How to Use Pipelines
Pipelines allow you to track the progress of a relationship through a series of sequential steps toward some goal.
For example:
- Tracking donors through a moves management process
- Tracking volunteers through a volunteer onboarding process
- Tracking applicants through an application process
How do I create a pipeline in my MonkeyPod?
To create a pipeline go to Relationships then under Track & Organize, click Pipelines.
Then on the main pipelines page, make your first pipeline by clicking "Create a New Pipeline".
From here, give your pipeline a name and begin adding steps! Click the checkmark to save your pipeline.
After saving your pipeline, it appears in your Pipeline Manager.
You can mark a pipeline as private here to have it show only for your account.
Click the pipeline name to view it in detail.
You will see a relationships table with columns for each step you created. If a step is marked as completed, the next step will automatically be set to "Working" so that you are able to track progress easily.
Changing Pipeline Steps
As you work through your pipeline, you may find that you need to change some things. No worries! We make it easy to add, remove, or re-arrange your pipeline steps.
To edit your pipeline, click the edit icon in the Pipeline Manager for the pipeline you want to change.
From here you can:
- Change the name of the pipeline
- Reorder the steps in the pipeline using the drag handle to the left of the step
- Add a new step
- Delete a step by hovering over the step and clicking the delete icon
- Designate another pipeline for the relationship to go through when this one is completed
Adding Relationships to a Pipeline
How to add a single relationship
In the first row of the table, there is an option to search your relationships for someone to add to the pipeline. If you make a mistake, simply select "Never mind" and they will not be added to the pipeline.
How to bulk add a batch of relationships
If you run a search of your relationships, a link will appear at the top of the results to "Bulk add all matching contacts to a pipeline" which you can select to get further instructions on adding everyone who matches the search criteria you specified.
Tracking Progress
Status Updates
Once someone has been added to your pipeline, you'll want to track their progress through all of the steps you have identified. Each step will always have one of the following statuses:
- Working - the step is in progress and being actively worked on
- Completed - the step has been successfully completed
- Skipped - the step was not relevant or had to be skipped, but the relationship should remain in the pipeline, nonetheless
- Not Started - the default status before you've started to work on a step
Updating the status of a step is as simple as selecting the status from the dropdown options. When you mark any step completed, the next step will automatically update to Working.
Comments
You can also add comments to each relationship's record for a particular step, which can be useful for recording important context or notes. Comments are not required for all of the steps but it is especially helpful if you are removing someone from a pipeline or skipping a step in the pipeline for a particular reason.
Changing Pipeline Status
Ending Early
Not everything works out the way you hoped! Sometimes, a relationship needs to be removed from a pipeline before they've completed all of the steps. To end someone's pipeline participation early, click the Archive icon to remove them early from the Pipeline.
By ending someone's pipeline progress early, you will archive their progress data and prevent them from being accidentally added again in the future.
Removing a relationship
If you added someone to a pipeline by mistake, you can remove them altogether by clicking on the delete icon. When you delete from a pipeline, that relationship can be added again in the future.
Can I add a relationship to another pipeline automatically when one is completed?
Yes! If you want a relationship to start a new pipeline automatically after they finish one, you can do that by choosing a pipeline for them to start after the current one is completed.
To configure this, click the edit button for the pipeline in the Pipeline Manager, then choose "Select a pipeline" to choose the pipeline you want to add the relationship to when this pipeline is completed.
Frequently Asked Questions
I am interested in setting up a "moves management" pipeline. What steps should I include?
That's a great idea! A moves management strategy is a smart approach to building relationships with donors and prospects. To create a moves management pipeline, we'd recommend the following pipeline steps:
- Identification (identifying the prospect)
- Qualification (validating the prospect's capacity to give)
- Cultivation (contacting the prospect and building a relationship)
- Solicitation (asking for a donation or gift)
- Stewardship (managing the relationship on an ongoing basis)
How can I see a person's pipeline status when viewing their relationship page?
When a relationship is included in a pipeline, you'll see a Pipeline card on the relationship page. The card provides a quick snapshot of their pipeline status, mark steps as completed, or have the relationship exit the pipeline—right there from the card!
Can MonkeyPod send email messages based on someone's pipeline progression?
If you have the Email Automation app, you sure can! The completion of a pipeline step can be worked into any Email Automation drip campaign. Check out our How to Use Pipelines article to learn more.
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