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Stewardship involves thanking donors, updating them on the impact of their gifts, keeping them involved and offering other opportunities to give. Generally, this can be accomplished in a THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle. This ongoing view of MTD leads to a strong and stable support base and only takes about 1-2 hours a week.
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"Offer" represents the act of offering OFFER opportunities for donors to givea donor to make an impact through giving. An offer to give can include:
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THANK the donor for their gift. When people respond to an opportunity to make an impact through giving, the next step is to thank them. Donors give to multiple causes. An average donor will see 10-20 thank you's a year and promptly forget them all. You want to be the thanks they can't forget. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) Don't be shy about it! Tell your donor often, loud and clear, in the big type, just how great they are (because they are!). Do not include a financial ask or additional giving opportunity in your thanking process. |
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SHOW how their gift made an impact. Your donors need to know they made a difference. When you report back to me what kinds of good things happened, due to my help and the help of others. "Did giving matter? What did philanthropy achieve?" donor-centered reporting - what does that look like? No financial ask.The ethos behind SHOW is to show how their donor dollars are making a difference by sharing a story of something that's making an impact in the Kingdom. Do not include a financial ask or additional giving opportunity. Ways to SHOW the impact of a gift:
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People give to people, not to organizations, mission statements or strategies. Prayer is in the "Connect" category. |
- Remember, the first gift is a testing gift; they want to discover what their ROI (Return on Investment) will be. This is why it's crucial to share the impact their gift made. See the THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle below.
MTD stewardship is the relationship-building and communication that takes place after a ministry gift has been received.
Stewardship involves thanking donors, updating them on the impact of their gifts, keeping them involved and offering other opportunities to give. Generally, this can be accomplished in a THANK, SHOW, CONNECT, OFFER cycle twice a year. This ongoing view of MTD leads to a strong and stable support base and only takes about 2-3 hours a week.
After a gift, THANK donors for their giving. The general standard is a hand-written thank-you card and a phone call. (Other ideas HERE.) No financial ask.
A month or two later, SHOW the donor how their gift made an impact. They need to know they made a difference. No financial ask.
- A month or two later, CONNECT with a call or text to pray/care for the donor. No financial ask.
- A month or two later, OFFER another giving opportunity. This rhythm of bi-annual giving opportunities helps to maintain engagement with those larger-capacity donors who generally only give when asked. A spring/summer ask along with an End of Year Ask can add a healthy, annual rhythm of encouraging current donors to increase their recurring gift amount. The structure of the OFFER ask can include a general letter with a note to about 20 key folks that you'll be calling. Call to ask if they read your letter and if the Lord is leading them toward involvement in this need. Plan to follow-up.
- Additional resources for long-term discipleship and development of your large-capacity donors can be found at Generous Giving. They provide both resources and events that foster joyful generosity.
The timeline below is a sample of what stewardship may look like for a support raiser in a given year. Feel free to customize to your situation/ ministry partners/ need. For example, someone who is younger or not very established in ministry might have a rhythm that looks like: Thank, show, show, show, connect, show, offer.
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