Building Salesforce Dashboards That Drive Fundraising Decisions
- Ohana Focus Team
- Jan 15
- 5 min read
By Ohana Focus Team| January 18, 2025 | 18 min read
Most Salesforce dashboards become decorative wallpaper—colorful charts that look impressive in demos but collect digital dust in actual use. Staff glance at them once, maybe twice, then return to asking the database admin for reports. Learn how to build dashboards that get referenced daily because they surface insights that drive action, not just numbers that look interesting.
Let's take a look at how to build dashboards that actually drive fundraising decisions focused on actionable metrics, designed for specific roles, and structured around the questions people really ask.
Why Most Fundraising Dashboards Fail
Dashboards fail when they answer questions nobody's asking.
The Vanity Metrics Problem
Vanity metrics look impressive, but don't drive decisions. They satisfy curiosity but don't drive behavior.
Vanity Metrics (Don't Drive Action):
• Total number of contacts
• Total opportunities in the database
• Average opportunity value
Actionable Metrics (Drive Decisions):
• Lapsed donors needing outreach (137 donors—clear action)
• Proposals pending >30 days (8 need follow-up)
• Campaigns below 50% of goal (3 need intervention)
The 'One Dashboard for Everyone' Problem
A major gift officer needs to see their portfolio. The development director needs organizational progress. One dashboard trying to serve all audiences becomes cluttered and useful to none.
Different roles ask different questions:
• Major Gift Officer: Which prospects in my portfolio need a visit this week?
• Development Director: Are we on track to meet our annual goal?
• Executive Director: Is our fundraising healthy compared to last year?
Building Dashboards by Role
Design dashboards for each key fundraising role, focusing on the questions they actually ask.
Major Gift Officer Dashboard
Primary question: What should I do this week to move prospects toward gifts?
Essential components:
• My Portfolio by Stage: Qualification (15), Cultivation (23), Solicitation (8), Stewardship (12)
• Next Actions Due: Visits (4), Proposals (2), Follow-up calls (6), Thank you notes (3)
• Proposals Pending >30 Days: 8 prospects needing follow-up with names, amounts, days pending
• My Pipeline Value: Total ask amount by stage for forecasting
Development Director Dashboard
Primary question: Are we on track to meet our goals, and where do I need to intervene?
Essential components:
• Progress to Annual Goal: 72% ($1.8M of $2.5M) with visual gauge
• Donor Retention Rate: 68% (down 3% from last year—needs attention)
• Campaign Performance: Active campaigns showing which are on track, which need intervention
• Team Activity: Gift officer visits, proposals, gifts closed
Executive Director Dashboard
Primary question: Is our fundraising healthy, and do I need to be concerned?
Essential components:
• Revenue vs. Budget: Actual vs. budgeted by month, on-track indicator
• Donor Health Indicators: Retention rate, average gift, new donor count with trends
• Major Gift Pipeline: Total value, expected close rate, forecast
• Revenue Diversification: Individual vs. corporate vs. foundation breakdown
Board Member Dashboard
Primary question: How is the organization performing, and should I be concerned or celebrating?
Essential components:
• Revenue vs. Goal (large gauge—72% visually clear)
• Year-over-year comparison (up 12%)
• Campaign highlights with progress bars
• Donor growth trending
• Board giving participation
Key difference: Extremely simple (5-7 metrics max), context-heavy, visual emphasis, board skims in 30 seconds
Essential Metrics for Fundraising Dashboards
These metrics consistently prove valuable:
Progress and Performance Metrics
• Progress to Goal: Current revenue vs. annual goal—answers 'are we on track?'
• Donor Retention Rate: % of last year's donors who gave again—drives long-term sustainability
• Campaign ROI: Revenue vs. costs—shows which strategies are cost-effective
Pipeline and Activity Metrics
• Major Gift Pipeline by Stage: Ask amount at each stage—forecasts future revenue
• Average Days in Stage: How long prospects stay at each stage—identifies bottlenecks
At-Risk and Opportunity Metrics
• Lapsed Donors Needing Outreach: Donors approaching lapsed threshold—immediate action opportunity
• Proposals Pending >30 Days: Solicitations awaiting decision—follow-up opportunity
• Declining Gift Amounts: Donors whose recent gift was smaller—warning signal
Designing Dashboards for Decision-Making
Technical design choices dramatically impact dashboard usability.
Use Visual Hierarchy
• Most important metric = Largest and top-left: Users scan top-to-bottom, left-to-right
• Secondary metrics = Smaller, organized by category: Group related metrics together
• Actionable items = Highlighted differently: Use a different color or 'alert' styling
Make Components Clickable
Every dashboard component should drill down to details. Dashboards aren't endpoints—they're starting points for investigation.
Use Dynamic Filtering
Add filters at the top to allow users to adjust their view:
• Date range filter (this month, quarter, year, custom)
• Campaign filter (specific vs. all)
• Gift officer filter (view one officer's metrics)
Include Context, Not Just Numbers
Numbers without context are meaningless. Always show: comparison to last year, comparison to goal/benchmark, and trend direction.
Common Dashboard Mistakes to Avoid
Too Many Metrics
Dashboards with 20+ components overwhelm. Limit to 5-10 components maximum.
No Refresh Date Displayed
Users don't know if viewing current or stale data. Add 'Last Refreshed' timestamp.
Charts Without Labels
Every chart needs: title, axis labels, and legend if multiple data series.
Mixing Timeframes
One component shows this year, another shows the last 90 days. Confusing. Use a consistent timeframe.
No Action Orientation
Dashboard shows what happened but not what should happen next. Include action components: tasks due, prospects needing follow-up, campaigns needing intervention, etc.
Technical Implementation Tips
Building Dashboards in Salesforce
Step 1: Create underlying reports first (each component sources from a report)
Step 2: Choose dashboard type (My Dashboard, Specific User, or Shared)
Step 3: Add components strategically (most important top-left)
Step 4: Configure filters (allow users to adjust view)
Step 5: Set refresh schedule (manual, scheduled, or dynamic)
Using Dashboard Folders
Organize by role:
• Executive Dashboards
• Development Team Dashboards
• Gift Officer Dashboards
• Board Dashboards
Expert dashboard design services.
Ohana Focus designs fundraising dashboards that drive decisions, not just display data. We understand the questions fundraisers ask, the metrics that matter, and how to translate organizational goals into visual insights that prompt action.
Our dashboard services include:
• Requirements gathering
• Metric selection (actionable vs. vanity)
• Dashboard architecture
• Report development
• Visual design
• User testing
• Training on usage
• Ongoing optimization
About Ohana Focus
Ohana Focus is a certified Salesforce consulting partner specializing in nonprofit analytics and reporting. We've designed hundreds of fundraising dashboards, and we've learned what separates dashboards that get used from dashboards that get ignored.
The difference isn't technical sophistication—it's focus. Effective dashboards answer specific questions for specific roles using actionable metrics that drive behavior. They're simple enough to understand at a glance but clickable enough to investigate details when needed.
Our dashboard design process starts with questions, not metrics. We interview stakeholders to understand what decisions they make, what information they need, and how often they need it. Then we design dashboards that answer those specific questions using NPC data and Salesforce's visualization capabilities.
Topics: Salesforce Dashboards, Fundraising Analytics, Data Visualization, KPI Dashboards, NPC Reporting, Nonprofit Metrics, Decision Support
Comments