I’ve been publishing periodic real life examples of good stewardship during the course of the four years since I started writing this blog.  Here’s the latest example:

My husband and I joined some friends recently for a live music performance at a metro area venue.  Our friends, who bought the tickets, apparently joined as members in order to get better seating for the performance.  What a surprise when we made our way to our seats in the theater to find this on the armrest.

The top is the outer envelope and the note was handwritten on a card inside.  Obviously, not every organization has this opportunity but we each have opportunities to take advantage of the characteristics that make this piece successful:

1.  It was unexpected.  When a donor makes a gift, acknowledgement is expected. It’s special when we thank people outside of the usual times/places.

2.  It was personal.  The message was handwritten and conversational, including use of the first name. That’s a nice change of pace from the more formal communication style we often use when communicating with supporters.

3.  It connects the gift to the mission. “Your gift helps us bring the arts to low income students. . . “

Phyllis

P.S.  There will be a roundtable discussion on stewardship at the upcoming Planned Giving Days Conference.  One day registrations are available.  Also, my first post about stewardship appeared just two short weeks into the launch of this blog.  You can read through my stewardship posts by selecting”stewardship” under the Categories drop down at right.

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