5 Components of an Effective Donor Stewardship Matrix

It takes more than thank-you letters to retain donors for your nonprofit long-term. To effectively steward donor relationships and inspire higher levels of giving, you must strategically engage donors in various ways that deepen their connections to your nonprofit. But what types of outreach should you use, and how do you outline a cohesive strategy?

The answer is a donor stewardship matrix. This detailed plan defines the activities your nonprofit will use to steward donors at different levels and how often you'll complete each activity. With your stewardship matrix as a guide, your staff will have a clear roadmap to engaging donors throughout their entire relationship with your nonprofit.

To help you develop your own stewardship matrix, we'll explore the example provided in Meyer Partners' donor stewardship guide and break down each component.

1. Donor Segments

The first thing you should establish for your stewardship matrix is which donor segments you'll include. Every donor is different, so it's natural that not everyone will want to engage with your nonprofit in the same ways. Donors at each giving level, for instance, have unique needs, interests, and communication expectations.

By including a few core donor segments in your stewardship matrix, you'll be able to tailor outreach to the needs of each one. For example, consider the differing expectations of:

• New donors: First-time donors likely don't know much about your organization or how to engage with it beyond donating. They'll likely appreciate welcome letters, informational materials, and low-stakes ways to get involved.
• Recurring donors: Monthly donors have demonstrated a commitment to supporting your work, but your organization may live in the back of their minds. Steward recurring donors by sharing regular impact updates and reminding them why they give.
• Mid-level donors: Those who give moderate amounts expect more personalized acknowledgment from your nonprofit. These donors are also your best prospects for upgrading to major donors, so they typically warrant more attention.
• Major donors: Your nonprofit's largest donors expect to be highly involved and updated often on how you use their gifts. Steward these donors with personal phone calls, regular check-ins, and invitations to exclusive opportunities.
• Planned giving donors: Donors interested in planned gifts want to know more about your organization's long-term plans and how their donations will create a lasting legacy. Send plenty of personalized communications about their impact on your nonprofit's future.

While giving levels and frequencies are good places to start, you don't have to use these exact donor segments. You might use existing segments from your fundraising database or create new ones based on your unique donor base. For example, an animal shelter could create different segments for donors who've adopted animals and those who give in-kind donations.

2. Acknowledgment Activities

Acknowledging gifts and thanking every donor is the baseline of donor stewardship. Once you have your segments ironed out, list specific ways you'll acknowledge donations. This section of your stewardship matrix should outline each core appreciation activity, the method of communication, how soon after a donation the communication should be sent, and which donors should receive it.

The example stewardship matrix shown above includes:

• A donation acknowledgment email, including a tax receipt, sent within 24 hours to all donors.
• A personal thank-you call made within 48 hours to all major and planned giving donors.
• Welcome emails and letters sent within one week to all first-time donors.
• Additional, highly personalized thank-you letters to major and planned giving donors sent within one week.

To ensure these messages reach donors and express your thanks effectively, incorporate multiple communication channels in your strategy. You might add an immediate, automated thank-you text message for all donors, or you could send hand-signed postcards through direct mail to recurring and mid-level donors.

3. Donor Recognition

Next, choose several ways to express your appreciation by recognizing donors publicly and privately. Include basic donor recognition strategies like sending small gifts of branded merchandise or shouting out donors on social media, then consider ways you can take recognition further for major and planned gift donors.

Major donor recognition is often more public, personalized, and lasting than the ways you recognize other donors. Your stewardship matrix might include strategies like highlighting donors in your newsletter, hosting a donor appreciation gala, and adding major donors' names to a physical or digital donor wall.

Add notes about each strategy's timeline to help you stick to a regular recognition cadence. You might host your appreciation gala annually, for example, while you recognize donors in your newsletter on a quarterly basis. No matter which activities you include in your stewardship matrix, remember to check individual donors' preferences and ask their permission before you recognize them publicly.

4. Impact Reporting

Demonstrating the real-life impact of donors' gifts is important for earning their trust and inspiring future giving. In your list of stewardship activities, include multiple ways you'll report on donations' impact directly to supporters.

Creating an Incredible Annual Report for Your OrganizationAt a minimum, this section of your stewardship matrix should include sending an annual report to all donors. Specify when you'll send out annual reports and by what means. For instance, you might send all donors an email with the PDF version of your report and only send a printed copy to major donors.

Beyond annual reports, consider adding periodic campaign update emails, personalized impact reports for major donors, and/or individual program reports. If your nonprofit uses other communications to demonstrate donors' impact, include those in your matrix, too.

5. Ongoing Engagement and Outreach

Finally, incorporate other ongoing activities to engage donors in the long term. These might include opportunities and communications like:

• Monthly supporter meet-ups where any donor can find community and get to know like-minded individuals.
• Volunteer opportunities that allow donors to engage with your cause in hands-on ways.
• Birthday, holiday, and anniversary cards that remind donors of your nonprofit and how much their support means to your organization.
• Office and behind-the-scenes tours to give major and planned giving donors an up-close look at your nonprofit's work.
• Donor surveys where any supporter can provide open-ended feedback about your communications, engagement opportunities, impact reporting, etc.

Most of these outreach activities can apply to all donors, regardless of their giving level or segment. To increase personalization and relevance, add segment-specific activities like invitations to be a peer-to-peer fundraiser (for recurring and mid-level donors) or having dinner with a board member (for major donors).

While including these components will provide you with a strong foundation for stewardship, remember that your stewardship matrix isn't set in stone. Make adjustments as you find out which activities resonate with supporters most or discover that you need to add another donor segment. Don't forget to keep your team up-to-date about any changes.

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