Beyond the Gift: The Art of Major Donor Stewardship
Foreword
At Cairney & Company we work with so many different clients, whose donors are all unique and need to be managed with this in mind. The topic of good stewardship is a recurring one. How to do it well, treating each individual as such whilst maintaining an appropriate level of consistency in approach? It is a hugely important part of the donor journey, and it is crucial to get it right. Over this three-part blog series, we’ll explore what stewardship actually is, why it is important, what makes good stewardship and how to stand out from the crowd in a competitive market.
Stewardship /’stju:ǝdʃɪp/ Noun
The job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organisation or property.
(The Oxford Dictionary)
Part 1. So … why is it even important?
Over the past decade we have seen universities and charities across the UK, and beyond, hiring teams of Donor Relations specialists to help steward donors to their institutions. Whilst ‘Development’ or ‘Advancement’ generally is an area that is still growing, the Donor Relations element has seen particular expansion in recent years. This trend is echoed across the public sector with Customer Satisfaction roles, or ‘Customer Happiness Manager’ roles increasing. Charities, start-ups and big businesses alike are all increasing their investment in the satisfaction of their stakeholders. So the big question is: ‘why is this this so important’?
In many respects, the answer to that question is rather simple. If one were to translate the concept of stewardship into the context of personal life and social interactions, it becomes crystal clear. To use a slightly self-indulgent and whimsical example, picture this scene:
It’s your friend’s birthday, and let’s say it’s a ‘BIG’ birthday. You spend months thinking of the perfect present. You find one that is just right for them and will have a really positive impact on their life. You wrap this gift up beautifully. You tie some ribbon around the gift and do the fancy thing with the scissors to make the ribbon curly (you know). You take it down to the post office well in advance, stand in a huge queue, just to make sure it arrives on time. The day comes, and you hear nothing from the recipient. You send a ‘Happy Birthday’ text, to which you receive a standard ‘Thanks so much!’ reply. This prompts you to think; did they receive the gift? Did they hate it? Was it of no worth to them? Did their tiny dog somehow destroy it in its entirety, leaving no evidence at all?
This is the equivalent of bad stewardship. It would be unthinkable. However, Development Offices, and fundraisers are often under immense pressure to secure new donations, and to bring new donors on board. Often the process of closing a gift can take many months, or years, and so the ‘what comes next?’ part falls by the wayside. For that reason, it is easy for donor stewardship to become a bit of an afterthought. Needless to say, that is not acceptable.
Not only is it bad practice, it also does not make good business sense. In the world of sales, it is widely acknowledged that existing customers are always the best customers. This is true for several reasons: because they are more likely to spend more on the products over the course of their lifetime; because they keep the retention rate strong; because their lifetime value keeps increasing with every consecutive year, they stay loyal; and because they are likely to refer others to the brand. All of this is completely translatable to fundraising and the donor relationship.
According to a recent study on ‘Effective Communication’[i], 93% of donors said they would give again if properly communicated with. However, in the UK the average donor retention rate is a meagre 44.6%[ii], whilst America does not fare much better in this area with a 45% retention rate.
Not only this, but according to the same study, 70% of donors said they would increase the overall value of their philanthropic support if they were properly communicated with. If this isn’t an incentive to shake up your stewardship, then what is?
[i] P. Burk, 2013, ‘The Burk Donor Study’
[ii] Bloomerang, statistics on UK donor retention. (https://bloomerang.com )
Previously published as: Muscatelli, Annarosa (2021, June 1). Stewarding major donors: Why is it important and how to do it well. In the Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing, Volume 6, Issue 1.