why is stewardship important?
As board members, we had been asked to phone three or four donors each and express our thanks. I was sceptical about doing this, and in the first year none of the people I called answered their phone, so I left voicemail messages. However, the following year I had two wonderful conversations. One with a long-term loyal supporter who continued to give because he loved the organisation, despite living hundreds of miles away. The other was with the daughter of one of our volunteers, now deceased, who thanked me profusely for phoning and said how much we had meant to her mother and that the family would continue to give ‘until the money ran out’. This experience made me realise that it is still valuable to reach out personally to people who care enough about our organisation to donate each year.
Nina Botting Herbst, Co-Author “The Complete Fundraising Handbook”
Nina’s story highlights two key points for fundraisers: Not everything works first time, but persistence pays off; never underestimate the power of “Thank You”.
Your organisation’s donors and supporters are a key part of its fundraising future. Having demonstrated their commitment through giving their money and/or time, it is in your interest to keep them engaged and strengthen their ties to your organisation. This activity is often referred to as donor (or supporter) care, stewardship, or customer relationship marketing.
Here is a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, countdown to achieving success in this part of your fundraising role.
What good donor stewardship looks like
Good stewardship in fundraising means building meaningful, long-term relationships with donors that inspire continued and deeper support. It goes beyond thanking supporters—it’s about nurturing trust, engagement, and shared purpose over time.
The 5 E’s of stewardship
A clear way to understand this is through the “5 E’s” of stewardship:
- Encore – Motivate donors to give again by showing the impact of their support.
- Engage – Create regular opportunities for involvement and ongoing giving.
- Establish – Build strong relationships that encourage donors to increase their contributions.
- Educate – Help donors understand different ways they can support your organisation.
- Encourage – Inspire long-term commitment, including leaving a legacy.
In practice, good stewardship ensures donors feel valued, informed, and connected—turning one-time contributions into lasting partnerships.
Setting SMART stewardship goals
Creating some SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) goals around these areas means you can begin to define what action needs to be taken by you/others in the organisation, and you can monitor and evaluate where your stewardship is having most impact. Assess your current performance in these areas and consider a) how you can tie in these goals with other organisational objectives and targets; b) what is a realistic future target in each area; and c) what fundraising activities are already happening and where you can maximise opportunities in each of these areas.
Examples of SMART targets could include:
- Produce four newsletters for donors within the year
- Train ten volunteers on safeguarding in Q1
- Host 3 fundraising community events in the next six months.
4 Ways to say thank you
A quick word on judgement; where possible, first, ask your donors IF and how they might like to be thanked. A tick box system asking if they would like to Receive a gift/Receive event invites/Receive a thank you letter/Not receive a thank you and so on, can avoid disgruntling your donors who’d rather you saved money or invested time elsewhere!
A gift for a gift
Some organisations offer an incentive or token in return for gifts of a certain size or type. This might be heavily promoted by your organisation to encourage a response, or a token of thanks used to build commitment and help spread the word to others. Some of your donors will be passionate about your cause and wish to share that with their friends, and gifts like these can help to spark such conversations. A gift could be something that your charity produces or something as simple as an invitation to visit the site.
An honorary invite
“As a valued supporter of our charity, we’d like to give you … a free place at our fundraising concert when you buy one ticket / an opportunity to join us in our Meet and Greet with our beneficiaries (to see the impact you have on their lives), a chance to meet our staff / visit our centre / name a flower in our garden” The possibilities are endless – the feeling of being ‘involved’ is huge.
A shout out
Where are you publicly thanking supporters? Do your ads for new volunteers thank those who already volunteer? Could you take out a small ad in your local newspaper or ask local shops to put a thank you poster on their wall. If you are making social media or newsletter announcements, are you taking the opportunity, always, to thank supporters? Don’t forget, you must ask permission if you want to name someone specifically.
Email – short, sweet, and swift
The key here is getting the subject line right “Sending huge thanks” – so they know this one isn’t an ask. As required, you can do these instantly, regularly, personalised, or generalised.
3 Ways to further engage donors and supporters
Communicate impact regularly
Supporters do not want to be bombarded with emails, so the same judgement applies to communication as it does to bestowing thanks – ask if, and how they want it. At the very least, updates on the work you are doing (the impact their support has) is a must. Whether this is a monthly or annual newsletter, or an agenda item at volunteer meetings or a part of the welcome speech at your AGM / in your annual report, ensure that they hear “you are part of what we do and we couldn’t do it without you”. Feeling valued usually motivates us to want to offer more.
Create a sense of belonging
You may have your regular charity newsletter or e-news – but is there one just for volunteers and donors that highlights not ‘the work our charity is doing” but the specific things your supporters are doing? Do ‘special’ supporters get the opportunity to get involved in your events? That might be asking committed volunteers to ‘own’ aspects of an event or being asked to create one and set some income targets for it? Or it might mean inviting regular or high contribution donors to speak at an event or be interviewed for your newsletter. Can supporters join (free or subscription) a friends group or club of supporters?
‘Supporter’: volunteer or donor or both?
All those who give their time should also come across opportunities (from you) to donate financially. And all those who donate financially should come across opportunities to give their time. Some people of course will wish to compartmentalise their giving, but some may wish to do both – or at least be motivated to do more of what they do already, inspired by the giving or donations of other supporters.
2 Great places to find more on Donor Care and Stewardship
The Complete Fundraising Handbook
If you are a fundraiser or someone who needs to raise money for your organisation or project, you cannot be without this book. It is the most complete reference guide to fundraising available, with detailed information about the theory and practice of effective fundraising. Your local CVS or library may have a copy, or you can buy your own at https://www.dsc.org.uk/publication/the-complete-fundraising-handbook/
Get signed up to fundraisers forums and networks online
There are many charity and fundraising forums where you can ask questions, get support, and seek information from other fundraisers. Lots are free and they can be a great place to ask questions or to find topical posts.
Read Benefact Group’s Fundraising article from our webinar series to explore how strong donor relationships drive sustainable income.
Fundraising is friend-raising: Donor care and stewardship – Benefact Group
Storytelling: How to attract and nurture donors – Benefact Group
or use our template Benefact-Prospect-researching-template_V3.pdf
Learn how effective stewardship goes beyond simple thank‑yous, with practical advice on delivering personalised, long-term supporter engagement. Led by a public fundraising expert, the session offers actionable tips to strengthen connections and nurture lasting partnerships.
Trusts need ‘donor love’ too! Lucy Stone, Fundraising Consultant will explore:
- Developing better relationships with your trust and foundation supporters
- Methods to create links, exceed expectations and even enjoy your funder relationships
- Approaches to developing these connections to help everyone achieve their ambitions.
Chris Pitt, Group Impact Director at Benefact Group, the 3rd largest corporate donor to charity, will start the conversation with a look at things from the donor’s perspective.
Click here to register for our newsletter
Author – Cathy Shimmin
Senior Training Consultant at Directory of Social Change.
Cathy is the Senior Training Consultant at Directory of Social Change. She is also a qualified Performance Coach who has worked with many fundraisers over many years.