Donor stewardship goes beyond securing a one-time gift; it’s about building donor relationships, deepening their loyalty, and encouraging recurring support. Strong donor relationships mean your nonprofit has a steady base of support, making it easier to grow and withstand market fluctuations that can interrupt strategic plans.
A Donor Stewardship Matrix is an effective tool for prioritizing and personalizing engagement with donors, ensuring that your organization builds meaningful relationships and maximizes donor retention. It categorizes donors based on two key dimensions:
- Level of Giving (e.g., major gifts, mid-level gifts, recurring gifts, one-time gifts)
- Engagement Level (e.g., active involvement, event participation, responsiveness to communications).
Each donor falls into a quadrant or segment, allowing you to tailor strategies based on their behavior and contributions. This guide explores how your nonprofit can create a donor stewardship matrix in five steps and how it can help you attract more gifts.
