The difference between a successful close and a stalled raise often comes down to infrastructure. GPs who have invested in robust pipeline management systems are closing capital, while others struggle to gain traction. With established funds continuing to capture the lion's share of capital, emerging managers need every advantage they can get.

A well-designed LP pipeline system provides the foundation for systematic, effective fundraising. Strong infrastructure determines whether you'll hit your close targets or spend another year on the road.

Why Most LP Pipeline Systems Fall Short

Most GPs track their LP prospects in systems that create more work than they solve. Without clear visibility, teams can't answer fundamental questions: Do we need more prospects in the funnel? Are we effectively convincing LPs? Are we moving opportunities through the process?

The best pipeline management systems accomplish four critical objectives:

Minimize manual entry through automation and integrations
Increase network visibility so you understand your true fundraising capacity
Provide team-wide transparency on who's doing what with each LP
Deliver clear direction on what actions the team should prioritize

Choosing the Right CRM for Your Fund

When evaluating CRM options, consider four key factors: budget constraints, the size of your LP network, your team's willingness to adopt new systems, and overall tech savviness.

Here's how the most common VC CRMs stack up:

Affinity pricing starts at approximately $2,000 per user per year. Automatic interaction tracking, data visualization, data enrichment, quick setup, and automatic document pull make it the gold standard for funds serious about scaling their LP relationships. From what we have seen, Affinity still dominates the market and is the chosen provider for ~60% of our clients.

Airtable offers a more budget-friendly option at $20 to $45 per month per user, though it requires manual build-out for interaction tracking. For hands-on teams willing to invest in setup time, its data visualization and customization capabilities can rival those of more expensive platforms.

HubSpot spans a wide price range (it gets pricey quickly!) and excels at automatically tracking interactions. Its quick setup and marketing-focused features make it particularly valuable for funds running coordinated email campaigns alongside pipeline management.

Attio costs around $900 per user annually and provides enriched data with exceptional flexibility. It requires manual build-out, making it ideal for teams that want complete control over their system architecture. Attio seems to be gaining traction within the VC market, but is working with <10% of Strut’s clients.

Excel still has its place for very small networks or funds in the earliest stages of planning. You are signing up for a full manual build, but it can be effective when your team is Excel-savvy and committed to using it. Around 20% of our clients are still using Excel for pipeline management.

Essential Fields That Drive Decision-Making

The fields you track in your CRM should serve a clear purpose: helping you make better decisions about where to invest your time. Here are the critical fields every LP pipeline should include.

Note: All directions and screenshots below are from Affinity, to be helpful to the widest audience. Fields marked as "automatic" are automated only when using Affinity as your CRM.

Process Tracking

Status: Target, intro call, follow-up call, data room, docs sent, docs signed, closed, lost

Assigned status investment probability (automatic)
Time: In current status (automatic)
Owner: Which team member is responsible (automatic)

LP Intelligence

Investor type: Family office, corporate, endowment, high net worth individual, foundation, etc.
Manual investment probability: Based on LP enthusiasm and fit
Location (automatic)
LP point of contact
Expected close: First, second, or final
Pass reason when applicable: Overallocated on venture, fund size too small/large, stage focus, sector exclusions

Financial Planning

Minimum check size
Maximum check size
Check size based on assigned probability: For weighted pipeline calculations
Actual check size: Post-commitment

Activity Tracking

Last email (automatic)
Last meeting (automatic)
Next meeting scheduled (automatic)
Date added to pipeline (automatic)
Introduction source: Referral contact, conference, database (automatic)

This may seem like a lot of fields to track, but when automated, there should only be nine manual entry fields if you are using Affinity. Automation saves time, reduces errors, and ensures your data stays current without constant team intervention.

Building Actionable Views

The most valuable view in your CRM isn't a comprehensive list of every LP in your pipeline. It's a targeted action list that tells each team member exactly who needs their attention right now.

Here's how to build an effective "action required" view with three simple filters:

Filter 1: No Contact in 14+ Days

Surface opportunities where there's been zero activity: no emails sent or received, no meetings scheduled, nothing. These relationships are going stale and need immediate attention.

