October 19, 2026 | Read Time: 3 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
Let’s talk about a comment an executive leader said to me two weeks ago.
“For unqualified prospects, we are going to use Excel.”
As the leader said this, many thoughts entered my mind. So many thoughts.
Why?
That is how I replied. Normally I’m a bit less direct, but we’ve been working together for three years, and two years ago we set up and launched a complete moves management program. It included all stages from identification to stewardship and everything in between. Trainings, dashboards, portfolio reviews, strategy sessions.
We had everyone on board, including him. In fact, two weeks prior he was so proud to stay he had everyone using the database for prospecting efforts. He even said he wants everything in the database and was telling everyone they must get it in the database as he doesn’t want any layered on spreadsheets.
When I heard they decided to use Excel for unqualified prospects, I was confused.
After the initial shock wore off and I saw his puzzled face at why I would be questioning the choice, I reset myself. I asked: Help me understand why? Are you worried about the record band?
He knew me well enough to know I was coming from a sincere place of just wanting to help. He asked: Can you tag unqualified prospects in the database?
Yes, I responded, and showed him how we have prospect classification and status set up. Classification equals major giving and status equals identification. I even built him a major gift prospect list on the fly during our call so he could visually see it.
He asked: Can you see if they were contacted and the next step? Yes, I responded and showed him the last and next action columns.
He asked: Can you see how many we disqualified? Yes, I responded and built a dashboard on the fly so he could see.
The kicker was when I asked how the information in Excel would get into the database? His response: Can’t the data team upload it? Have you heard this before? I started with “perhaps” to not be dismissive and then dove into if all the right data points were on there. After he heard me explain all of it, I ended with it would be quicker for fundraisers to enter it directly into the database themselves.
“Okay, this is why we need to pull you into these meetings.” This is when the actual reason finally came out. “Our new consultant has this spreadsheet where everything rolls up.”
We continued the conversation with me asking follow-up questions from a place of wanting to understand.
What’s in the spreadsheet?
Has the consultant used our database before?
What data rolls up?
What metrics are you trying to get from this spreadsheet?
If we can track all this in the database, will that help?
If we can get the same metrics out of the database, will that help?
If we do a re-training for fundraisers, will that help?
By the time the call ended, we made a plan to move away from the spreadsheet and into the database. Yes, it will take more buy-in, time, and effort in the short term, but much more beneficial for the long term.
When you want to have these types of conversations, it’s all about the approach. It was my approach that helped the conversation continue. Not defensive, not accusing, not judgmental , rather open, understanding, and genuinely wanting to know how to help.
Tone alone says a lot. Even when it feels like we’ve had the same conversation over and over, it’s important to be open to having it again.
Sometimes you have to take a few steps back before you can move forward together.
Take Action
To have conversations like this, follow these 3 steps:
1 ➡ When a leader or another team member mentions they track data in Excel, take the time to have a conversation.
2 ➡ Ask why and follow that with compassionate listening, not judging or being defensive. Listen to understand the underlying reason. See if there is an opportunity to move this Excel tracking into the fundraising database.
3 ➡ If so, find a path forward together to move from Excel to the database.
You’ve got this!
👋 See you next time,
Jenny
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