The secret to donor retention: stewardship and transparency

Written By: Delores Hurst, Executive Director 

At any nonprofit conference or training, the word transparency is mentioned….a lot. You would always hear, it is important to be transparent. Be transparent with donors, the community, and the clients. It is important to be transparent in grant writing, fundraising, and budgeting. It is important that a director is transparent his his/her board, staff, and supporters. It is important to be transparent when reporting.

You hear this word enough, you begin to work hard in finding out how to be more transparent and open without oversharing or violating privacy. One way that we’ve learned how transparency works is by being stewards to HOPE’s donors. When HOPE receives a donation, our priorities are to acknowledge the supporters, to send our thanks and gratitude, and communicate with them about how their support assisted the organization and clients and of any changes HOPE Ministry faces.

During the donor cultivation process, stewardship and transparency are the go to areas in influencing donors to give. It is important to the HOPE organization that donors understand the faces associated with HOPE, what the organization does, the mission of the organization, and what the future holds for HOPE Ministry.

This year, HOPE wants to go a step further with our stewardship, not just by writing thank yous, but by sitting with our supporters. We want to share in the vision of HOPE, to be transparent about the programs HOPE wants to implement for 2018. We want our donors to know that they’re supporting an organization dedicated to meeting client needs, but also educating the client on how to manage their income and balance life with low income.