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Donor Stewardship for News Organizations

Join the Lenfest News Philanthropy Network for a free, two-part workshop on donor stewardship happening on Thursday, June 9 and Thursday, June 16 from 2 – 4 p.m. EDT.

The deadline to apply is Friday, May 13, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Acceptance decisions will be made by Friday, May 27, 2022. 

The first session, “Stewardship for Members, Readers, Listeners, and Friends,” will teach participants how to build relationships with their non-donor community prior to asking for a gift. At many news organizations, there is an entire community of individuals that represents a significant and important part of work, but are not yet donors – and yet, they might be the most ready and warmest prospects. 

Participants will explore stewardship practices specific to readying these members, readers, listeners, and friends for a gift, including:

▪︎ Donor-centric messaging to incorporate in communications to this community
▪︎ How to find the best prospects from these groups of non-donors
▪︎ How to qualify those best prospects and steward differently depending on potential
▪︎Action-oriented stewardship practices that will help to qualify and cultivate prospects

The second session, “Stewardship for Donors,” will teach participants how to thank, recognize, and build relationships with donors in between asking for gifts. Donors want to hear more from an organization than a regularly scheduled ask to donate. Great stewardship requires a higher level of personalization – even if it’s conducted en masse. 

This session will cover strategies to build the relationship with a donor during the “in between,” whether it’s in between appeals, a mid-level, or major gift ask. The session will cover:

​​▪︎ Good stewardship practices following the first gift and other giving milestone
▪︎ Critical information to obtain from donors, including preferences on contact and how to efficiently obtain, store, and use these data points
▪︎ Communications strategies and donor-centric messaging for newsletters, emails, calls, and meetings that don’t include an ask
▪︎ Acknowledgment and recognition techniques

The sessions will be led by Schultz & Williams. In order to foster an interactive and participatory environment, enrollment is limited to 30 participants. There is no cost to participate. 

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