Creative Stewardship:

Nuts and Bolts of Developing and Implementing

A Stewardship Plan

Vicki Carew Executive Director

Institutional Advancement and the GPC Foundation

Georgia Perimeter College

Anne Manner-McLarty President and Lead Consultant Heurista, Co.

What is a Stewardship Plan?

• Education

• Coordination

• Assignments

• List of Standard Responses

• Individual Stewardship Plans

Motivating Factors

• New, growing or changing staff

• Growth and change in the donor base

• Long-lasting, more complex donor

relationships

• More competition for donor commitment

• Campaign on the horizon

Need to be…

New

Unique

Meaningful

Realistic

Sustainable

Scalable

GPC’s specific directives

• Consistency by giving level and type

• Record-keeping strategy

• “Best donor experience anywhere”

(i.e., donor retention)

Realities�

• Budget - in time and money

• Staff resources

• Expertise and/or vision for peer

institutions’ best practices

• Leverage

Be true to the organization’s

character

• A template will not do

• Beyond “brand”

• Personality

• Style and method

• Maximize your stewardship assets

GPC Details

“Georgia Perimeter College is a two year public college

that provides high quality affordable educational options

that are accessible through five campus locations. With a

current student enrollment that is just short of 27,000

students, GPC is the third largest institution in the state of

Georgia. Students range from the traditional high school

graduate to returning professional and other adult learners.”

Process: Questionnaires

Process: Review of existing

documents

• Institutional Advancement org chart

• Foundation bylaws, policies and procedures

• Draft Foundation financial polices and procedures

• Gift regulations for endowments, scholarships and

naming opportunities

• Recognition plans

• Communication examples

• Donor lists

• Gift pyramids - current and forecast

Process: Draft Stewardship

Guidelines

• Introduction - statement of ownership

• Objective

• Definitions/Principles

• Implementation responsibilities

• Procedures

• Recognition Societies

• Guidelines for Individual Stewardship Plans

• Special circumstances

Stewardship Activity Categories

• Required communication

• Routine communication

• Routine listings

• Customized communication

• Tiered event invitations

• Thank you gift items

• Permanent public recognition

Stewardship Principles

Acknowledge

Recognize

Report

Engage

Clarification….

GPC defined

engagement as access and access as

non-traditional events

GPC Details

“Additional recognition activities based on the most

exclusive cumulative and consecutive giving patterns will

be implemented. These include additional events,

meetings, calls and visits. Additional giving societies are

not recommended, as donors engaged at the highest

levels are least likely to respond to titles and sub-divided

distinctions. They are interested in the one-on-one

interaction facilitated by the Individualized Stewardship Plan.”

Individual Stewardship Plan Minimum Requirements

GPC Details

“Individualized Stewardship Plans should take into

consideration donor interests and the precedents

established for other donors with similar giving histories. In

general, corporate and foundation donors will receive

responses matching those for individual donors in the

same annual recognition category. Variations most

appropriate to corporate or foundation entities will be employed.”

GPC Details

“Individual Stewardship Plans are to be developed and

maintained by the development officers. Recordkeeping

and revision/updating should occur in conjunction with

each donor touch. Individualized Stewardship Plans should

be reviewed by the Executive Director of the GPC Foundation on at least an annual basis.”

GPC Details

“Special circumstances – anonymity, development officer

insight, or directives from GPC Foundation or Office of

Institutional Advancement – may indicate an Individual

Stewardship Plan for a donor that has not yet met the recommended criteria.”

Process: Review with staff

• Draft Stewardship Plan

• Board’s retreat

• Approval to proceed

• Review with staff…. and then….

Integration in the donor database

• Worksheet is only a “concept” tool

• Information needs to be integrated in other

donor records and data-entry processes

• Eliminate duplication of effort

• Prevent possibility of different information in

different places

• Streamline reporting

• Facilitate performance metrics

Anne’s Analogy: the drawers

Anne’s Analogy: the drawers

Research

Our proposed stewardship data store will house

items specific to our activities while pulling

information from various sources including

Banner, the student award system, the financial

accounting system, etc. I think having a data

store that talks to the other systems is the best

way to go since it minimizes chances for error

and can be fully customized based on

stewardship activities at certain giving levels. -

Daphne Powell, UAB

Research

2012 Presentation at ADRP NYC regional

- Perry Liberty, Vassar

Key concept - Filemaker Pro and other databases

receive current, live information from Banner

because interim applications gather and supply it

Next steps for GPC

• Update and/or expand procedure manuals for all

Institutional Advancement staff

• Schedule staged implementation of the

Individual Stewardship Plans

• Coordinate database improvements/alternatives

and test with ISP application

• Expand customizable communication plans,

especially via individualized endowment reports

and other donor impact reports

How are you managing

individualized stewardship records?

• How much emphasis is placed on individualized

plans at your institution?

• What format are you using for planning and

recording activities?

• Who are your implementation partners?

Anne Manner-McLarty

Anne is president and lead consultant for Heurista, a multi-disciplinary firm dedicated to discovering the authentic stories that drive an organization’s mission. This work draws upon Anne’s experience and reputation as a thought leader in donor recognition and stewardship program planning.

Before establishing her own company, Anne was president of Robin E. Williams Incorporated, and she has been an active participant in ADRP since 2005. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina where she has plenty of opportunities to re-engage her creative spirit and participate in community activities.

Vicki Carew

Vicki is the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement and the Georgia Perimeter College Foundation, where she is responsible for overseeing the college’s fund raising efforts. She manages the Foundation’s assets and is leading efforts to launch the college’s first comprehensive campaign. While at GPC, Vicki has established sound donor relations and stewardship practices to successfully manage a multi-million dollar asset portfolio and the cultivation and stewardship that is central to developing and maintaining key donor relationships. Vicki has over twenty years’ experience in non-profit and higher education administration and lends her expertise serving on several non-profit boards.