A day in the life of a fundraising manager
Fundraising teams manage data, meetings, donor outreach, and reporting throughout the day. Brought to you by Route22 Limited, this infographic shows a day in the life of a fundraising manager using Microsoft 365 Copilot. View the infographic to see how Copilot helps nonprofit teams work more efficiently and stay focused on their mission.
How does Copilot help a fundraising manager work with campaign data?
As a fundraising manager, you can use Copilot in Excel to move from raw campaign data to clear insights much faster.
For example, at the start of the day you might open your campaign performance workbook and ask Copilot to:
- Analyze donation data across age groups, channels, or campaigns
- Create visualizations that make trends easier to spot
A practical prompt could be:
- “Create a scatter plot of donation amounts against donor age.”
This lets you see patterns such as which age ranges tend to give higher amounts, or where engagement might be dropping. You can then use these charts in reports, presentations, or board updates without manually building every visual yourself.
Over time, this helps you:
- Spend less time formatting spreadsheets
- Spend more time interpreting results and adjusting your fundraising strategy
- Share clearer, data-backed stories with stakeholders about how campaigns are performing.
How can Copilot streamline my meetings and donor communications?
Copilot can simplify how you prepare for, run, and follow up on meetings, as well as how you communicate with donors.
In Microsoft Teams, you can:
- Catch up on conversations by asking: “Summarize this thread calling out where my name was mentioned and any action items relevant for me.”
- Wrap up meetings by asking: “Summarize the meeting and be sure to list all the open items and their status.”
This means you don’t have to reread long chats or rely on handwritten notes to remember what you agreed to do. You get a concise list of action items and open issues you’re responsible for.
In Outlook, Copilot can help you draft donor communications quickly. For example, you can ask:
- “Generate a brief thank you email template for donors that can be personalized with their name, donation amount, and preferred cause. The tone should be warm and appreciative.”
You can then personalize each message with:
- Donor name
- Donation amount
- Specific program or cause they supported
This approach helps you stay responsive and consistent with donors, while still keeping messages personal and aligned with your organization’s voice.
How does Copilot support strategic planning and board reporting?
Copilot can support your strategic work by helping you stay informed and by making it easier to build clear, data-driven presentations.
To stay current on fundraising trends and opportunities, you can use Microsoft 365 Chat and ask:
- “Summarize information about latest trends and opportunities on fundraising activities.”
This gives you a concise overview of relevant articles and insights, so you can rethink campaign approaches, test new ideas, or identify potential partnership opportunities.
When preparing for a board meeting or leadership review, Copilot in PowerPoint can help you:
- Turn existing documents into presentations, for example: “Create a presentation from Word document link to 2024 Campaigns Results.docx.”
- Add new content based on recent developments, such as: “Add additional slide based on the new potential partnership details outlined below.”
Combined with the charts and analysis you created in Excel, this allows you to:
- Highlight key campaign achievements
- Present financial results clearly
- Show how new opportunities or partnerships could impact future fundraising
Overall, Copilot helps you reimagine how you prepare for strategic conversations—spending less time on formatting and more time on the story you want to tell about your fundraising work.