Stewardship Plans Functionality

Flora Fox

Looking for feedback/guidance on the way other institutions are using "stewardship plans" functionality. I'm wondering if that is the best way for us to go, or just keep everything tracked under "mark/comm".  

Clint Grossnickle

Hi Flora, 


From my experience, stewardship plan functionality can provide value if the stewardship has a strategic component that would benefit from being tracked as a plan. If you are sending a mass email or communication by post to steward a large group of donors, then a MarComms process is your best bet. However, the following scenarios would take advantage of the stewardship plan functionality.

• The stewardship is tailored to the constituent and there is value in tracking the progress and history of the steps within the plan. This is especially true if the stewardship is the result of a specific gift or commitment and the gift officer is handing off the stewardship to a stewardship officer. The stewardship plan steps can be linked back to the prospect plan for continuity. 
• The stewardship is not a one-off communication, but a series of actions that would benefit from a template so as to remain consistent. The stewardship plan can also define dates of when steps are to occur and which staff member is assigned to complete them. If there is a team approach to stewardship, then a plan can capture the different members of staff who are involved and their roles. 
• If there is a specific benefit or event invitation associated with the stewardship, then using a plan could be beneficial as benefits and events can be linked to stewardship plan steps. 

Using stewardship plans is an investment of time to create the templates, add the plans, add and complete steps, etc. So before embarking on using the plans it is important to determine if the investment of time is worth the resulting data and processes.


Hope that helps!