Filter 2: By Owner

Show each team member only their assigned opportunities to keep them focused.

Filter 3: No Future Meeting Scheduled

Exclude any LP who already has a meeting on the calendar. If you're speaking with them in soon, there's no need to send multiple check-in emails in the interim.

What you're left with is a crystal-clear action list: these are the LPs you're responsible for, who you haven't contacted recently, and who don't already have a meeting scheduled.

This approach eliminates ambiguity about where to focus and creates natural accountability – your team will know exactly which relationships they're responsible for nurturing (and when).

The Two Types of Probability (And Why You Need Both)

Effective pipeline systems use two distinct probability metrics:

Status-Based Probability is automatically assigned to each stage in your process (see example below). You might configure Initial Target at 5%, First Meeting at 10%, Follow-up & RFI at 25%, Additional Partner Meetings at 40%, and Decision & DD at 75%. If an LP has a minimum check size of $1M at the first meeting stage (10%), the weighted amount in your pipeline is $100K.

This helps you identify process bottlenecks. If opportunities consistently stall at the data room stage, you've uncovered a systematic issue that needs attention.

Feeling-Based Probability is manually entered based on the LP's enthusiasm and strategic fit. When an LP says, "This fund is exactly in our sweet spot, we'd love to move quickly," you might assign a 60% probability regardless of their process stage. With that same $1M minimum check size, the weighted amount jumps to $600K.

This indicates where further convincing is needed. The disconnect between status-based and feeling-based probability flags opportunities that need strategic attention. An LP might request access to your data room while simultaneously indicating a low investment likelihood, revealing that they're gathering information but unlikely to commit. We will come back to how to use probability data later in the article.

Setting Your Close Target: The 20% Buffer Rule

Total the minimum check sizes assigned to LPs in your pipeline, then aim for 20% above your targeted close amount.

If your first close target is $50M, build a pipeline with weighted minimum commitments totaling $60M. This buffer accounts for natural attrition (including liquidity constraints, portfolio allocation shifts, and investment committee challenges) and maintains momentum when opportunities fall through.

This also changes how you think about pipeline health. If your weighted pipeline sits at $52M for that $50M target, you're at risk and need to add more prospects or increase conviction with existing opportunities.

Using Triggers to Enforce Data Quality

Even the best CRM is only as good as the data it contains. Triggers (automated requirements that force users to enter specific information when statuses change) are your defense against incomplete records and poor team discipline.

Consider two critical examples:

Trigger 1: Status Change to Intro Call
When an opportunity moves to "intro call," require team members to fill in:

Type of investor (so you understand LP composition)
Minimum check size (for scenario planning)
Maximum check size (for scenario planning)
Initial probability assessment (to baseline expectations)

This will require the team member to collect critical information while on the intro call with the LP.

Trigger 2: Status Change to Pass
When marking an opportunity as lost, require a pass reason:

Does not invest in venture
No current liquidity
Overallocated in venture
Does not invest in [your sector]
Fund size too small
Fund size too large
No contact

Over time, the reasons for LP passes reveal patterns. If 40% of your passes cite concerns about fund size, you may be targeting the wrong LP segments. If "overallocated in venture" dominates, your timing may be off, and you should consider adjusting your fundraising timeline or focusing on LPs with different deployment cycles.

Diagnosing Pipeline Health with Dashboards

Effective dashboard design transforms your CRM from a tracking tool into a diagnostic system that tells your team exactly where to focus. The most powerful dashboard structure uses three weighted pipeline calculations to answer one question: what action should we take right now?

Take the example below. This fund is targeting a $50M first close.

Row 1: Feeling-Based Probability multiplies feeling-based probability by the minimum check size. At $47.9M (only $2.2M short of the $50M target), this shows LPs are convinced. No action needed.

Row 2: Status-Based Probability multiplies status-based probability by the minimum check size. At $29.8M ($20.2M short of target), this reveals a major problem. LPs are enthusiastic but stuck in the pipeline. This is a process issue, not a conviction issue. Action required: investigate where opportunities are stalling (data room not ready, legal docs delayed, closing tool not set up) and resolve.

