Donor CircleMVP Blueprint
A strategic 4-hour engagement to transform your vision into a clear, fundable MVP roadmap for revolutionizing university fundraising.
Pilot Partner
Spelman College Ready
Target Launch
May/June Prototype
Circle Potential
$500K+ per 30-person circle
Transforming University Fundraising
Empowering peer-to-peer donor networks to unlock unprecedented giving potential
Key Points
- 👥Client: Tycely Williams
- 🏫Product: Connect To Give - Donor Circle - alumni giving reimagined
- 💵Status: Self-funded, seeking MVP clarity
- 🎓Pilot: Spelman College committed to pilot
- 📆Timeline: Investor-ready prototype by June
Journey to Launch
The Donor Circle Concept
A revolutionary approach to university fundraising through organized, high-commitment donor communities
🏗️ Circle Architecture
Ecosystem = University
e.g., Spelman College
Institution-wide
Purpose-based
Affinity-based
👥 Up to 30 donors per circle
$5K/year × 5 years = $500K+ per circle
Circle Leaders
Each circle has 1-2 dedicated leaders responsible for:
- ✓ Recruiting qualified donors
- ✓ Member engagement
- ✓ Progress tracking
Peer-to-Peer Dynamic
Fundraising driven by alumni networks, not just advancement offices:
- ✓ Social proof momentum
- ✓ Visible progress tracking
- ✓ Community accountability
Compliant Money Flow
App orchestrates, not holds funds:
- ✓ Connects to existing portals
- ✓ Tracks multi-year pledges
- ✓ University maintains control
Data & Intelligence Flow
CRM Data
Blackbaud Import
Enrichment
Consumer Data
Intelligence
Scoring & Recs
Output
Donor Prospects
Business Model Consideration
Exploring a hybrid revenue model: SaaS subscription fees per institution/circle + performance-based percentage of funds raised. Our engagement will help align pricing with product scope and build a credible financial model.
Spelman Pilot Features
Focused functionality for a successful first launch
Circle & User Management
- Create and manage circles
- Define purpose, goal, duration
- Assign circle leaders
- Add/invite members
Data Integration
- Blackbaud CRM connection
- CSV upload option
- Key attribute mapping
- Basic donor qualification
Donor Recommendations
- Rule-based criteria setup
- Income & giving history filters
- Affinity tag matching
- Prospect surfacing for leaders
Goal & Progress Tracking
- Pledges per donor
- Circle progress bars
- Campaign-wide metrics
- Multi-year commitment tracking
Visibility & Engagement
- Donor dashboards
- Circle member views
- Real-time progress updates
- Social proof elements
Admin Controls
- Institutional admin view
- Campaign configuration
- Basic reporting
- Data exports
Future Phases (Post-MVP)
Advanced AI modeling, multi-institution marketplace, sophisticated analytics, and expanded integrations will be defined in later phases—not MVP.
Initial Engagement
A focused strategic block to unlock your MVP roadmap
Engagement Completed
This Strategy Sprint has been successfully completed. The deliverables have been provided and the next phase is ready to begin.
Completed: January 2025
Strategy Sprint
4-Hour Consulting Block
What Was Delivered
Ready to continue? View the current proposal:
View Phase 1 ProposalContinue the Journey
Phase 0 complete - now let's build the platform
Strategy Sprint
4-hour engagement completed - MVP scope and roadmap defined
Phase 0: Partner-Ready Foundation
Story, pilot offer, and partner hub delivered
Phase 1: Platform BuildCurrent
Full web application for donor circles with Blackbaud integration - 12 weeks
Pilot Launch & Scale
Deploy with first school, gather feedback, onboard additional institutions
Next: Phase 1 Platform Build
With Phase 0 complete, we're ready to build the full donor circle platform. Phase 1 delivers a production-ready web application with Blackbaud integration in 12 weeks.
Common Questions
You'll have complete clarity on your MVP scope, phased roadmap, and cost estimates. From there, you can choose to move forward with development (with us or another partner), seek funding with your new materials, or continue refining using the AI co-builder workflow we set up.
Blackbaud is the most common CRM in higher education advancement offices. Starting here gives us the broadest compatibility for pilot partners like Spelman, with clear paths to add other CRMs in future phases.
We'll show you how to use AI tools to continue refining your product specs, user stories, Figma screens, and investor pitch materials—even outside our sessions. You'll have a repeatable process to keep building independently.
Absolutely. The deliverables are designed to give you the clarity and materials you need to communicate your product vision credibly to investors, pilot partners, and potential technical collaborators.
The Strategy Sprint is designed to deliver maximum value in a focused block. If deeper engagement is needed, we can discuss additional consulting or move directly into a development phase based on our findings.