What are some best practices for creating a donor stewardship plan?

1 Define your goals and objectives

Before you start developing your donor stewardship plan, it is important to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you will measure success. Goals and objectives could include increasing donor retention and lifetime value, cultivating loyalty and satisfaction, encouraging donor engagement and participation, soliciting feedback and input from donors, and inspiring them to become ambassadors and advocates for your cause. Additionally, you should define target segments such as new donors, recurring donors, major donors, lapsed donors, etc., and tailor stewardship strategies accordingly.

2 Create a communication calendar

A communication calendar is an effective way to plan and schedule your interactions with your donors throughout the year. This tool helps you to keep a balance between not overwhelming or neglecting your donors, while also making sure that you deliver consistent and relevant messages. Your communication calendar should include the frequency and timing of your communications, such as quarterly newsletters, monthly updates, annual reports, etc., as well as the channels and formats of your communications, such as email, phone, mail, social media, video, etc. Additionally, consider the content and tone of your communications, such as thank you notes, stories, testimonials, impact reports, surveys, etc. Lastly, assign roles and responsibilities to your staff and volunteers for writing, editing, designing, sending and following up on your communications.

3 Recognize and appreciate your donors

Expressing gratitude and appreciation to your donors is an essential part of donor stewardship. You can show recognition and appreciation in many ways, such as sending personalized thank you letters or cards within 48 hours of receiving a donation, calling or visiting your donors to thank them, inviting them to special events or activities, featuring them in your publications or social media, and sending tokens of appreciation such as certificates, stickers, pins, mugs, etc.

4 Show your donors the impact of their donations

Demonstrating the impact of donor contributions to your mission and beneficiaries is another key element of donor stewardship. You can do this by sharing stories and testimonials from clients, staff, or partners; providing data and metrics on outcomes and achievements; creating impact reports or dashboards that showcase progress and challenges; asking donors for feedback and suggestions on how to improve programs or services; and inviting donors to see your work in action through site visits or volunteer opportunities.

5 Engage and involve your donors

The final step of donor stewardship is to engage and involve your donors in your cause and community. This can help you build stronger relationships, increase their commitment and loyalty, and encourage them to spread the word about your nonprofit. Consider asking your donors to share their stories or motivations for supporting your cause, creating opportunities for them to connect with each other and with your staff or board, offering exclusive or insider information or access to your nonprofit, asking them to participate in surveys, polls, or focus groups to gather their opinions or insights, and asking them to refer or introduce new prospects or partners to your nonprofit.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?