Building a Major Gifts Pipeline in HubSpot

HubSpot's pipeline functionality — natively called 'Deals' — is well-suited to tracking major donor solicitations and pledge fulfillment. Most nonprofits configure two to three pipelines for fundraising: Opportunities, Pledges, and Gifts.

Opportunities Pipeline

The Opportunities pipeline tracks major donor solicitations from identification through commitment. Use this pipeline for prospects your development team is actively managing.

Stage	What It Means
Identified	Prospect identified with giving potential; research and preparation underway. No formal ask yet.
Solicited	The ask has been made or the conversation has started.
Pending	Donor is considering; decision in progress.
Closed Won	Donor has committed (verbal or confirmed intent). Triggers automated pledge creation.
Closed Lost	Donor declined, or team removes from active forecasting.

IMPORTANT

When an opportunity reaches 'Closed Won,' automation should automatically create a corresponding pledge record. Confirm this workflow is active in your account.

Pledges Pipeline

The Pledges pipeline tracks committed gifts through fulfillment. It picks up where Opportunities leaves off.

Stage	What It Means
Open Pledge	Pledge exists; payments have not started.
Paying Pledge	Payments have begun.
Pledge Fulfilled	Pledge is fully paid. Equivalent to Closed Won.
Pledge Canceled	Pledge will not be fulfilled. Equivalent to Closed Lost.
IMPORTANT	Always move unfulfillable pledges to 'Pledge Canceled' — do not leave them open. Open abandoned pledges corrupt forecasting, completion rates, and win rates.

Gifts Pipeline

The Gifts pipeline tracks individual gifts through processing and acknowledgment. It is more operational than strategic.

Stage	What It Means
New Gift (Open)	Gift entered or received; in processing.
Acknowledgment	Relationship owner sends a personal acknowledgment (separate from the tax receipt).
Posted	Gift exported to accounting; deposit and receipt completed.
Adjusted	Manual finance adjustment applied (refund or correction).

Using Pipeline Views Effectively

Use Board View to visually drag records across stages during your weekly pipeline review. Use Table View for bulk updates and sorting. Create saved views for daily management (e.g., 'My Open Opportunities,' 'Aging Pledges').