A Lead or Opportunity is a prospective consumer of a product/service or a potential contributor to a nonprofit organization. A lead is created when an individual or business shows interest and provides contact information. Your organization may gain access to a lead through advertising, trade shows, direct mailings, or any other marketing effort.
To get started, open the Leads/Opportunities list from either Constituents (CRM) > Leads or Marketing & Engagement > Leads/Opportunities on the main menu at the left of the screen. This opens the full listing of your Leads/Opportunities.
Adding a New Lead
From the list, click the Add New button. This opens the Designate A Constituent As A Lead screen. To avoid duplicates, every lead starts from an existing constituent record:
- Start typing the constituent's name in the lookup box, then choose the person from the matching results. You can search by full or partial name (for example, Jane Doe, Jane, or Jan).
- If the person is not in your system yet, click the add icon on the lookup to create a new constituent without leaving this screen. For help, see the Add Constituents article.
Once a constituent is selected, click Add Lead & Enter Details. Argenta creates the lead and opens its Lead/Opportunity workspace so you can fill in the rest of the details.
The Lead/Opportunity Workspace
The workspace is organized into tabs along the left of the record. You will start on the Lead Details tab. The available tabs are Lead Details, Sales Cycle, Connections, Engagement, Follow-Up, Notifications, Email Log, Contact Log, Lead Files, Lead Notes, and Record Permissions. (A Conversion tab is also available for certain teams.)
Lead Details tab
This tab holds the core information for the lead. At the top you will find:
- Record Level Permissions – Two switches control who can see or change this record. Set As View Only restricts the record to view-only access except for the user who created it, master admins, or users granted access on the Record Permissions tab. Lock This Record goes further and hides the record entirely from users except the creator, master admins, or users granted access on the Record Permissions tab. Permissions also work by department, district, and/or precinct, so users limited by those areas only see records in the areas you have granted them.
- The constituent's information (name, contact details, photo) is shown right on the tab so you can review or update it without leaving the workspace.
Under Lead/Opportunity Information you can enter:
- Student Status – Choose whether this is or is not a student.
- Physical Collateral – Choose whether the lead requested physical collateral.
- Affiliated Organization or Short Description of Lead/Opportunity – The lead's affiliated organization, or a short description of the lead.
- Active Date (required) – The date the lead should be considered active. Type a date or use the calendar selector.
- Assigned Team Member – If the lead is assigned to a specific person on your team, search for and select that team member. Use the clear icon to leave it unassigned.
- Ambassador (Referred By) – If someone referred this lead, search for and select that constituent. Use the clear icon to leave it unassigned.
- Status / Sales Cycle Stage – Where the lead sits in your sales cycle. Statuses such as No Opportunity RIGHT NOW, No Possible Opportunity, or DO NOT CONTACT mark the lead as a lost opportunity in your sales and marketing reports.
- Lead/Opportunity Type – The kind of interaction this lead could have with your organization (for example, potential volunteer, potential donor, or potential sale). This drives how the lead converts later: a potential-volunteer lead converts to a volunteer, and so on.
- Lead/Opportunity Category – How the lead is qualified, such as Information Qualified, Marketing Qualified, or Sales Qualified.
- Acquisition Source – Where the lead came from. Argenta ships with common sources.
- Lead Weight – A rating of the lead's potential to convert (such as cold, warm, or hot).
- Contact Person's Role or Job Title – The job title of your contact, which signals their level of authority.
- Chapter, Division, and Department – If the lead belongs to one of these areas in your organization, choose it; otherwise leave it unassigned. (District and Precinct also appear for political teams.)
- Referring Web Form – If the lead came in through one of your Argenta public interface forms, the form name is filled in automatically.
- UTM Code – A tag used to track which platform or campaign sent this traffic to your website.
- Financials – Any financial information you know about the lead, such as yearly income or budget.
- Competition – Any other organization competing for this lead, with notes on their pros and cons.
For the code-driven fields (Status, Type, Category, Source, Weight, Role), you can add a new value on the spot using the orange + Add New icon next to the field.
When you are done, click Save All Changes to save and stay on the record, or Save All & Exit Record to save and return to the list. You can also use the save icon at the top of the page. The Convert Lead... and Delete This Record options are available here as well.
Sales Cycle tab
This tab holds the lead's sales-cycle fields: Status / Sales Cycle Stage, Lead Category, Lead Weight, Acquisition Source, Last Date of Contact, Is Follow-Up Needed? (with a Create A Follow-Up link), Acquired By Campaign, Date Converted (active once the status is Converted), and Final Outcome. Save with Save All Changes or Save All & Exit Record.
Connections tab
Use this tab to associate the lead with related items such as campaigns and programs.
Engagement tab
This tab shows the engagements created for this lead, and lets you add a new one with the Add New button.
Follow-Up tab
The Follow-Up tab lets you schedule one or more follow-up reminders for this lead. Click Add New, then choose the Team Member, enter a Follow-Up Reason, set the Follow-Up Date & Time, optionally set a Notification Date & Time (and a second email address), and record the Follow-Up Outcome. A scheduled follow-up can place a reminder on your calendar and send an email notification.
Notifications tab
Send an email notification to the lead. The Send To Email field is prepopulated with the constituent's email address. Copy team members if you wish, enter a subject, edit the message with Edit Notification, and click Send Notification to send it.
Email Log tab
Any emails sent to this lead through Argenta are logged here.
Contact Log tab
Log an unlimited number of contacts with this lead. Click Add New and fill out the contact fields. When you log a contact you can also choose to record it as an engagement.
Lead Files tab
Attach an unlimited number of files to this lead. Use the file browser to pick a file from your computer, or drag and drop it, then save the file to complete the upload.
Lead Notes tab
View and add notes for this lead. Click Add New to open a text area and type as much as you need.
Record Permissions tab
This tab controls who can see and edit the lead, using two panels:
- View Only Access – When a record is set to View Only, only master admins and the users listed here can edit it. To grant a user edit access, start typing their name in the Add User box, select them, and click Add.
- Locked Record Access – When a record is locked, only master admins and the users listed here can view or edit it. To grant a user access, start typing their name in the Add User box, select them, and click Add.