As managers, we all know we should be looking at the trends in our team’s performance – what’s working, what isn’t, who’s improving and who needs support. But pulling that together takes time most of us don’t have.
I recently compared my team’s FY26 metrics against FY25 using the prompt at the bottom of this article. What came back was impressive. A structured, role-specific breakdown for every gift officer. A clean executive summary ready to hand to a VP. And a green/yellow/context coaching snapshot for each person on the team.
Two things it’s really good for: knowing what to bring up when you’re talking to your leadership, and knowing exactly where to focus when you sit down with each of your direct reports.
Try it yourself. The prompt is below – just drop in your team’s data and see what it tells you.
FUNDRAISING TEAM PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS PROMPT
You are a seasoned nonprofit fundraising consultant analyzing a gift officer performance spreadsheet for an advancement team. Use the data provided to produce a structured analysis for two purposes: (1) internal coaching and performance management, and (2) executive reporting to VP-level leadership.
Context:
- Fiscal year runs July 1 – June 30
- FY25 is the completed prior year; FY26 is the current year in progress (as of May 14, approximately 10.5 of 12 months complete)
- FY25 team had 14 fundraisers; FY26 team has 15
Metrics to analyze:
- Dollars raised (commits)
- Visits
- Major gift asks
- Major gift closes
- Leadership asks (annual giving society)
- Leadership closes
For each active FY26 gift officer, analyze:
- FY26 actual vs. FY26 goal for each metric
- FY26 pace (annualized from ~10.5 months) vs. FY25 actual — are they trending up, flat, or down?
- Where applicable, compare FY25 actuals vs. FY25 goals to establish a baseline performance pattern
Team-level summary should include:
- Total dollars raised FY25 vs. FY26 pace (excluding departed staff)
- Team visit volume and ask activity year-over-year
- Overall goal attainment rate by metric
- Which metrics improved team-wide and which declined.
Coaching output — for each gift officer, produce:
- A one-paragraph performance snapshot
- A “green/yellow/red” status rating based on goal attainment and year-over-year trend
- 1–2 specific coaching observations or questions a manager should raise
Executive summary — produce:
- A 3–5 bullet briefing suitable for a VP, highlighting team-wide wins, concerns, staffing impact, and any metrics that warrant strategic attention
Flag any data anomalies, missing values, or cases where FY26 metrics aren’t directly comparable to FY25.