Proactive stewardship is important for retaining donors and encouraging larger future gifts. Donors connect with people, not transactions, so forming human connections through thoughtful stewardship is key. Segmenting donors allows for tailored stewardship. Timely thank you calls and receipts within 48 hours set expectations. Listening to donors provides clues to strengthen relationships over time. Focusing more on stewardship than solicitation balances donor experience.

1. PRO-ACTIVE STEWARDSHIP
Your next (and bigger) gift depends on it!
By Cindy Mewhinney, CFRE
June 13, 2012
Niagara Fundraiser’s Network Roundtable Sessions

2. It‟s personal…
AS FUNDRAISERS, THIS IS INTUITIVELY WHAT WE DO.
People give to
people (true)…it is
the human
connection (e.g. how
I've learned that people we feel) about the
experience giving
that makes us want
will forget what you to give again and
give more.
said, people will forget Fast fact:
The decision to give
what you did, but again is made at the
time you thank the
donor for their most
people will never forget recent gift.
how you made them
Activity:
feel. Reflect on your most
memorable giving
experience. What
-Maya Angelou made it great?

3. ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
Non-supportive
Supportive Environment
Environment
 Short term goal focus  Management/board
 Often high staff- values that relationships
turnover, not conducive take time
to relationship building  It‟s everyone‟s role, and
 Silo environment, “my everyone plays a part
donors” approach  Idea-sharing/
collaborative

4. A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE…
Reactionary Stewardship
vs. Proactive Stewardship
“Moves”
vs. “Touchpoints”
“Transactional Gift”
vs. “Giving Experience”

5. Reminder – it‟s not
FROM GOOD TO GREAT
always about the
size of the gift that
matters.
Our goal in fundraising Remember your
longtime loyal
is to make every donor donors and
volunteers have
immense wealth
feel like a philanthropist! capacity through
estate-giving, too.
Good stewardship
will often lead to
-Penelope Burke transformational
gifts at some point
of the donors‟
lifecycle.

6. GREAT STEWARDSHIP; THE BASICS
 Is it timely & accurate? Tax receipts, thank you
calls, handwritten cards, follow up
 Do an internal check up
 Get organized > don‟t accept “but we can‟t because…”
 Is it thoughtful? Handwritten notes, who makes
the thank you call, do your donors know you care?
(proof)
 Is it consistent? Regular checkpoints, cultivating
an environment where stewardship is valued, staff-
volunteer buy-in

7. WHERE TO START?
 Ask yourself: How well do you know your
donors?
 estimate as a starting point > we all can improve
 Segment your donors > code in your database
 Length of giving
 By level of involvement, e.g. Volunteers
 By gift level
 Those who have left gifts in their wills

8.  What are the best parts of your current
stewardship activities? Your Wish list?
 Thank you letters
 Receipts (timely)
 Thank you phone calls
 Tours / Virtual Tours
 Events
 Stewardship events (no ask, no fee)
 Communications (newsletters, e-newsletters)
 Donor Visits (NO ask – just relationship-building)
 Youtube/videos

9. According to
WHAT DOES TIMELY MEAN?
Penelope Burke,
Thank you call
93% of donors will give again within 48 hours
(e.g. think
“segmenting”)
if they were thanked
promptly and in a personal Tax receipt
processed within
way for their gift and followed 48 hours.
up later with a meaningful This IS the new
standard. Online
report on the program they giving tools with
instant receipting
had funded. 64% would give has created a new
level of expectation
a larger gift and 74% would for information
accuracy and
continue to give indefinitely. speed of issuing a
receipt.
-Cygnus Applied Research Inc. (Penelope
Burke)

10. *from
Cygnus
Applied
Research
Inc.

11. FROM GOOD TO GREAT!
 Push yourself out of your comfort zone.
 Dig into segments of your donor base, where
donors are in the “Zone of Indifference”
Satisfaction
Zone of
The „sweet
spot‟ = easier to
Indifference spend time here
Dissatisfaction
Try and spend
more time out of
‘your’ comfort zone
with donors you
don’t know

12. IT‟S IN THE DETAILS:
 Spelling of their name correctly
 Respecting their Recognition
Preferences…Addressee Preferences
 Handwritten matters! Live stamps, too.
 Listen carefully! Donors leave clues constantly…
 What matters to them (re: your org & other interests)
 What will they be celebrating in their life? Milestones?
 Best/worst experiences with other charities

13. HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
 Excerpt from KCI Philanthropic Trends Quarterly (spring 2012):
 Ask less…steward more. Creating an optimal donor experience
 It may seem provocative to encourage charities to ask less, especially considering that the most
commonly cited reason for not making a charitable gift is “nobody asked”. “If you don‟t ask, you
don‟t get” didn‟t become a maxim by accident. And yet, it‟s important to balance this with the
myriad evidence that tells us that oversolicitation is one of the most commonly cited reasons for
ceasing to give to a charity.
 In survey after survey, donors cite being asked for a gift too often as one of the top reasons they
stop their support. Coupled with the fact that in general, we are solicited more and more often (on
the street, at the checkout counter), Canadians are starting to suffer not only from donor fatigue
but from “ask fatigue” as well. In a recent Ipsos Reid survey (conducted November 2011 with a
nationally representative sample of 1,027 Canadians), 62% of respondents indeicated that their
preferred frequendcy of solicitation was “once a year or less often”.
 In attempting to find the right balance, it‟s helpful to think in terms of creating an optimal donor
experience. In an effort to build customer loyalty, our for profit colleagues devote a great deal of
time and attention to thinking about what they want their customer experience to be. As
fundraisers, we have the opportunity to do the same with our donors. With the goal of building
donor loyalty and maybe even creating a “donor for life” what do we want our donor experience to
be?
 The donor experience is a way to differentiate your organization and deliver a repeatable, positive
experience that results in stronger relationships and retained donors.

14. ADD-ONS
 Discovery Questions; relational & opportunity
(handout)
 Great reads:
 Thank you! by Penelope Burke
 Donor Centered Fundraising – by Penelope Burke
 Start With Why - by Simon Sinek
 Developing Major Gifts - by Laura Fredricks
 3D Philanthropy – by Fraser Green