Effective Donor
Stewardship
Calgary Compass 2012
May 16, 2012
Sally Flintoft, CEO
Calgary Health Trust
What is meaningful and impactful stewardship?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Personalized
Carefully managed
Tells a story
Further engages the donor
Authentic
Timely
Most important: Be Creative and Unique
Donors want to see and feel the impact of their contributions
and know they’ve made a difference.
Why is it important?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Makes the organization accountable – donors need to know that their gifts are being used
as intended
Engages the donor and builds a relationship of trust
Motivates donors
Meaningful stewardship leads to the next (and often) bigger gift
Good stewardship is cultivation!
Stewardship = decreased attrition = increased fundraising revenue
It costs less to keep your current donors than acquiring new ones.
Creating a Culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Good donor stewardship is the responsibility of everyone in the organization.
The stewardship team will coordinate and provide tools, but it must be engrained in the
culture of the organization.
Multiple touches – CEO, development officer, volunteer, beneficiary
Involve all staff in making thank-you phone calls
Involve all staff in signing thank you cards for certain donors or occasions
Research how other charities respond to a donation and share these results with your staff
to build awareness
Social Media
Stewardship is an organizational priority.
Donor Matrix
•
•
Donor matrix – simply a guide.
Every donor is different and will want or expect their gift to be recognized differently.
Ask them?
How they would like their gift to be recognized?
Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Donor Walls
Naming Opportunities
Clubs and Societies – cumulative giving
New donor packages
Loyal donor lecture series
Phone calls
Thank you letters from recipients of staff education funding
Video / DVD
Personal meetings
Birthday / Holiday cards
Bound copy of research for long-term endowment donors
Private dinners – include their family and close contacts
What does your donor want?
Individualized Stewardship Reports
•
Used for major donors or programs who have received a large volume of donations
Hand Delivery of Receipts and Reports
•
•
•
•
•
Planned Giving Officer
Major Gift Officers
CEO
Coordination of task
Feedback received
Tracking
•
•
•
Weekly reports run by Donor Relations on major gifts received and open actions
Ensure that processes are in place so that smaller donations do not fall through the cracks,
then focus attention on being creative with larger donations
Follow-up with the relationship manager or gift solicitor to assist in gift recognition and to
create a stewardship plan for that donor
Using Your Imagination
•
•
Once the processes are in place to ensure that no donor “falls through the cracks” then you
are free to use your imagination when stewarding major gift donors
Encourage staff to think outside the box, present unique ideas that are meaningful to their
individual donors, make it creative!
Meaningful and creative stewardship does NOT have to cost a lot of money!
Difficulties
•
•
ensure funds are spent as intended in a timely manner by the appropriate programs
ensure stewardship programs can be maintained through staff turnover and transition
Other Thoughts
•
•
Do you survey your donors?
Can you link your donor to the beneficiary?