What is an MTD stewardship plan?

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.  This ongoing view of MTD leads to a strong and stable support base and only takes about 2-3 hours a week. 

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 and not very established in ministry might have a rhythm that looks like: Thank, show, show, show, connect, show, offer. 

Sample Annual Timeline: 

• January: 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. 
• February/ March: SHOW how their gift made an impact. They need to know they made a difference. No financial ask. 
• April/May: CONNECT with a call or text to pray/care for the donor. No financial ask. 
• June: OFFER another giving opportunity. This rhythm of bi-annual asks helps to maintain engagement with those larger-capacity donors who generally only give when asked. A spring or summer ask can add a healthy, annual rhythm of encouraging current donors to increase their recurring gift amount. The structure of this is similar to your End of Year Ask: 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.   
• The process repeats:
• July: THANK
• August/September: SHOW
• October: CONNECT
• Nov/ Dec: OFFER (End of Year Ask)

Additional Resources: 

Ways to Connect - Annual Stewardship Plan