Most teams think of pipeline growth as gradual; a few new names here, a new list there. But if you treat it like a sprint, you can make dramatic progress in weeks, not years. We’ve seen teams double their net-new pipeline in a single month by following a clear playbook.

Here’s how to run a sprint that works.

Week 1: Define “Net-New”

Before you can grow, you need a baseline. What counts as net-new for your mission?

• For some, it’s donors who have never appeared in the CRM.
• For others, it’s existing names who have never been flagged for personal engagement.
• For others, you’re starting out with a small donor base, so it’s pretty much anyone!

Agreeing on the definition upfront prevents messy debates later. Leadership wants before-and-after numbers. Fundraisers want to know the new prospects are truly new, not reclassified. A clear baseline keeps the sprint honest.

Week 2: Prospecting and discovery

Enrichment and wealth screening can only tell you more about the people already in your system. Discovery is how you find the ones you’ve missed. Start with sources hiding in plain sight:

• IRS 990s listing family foundations making regional grants.
• Annual reports from peer institutions.
• Sponsorship lists and gala photos or rosters from charity events.
• Press releases announcing major gifts elsewhere.

Don’t wait for new donors to find you. Bring those names into view and do quick, directional research on the most promising. Even a few bullet points per name will give you a head start.

Step 3: Map relationships

A list of names is just noise until you know the path of introduction. Look for overlaps with trustees, current donors, or alumni. LinkedIn, board rosters, and program committees are all reliable sources.

For example: say you discover a promising prospect who recently gave a major gift at a peer institution. Alone, that’s just a name. But if you notice they also serve on a board with someone you know, you suddenly have a warm introduction. That single connection can turn a cold prospect into a real opportunity.

The point is to isolate the one or two connections that make outreach credible. You won’t be able to find a connection for everyone, but the truly valuable research will be those new names that come with a realistic next step.

Read more about a sophisticated approach to relationship mapping here.

Week 4: Prioritize for action

By now, your list will be bigger than what you can work in one sprint. Prioritization makes the difference between progress and stagnation. Package the top prospects into one-page or paragraph-length briefs that include:

• The signal (gift, board seat, property, news item).
• A link to the original source.
• A suggested introduction or outreach path.

Aim for a few dozen high-quality prospects that can realistically move forward, not hundreds of names that clog the system.

Beyond Week 4: Gather feedback

As outreach begins, track what works. Which sources produced the best signals? Which warm introductions opened doors? Feedback is the fuel that will make each future sprint stronger.

DonorAtlas: Your Accelerator

Anyone can run this playbook manually. But DonorAtlas compresses the process from weeks into minutes. The platform automates discovery across the open web, attaches citations to every signal, and instantly maps connections.

Imagine searching for “donors in Chicago who haven’t given to us but support education causes”, and getting transparent results in seconds, complete with mapped relationships. That’s how our users have turned month-long sprints into day-long breakthroughs.