been committed to those opportunities, revenue committed to asks made in the prior fiscal year, revenue that is not associated with a plan but is credited to the Development Officer, monthly meeting and interaction totals, and fiscal year-to-date meeting and interaction totals (11.19, A.15).