When your non-profit solicited gifts – whether by mail, email, phone or in person – you no doubt talked about the impact that the donors would have on your cause and the donors responded with support. What a thrill for you to get gifts! The donors felt just as good as you did because they knew they helped a worthy cause. So how do we keep that good feeling going?
We say thank you.
That may seem very straightforward, but non-profits struggle with how to do this effectively.
Nine principles of good stewardship.
1. Always start with a strategic plan – stewardship should not be reactionary.
2. Acknowledge the receipt of the gift as soon as possible.
3. Personalize the thank you, no matter the size of the gift.
4. Involve the beneficiaries of the gifts by sharing their stories.
5. Celebrate loyal donors.
6. Engage and cultivate your donors.
7. Demonstrate the impact of giving.
8. Measure the outcomes of stewardship through data analysis.
9. Words matter.
Ten practical ideas to thank donors.
1. Collect hand-written notes from students, faculty, board members and staff and mail them to first-time donors, long-loyal donors, and annual leadership donors.
2. Ask the beneficiaries of the philanthropy to write about the impact of the giving on their research, education, or the help it provided and send those notes via email each quarter to all donors.
3. Use ribbons on event name badges to honor loyal and leadership donors. Ask your event speaker to recognize leadership and loyal donors at ALL events and have preferred seating for your most loyal donors.
4. Ask everyone on the fundraising team to steward gifts. Your gift processor could write thank you notes for unrestricted gifts or to reactivated donors because they are often the first to see that the long-lapsed donors have come back.
5. Use social media to promote fun prize-package give-a-ways to loyal donors.
6. Ask leadership donors to host thank you events at their home, club or other interesting venue. Access to interesting locations always draws a crowd.
7. Recognize corporate sponsors at events and in the text of the follow up thank you to attendees.
8. Always send a report summarizing the results of the fundraising year and talk about IMPACT.
9. Send short thank you videos from beneficiaries of the philanthropy.
10. Send pictures of people that demonstrate the impact of the giving.
Stewardship should be timely, personal, genuine and engaging.
Special thanks to TJL Partners Affiliate Beth McGonagle for her contributions to these stewardship ideas and principles!