The Nest Egg

The Nest Egg

Seventeen creative stewardship ideas

Building reassurance, value and joy

Caroline and Tony's avatar
Caroline and Tony
Jun 17, 2025
∙ Paid

Today’s article

There are SO many ways to build, develop and maintain a relationship with a donor (or prospective donor).

This is arguably the most FUN bit of fundraising:

  • Getting to know people

  • Understanding their motivations

  • Connecting over common ground

  • Cultivating curiosity to explore differences

I’ve gathered all the suggestions from the previous two articles plus a whole host of other ideas (plus genuine case studies for those of you who are properly nosy!) so they’re here in one place, for you to access when you’re feeling a bit stuck / unsure about what to do next.

Please feel free to allow your creative juices to flow and to come up with your own ideas which you work for you, your donors and your cause.

If you focus on building authentic relationships (which extend way beyond the transactional) with your donors, knowing the next steps should (mostly) feel easy and natural to you.

Thanks again for being part of our community. We hope you have a great week!

Tony and Caroline

p.s. Today’s post is for paying subscribers. You can upgrade today if your stewardship needs an inspiration injection.

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Seventeen creative stewardship ideas

by Caroline Danks

two ladies walking on sidewalk with black backpacks
Photo by Clarisse Meyer on Unsplash

Picture description: Two women, wearing skinny jeans and matching black backpacks, walking side by side.


1. Embrace informal meetings

Once a supporter has made that all important first gift, you should (in theory), never be at a loss for a reason to get in touch.

Projects provide a ready-made framework for stewardship. Embrace the ease of this and plan your stewardship early.

There are loads of ways to keep your donor updated about the work they’re funding.

These include:

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