Row 3: Minimum Check Size Total adds up all minimum check sizes. At $68.5M against a $60M goal (120% of the $50M target), the pipeline has sufficient prospects. No action needed.

The Diagnosis: Stop adding prospects. Stop pitching. Focus exclusively on moving opportunities through your process and fixing whatever is causing the bottleneck.

We recommend setting up automated weekly dashboard emails with these three calculations to keep the full team aligned on priorities.

The Critical Role of Email Templates

Creating standardized email templates for common scenarios (introduction requests, follow-up communications, data room invitations, document sending) accomplishes three important goals:

Ensures message consistency across your team. Every LP should receive the same quality of communication regardless of which team member they're working with.
Speeds up response times. Rather than drafting each email from scratch, team members can quickly customize pre-written templates and send them within minutes of a meeting or commitment.
Captures institutional knowledge. When a team member leaves or your fund scales, those templates preserve the communication approach that's proven effective.

Managing Your Pipeline During Off-Cycle Periods

Active fundraising requires intense pipeline management with frequent check-ins and rapid follow-up. But what happens when you're between raises or in the early stages of planning your next fund?

The task view functionality in your CRM becomes essential during these off-cycle periods. Rather than daily or weekly reviews, shift to a 90-day task view that surfaces opportunities requiring attention on a quarterly basis. This might include:

Checking in with LPs who expressed interest in future funds
Updating key relationships on portfolio progress and fund performance
Nurturing connections who aren't yet ready to commit but fit your future LP profile

This approach keeps your network warm without creating unnecessary busywork during periods when active fundraising isn't the priority.

Beyond the CRM: LP Engagement Strategy

A sophisticated CRM is necessary but not sufficient for fundraising success. The infrastructure has to be paired with a thoughtful LP engagement strategy that creates genuine value for your investors.

Content Strategy: Create valuable market insights, portfolio updates, or sector-specific analysis that provides value to existing LPs while giving prospects a reason to stay engaged with your firm.

Engagement Calendar: Build a quarterly calendar that aligns with financial reporting, portfolio developments, upcoming deals, and events like your AGM or industry conferences. These touchpoints create FOMO among prospective LPs by showcasing committed investors, demonstrating traction, and highlighting insider access and benefits.

Consistent Follow-Up: Every interaction should have a clear point of contact assigned to answer questions and explicit next steps communicated to both your team and the LP. Ambiguity kills momentum.

Common Implementation Challenges

Even with the right tools and frameworks, implementation often stumbles. Here are the most common pitfalls we see (and how to avoid them):

Poor Onboarding: Rushing CRM deployment without proper team training leads to inconsistent data entry and low adoption. Invest time upfront to train your team, assign clear responsibilities, and document your workflows.

Lack of Resources: Many funds underestimate the setup time and ongoing management required. Consider whether you have internal capacity or need fractional support during implementation.

Insufficient Enforcement: Without regular reviews and accountability, even the best systems deteriorate. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly pipeline reviews where the team walks through opportunities together.

Missing Super User: Designate one person as the CRM expert who handles system customization and ensures data quality. This role is critical for long-term success.

The Bottom Line

A well-designed LP pipeline system provides the visibility, automation, and strategic clarity that separates funds that close from funds that struggle. Your CRM selection, field configuration, probability tracking, and dashboard design all directly impact your ability to close targets and maintain long-term LP relationships. These systems should be in place before you begin active outreach.

Strut’s white-glove IR service helps you refine your pitch, target the right LPs, build professional data room materials, streamline LP onboarding, and deploy the optimal tech stack for your raise. We've supported funds of all shapes, sizes, and strategies—backing over $20B in AUM across our growing client base. Whether you're raising Fund I or Fund V, we build the infrastructure that makes your fundraise systematic and successful. Ready to get started? Reach out to us here.

Building a Better LP Pipeline: The Infrastructure Behind Successful Fundraising