Donor stewardship is the relationship-building process nonprofits use to form stronger connections with supporters.
When you think about your donor stewardship strategy, the first thing that might come to mind is your donor recognition approach. Donor recognition is a large part of a strong donor stewardship strategy, but it’s not the only element.
Donor stewardship requires engaging and communicating with supporters to get to know them, strengthen their ties to your cause, and ultimately retain them as long-term donors. With that in mind, use these five tips to develop your nonprofit’s donor stewardship strategy:
Build your donor stewardship team.
Make a positive first impression.
Segment your donors.
Invite donors to engage in a variety of ways.
Show your appreciation frequently.
Your donor stewardship strategy should kick in right after a donor gives for the first time, ensuring that you build strong relationships with every person who supports your cause.
1. Build your donor stewardship team.
Your donor stewardship team should have a wide range of skills and perspectives so that you can connect with donors effectively. Bloomerang’s donor stewardship guide recommends recruiting the following individuals for your donor stewardship team:
Your Director of Donor Relations will oversee your donor stewardship efforts at the highest level, lead the charge in implementing your strategy, and support team members as needed.
Your Major Gifts Officer will be in charge of building relationships with major donors. This role will be especially important if you’re launching a larger campaign, such as a capital campaign, where major donor support is critical.
Your board members will meet with major donors to build relationships and promote your cause as ambassadors.
Your volunteers can support specific donor stewardship activities, such as writing thank you letters, calling donors, or running donor appreciation events.
Meet with your stewardship team regularly so that every team member understands their role and specific responsibilities in the donor stewardship process.
2. Make a positive first impression.
Your donor stewardship team’s most important task is creating a positive, rewarding donor experience that makes supporters excited to stay involved with your organization. Use the following tips to leave a positive impression on donors from the beginning:
Make your donation confirmation page more engaging. Your online donation form’s confirmation page should include a thank you message, links to connect on social media, and other ways to engage, such as checking out your online event calendar.
Send a follow-up email after donors give. Emphasize your gratitude and tell donors exactly what their donations will help your organization do.
Invite donors to upcoming events. Make an effort to get to know donors at events and answer any questions they may have about your organization and mission.
Connect with donors on social media. Interact with donors by liking or commenting on their posts about their donations or volunteer involvement.
Finally, make sure that your donors know how to get in touch with someone at your nonprofit if they have any questions or concerns. This makes donors feel welcomed and appreciated.
3. Segment your donors.
Donor segmentation is the process of grouping your donors based on shared characteristics. Segmenting them in this way allows you to personalize messages for each group without spending time creating individual communications for every donor.
Use the information in your donor management system to create segments based on different criteria. For instance, you may choose to group donors based on their:
Frequency: How often do donors give to your cause? This could be monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.
Recency: How long have donors been giving? Are they new or long-time supporters?
Type: What types of donations are donors contributing? This could include recurring donations, planned gifts, in-kind donations, stock gifts, etc.
Reason: What motivates donors to give? Perhaps you have donors who give because of a personal connection to your cause or others who are motivated to get involved due to current events related to your mission.
Amount: How much do donors give? You may choose to group your donors into segments of major donors, mid-level donors, and small donors.
Create donor segments that align with your nonprofit’s communication and fundraising goals. For example, creating a segment for new donors can help you grow your relationships with these individuals so that you can encourage them to make additional donations. You can also do things like segment your monthly donors and send them recurring thank you messages each time you process their donations.
4. Invite donors to engage in a variety of ways.
Many donors are willing and excited to get involved in activities that don’t involve making a financial contribution. Engage donors in multiple ways by encouraging them to get involved with:
Volunteering. By volunteering, your donors can see the impact of your nonprofit’s work first-hand and how their donations help you move your mission forward. Donors may feel even more motivated to give after seeing your community efforts up close.
Spreading awareness of your cause. Create an ambassador program to empower donors to promote your organization. Design a toolkit for ambassadors that covers essential information, such as best practices for promoting awareness of your cause on social media or how to recruit attendees for an upcoming event.
Participating in events. For example, encourage donors to sign up for things like your peer-to-peer fundraising 5K event, where they will gather donations from their family members and friends before participating in the race. Or, you might invite donors to attend appreciation events, such as dinners or networking opportunities.
Contributing feedback. Send satisfaction surveys to donors to gather their input. Show donors that you’re listening by implementing their suggestions when it makes sense and where you have the power to do so.
Engaging donors in these opportunities shows them that you value their involvement beyond just their monetary support.
5. Show your appreciation frequently.
Your donor stewardship strategy isn’t complete without a clear approach to expressing gratitude to donors. Along with sending donors follow-up thank you emails, here are a few ways to make your donor recognition efforts more memorable:
Create a donor recognition wall. According to Double the Donation’s guide, a donor recognition wall displays the names of all donors who participated in a particular campaign. You can create a physical donor recognition wall display at your nonprofit’s facilities or a virtual wall on your website. Either way, a donor wall is an effective way to publicly thank your donors.
Send handwritten letters. Receiving a handwritten donor appreciation letter can be a fun surprise for donors. Even a quick note or postcard expressing your gratitude can be much more meaningful for donors than a generic, typed letter.
Highlight donors across your social media pages, website, and email newsletters. Spotlight your long-time or major donors by sharing their contributions and thanking them for their generous support. However, not all donors wish to be publicly recognized, so respect the boundaries of each supporter and get their permission before you share their names and/or donation amounts.
Finally, show your appreciation for donors at unexpected times, not just right after they donate. This shows donors that you’re grateful for their continued engagement even when they’re not making a financial contribution to your cause.
These tips can help you build a strong donor stewardship strategy that may even lead to a higher donor retention rate over time. By personalizing your donor outreach efforts and inviting donors to deepen their involvement, you can foster long-lasting donor relationships.
This is a guest post from Jay Love at Bloomerang.
Jay Love is the Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang. He has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.
Prior to Bloomerang, he was the CEO and Co-Founder of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to more than 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.