Building a Customized Nonprofit Stewardship Kit

Make Major Donors Feel Special With Tailored Stewardship Report

Sep 6, 2009 Molly Schar

One of the most important aspects of nonprofit donor stewardship is reporting to a donor on the work done with her gift. A flexible stewardship kit is a powerful option.

While foundations have long required nonprofit organizations to submit regular reports detailing implementation and outcomes of grant-funded projects, similar reports are not consistently provided to individual major donors. In many cases, this can be attributed to a lack of resources to produce such reports. With the stewardship kit model, nonprofit organizations can better share information with major donors about their gifts at work.

Why is it Important to Tell Donors About Their Gifts at Work?

Donors want three things from a charity before they will make another financial gift, reported researcher Penelope Burk in Donor-Centered Fundraising (2003). Satisfying these three requirements, said Burk, would increase donor retention and grow gift amounts. These three things are:

Prompt, sincere appreciation for the gift
Confirmation that the organization will use the gift as the donor intended
Measurable results on how the gift was used

The first two requirements can be met in a good thank you letter. The third poses a problem for many nonprofits without a system for customized reporting.

Stewardship Kit is a Solution for Customized Gift Reporting

A stewardship kit is merely a collection of information and photographs that can easily and quickly be assembled into a professional-looking report. The report is then given to a donor in person or sent by mail. Multiple reports can be produced for each donor (needed in the cases of a corporate donor or family foundation with numerous representatives, for example).

The final report generally includes several elements:

Personalized introduction or letter from the top executive acknowledging the history of the relationship between the organization and the donor
Information about the organization in general
Information about specific projects funded by the donor or projects of interest to the donor
Financial information displayed in charts and graphs to detail fiscal responsibility in the implementation of projects, programs or the organization in general
Appropriate photos
Case studies/testimonials from implementation staff and beneficiaries

Creating a Stewardship Kit

To build a stewardship kit, first identify the bodies of information that should be written or rewritten for stewardship purposes. This copy can then be “pre-approved” so there is no need for any kind of time-consuming approval process in creating the final report.

Gather case studies, testimonials and photographs that can be dropped in as needed.

Create a structure for the kit. This could include, for example, pre-printed front and back cover pages on thick paper stock, matching pages for the body of the report (like letterhead that can be printed on), and a binding mechanism.

Develop guidelines for when and how the kit will be used, what information must be included and what is optional, and who is responsible for producing final reports. Some organizations might want to create a worksheet for fundraisers to fill out indicating what information is to be included. Generally, the individual who manages the relationship with the donor is in the best position to know what will interest the donor.

By building an “evergreen” stewardship kit, information can be swapped out as needed. Be sure to refresh information regularly to keep final reports as up-to-date as possible.

With stewardship kits, nonprofits can practice better stewardship to build stronger relationships with donors and raise more money.

The copyright of the article Building a Customized Nonprofit Stewardship Kit in Non-Profit Management is owned by Molly Schar. Permission to republish Building a Customized Nonprofit Stewardship Kit in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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