The first critical step in changing this narrative and getting supporters to stay engaged with your organization year after year is appreciation. Effective stewardship demonstrates to donors that you value their individual support and see them as an integral part of your community, growing their loyalty and trust in your nonprofit over time.

In this article, we’ll walk through a few actionable strategies for stewarding your donors and boosting retention rates. Let’s dive in!

Thank donors according to gift size

Every gift to your nonprofit deserves your gratitude—but the larger a donation is, the more recognition it warrants. Consider, for instance, two donors: one who gave $20 to a crowdfunding campaign and one who contributed $20,000 toward a new program launch. While the $20 gift puts you one step closer to fulfilling an immediate need, the $20,000 donation makes a much larger, long-term impact on your ability to serve your community, which should be evident in your stewardship strategy.

Here are some popular donor recognition methods organized by gift size:

• Small donation: Thank-you email, text message for mobile contributions, end-of-year mass mailing thanking all low-level donors for their support that year.
• Mid-level donation: Handwritten thank-you card, phone call with a leader at your organization, small gift (branded merchandise, gift card, etc.).
• Major donation: Annual report mention, invitation to a donor appreciation event, inclusion on a donor wall or other public-facing display of recognition.

This stewardship hierarchy also applies to in-kind gifts of goods and services. Use the fair market value of each in-kind donation you receive to determine your stewardship method for that donor. For example, a supporter who gives cat food and litter to your animal shelter deserves recognition for a small donation, a contribution of college football season tickets to sell at an auction would likely be equivalent to a mid-level gift, and a vehicle donation would be similar to a major gift.

Create a welcome email series

In addition to showing gratitude, it’s important to keep your mission at the forefront of supporters' minds after they give, especially if they’re new to your nonprofit. However, you shouldn’t ask for another gift right away—donors are much more likely to experience fatigue and burnout when you make every message a donation request.

A great middle ground for this is creating a welcome email series that’s automatically triggered by a donor’s first gift and allows them to receive one or two messages a week after they contribute. Winspire’s donor stewardship guide recommends sending your welcome emails in this order:

• Email #1: Thank-you note and donation receipt for tax purposes.
• Email #2: Overview of your nonprofit’s mission, current initiatives, and recent impacts.
• Email #3: Update on the impact of their donation as it relates to your programs and projects.
• Email #4: Upcoming opportunities to engage with your organization outside of donating (volunteering, attending events, participating in advocacy campaigns, etc.).
• Email #5: Encouragement to make another donation and keep up with your nonprofit by subscribing to your newsletter or following you on social media.

Ensure all of these emails feature your nonprofit’s branding—create templates that feature your logo and color scheme, and follow your brand guidelines for tone, word choice, and mechanics in the copy. This consistency makes your organization more recognizable and memorable to donors and allows them to trust that the messages came from you.

Personalize all communications

According to eCardWidget's donor retention guide, one of the top reasons donors lapse is only receiving generic communications from the nonprofits they support. The article explains that “donors want to form genuine connections with your team. Without tailored interactions, they may feel disconnected and less motivated to give again.”

To prevent this issue and build the types of connections that make donors want to keep contributing, personalize all of your messages to them by:

• Addressing them by their preferred name. An email or letter with a greeting like “Dear Suzanne” or “Dear Mr. Green” is more likely to receive a response (and less likely to end up in the trash) than one addressed to “Dear Valued Donor” or “To Whom It May Concern.” However, be careful if you're going to use a gendered salutation. Oftentimes, it's advised to not use "Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss" unless you know for certain that this donor identifies that way.
• Referencing their past engagement with your nonprofit. Along with the amount, timing, and purpose of their previous gifts, you may also reference their non-donation involvement with your organization. Anything goes, from the number of hours they’ve volunteered to the raffles they’ve won—it just helps to show donors that any way they can support you is valuable to your mission.
• Sharing information that aligns with their interests. As you get to know donors better, you’ll learn what they care about and be able to update them on initiatives and fundraisers that interest them. For example, if one of your supporters highly values education, you might keep them in the loop on your environmental nonprofit’s program that teaches local elementary schoolers about recycling.

Use your donor database to track donors’ personal and engagement information in one place for easy reference. Plus, most databases have features that allow you to segment supporters based on shared characteristics so you can more easily target communications to the audiences that will be most receptive to them.

As you implement the above donor stewardship strategies, ask your supporters for feedback on your recognition and follow-ups. Not only will their reviews and survey responses help you determine what is working and where you could improve your stewardship efforts, but giving supporters a platform to make their voices heard can also make them feel valued—and, consequently, boost retention!