I’m happy to share that Caitlin Leduc and I have published another article in Advancing Philanthropy. It’s called “Engagement vs. Stewardship: A Back-to-Basics Refresher” and it’s just as sparkling and refreshing as it sounds. You may remember my friend and colleague Caitlin from last fall: learning about her love for Kendrick Lamar, her difficulty telling her left from her right during high-stress situations, and the time I put her baby’s foot in my mouth and had to apologize about it.
Our new article is about understanding when to “engage” a donor and when to “steward” a donor—two words that fundraisers often use synonymously.
If you’ve accidentally let your Association of Fundraising Professionals subscription lapse, all is not lost! Read the article here. Early reviews of the article insist that it reads like a summer breeze!
The April edition of Advancing Philanthropy is about community and belonging in fundraising. And for some reason, it features an astronaut on the cover. From their website:
Rumor has it that the astronaut featured on the cover of Advancing Philanthropy read our article in zero gravity. (Note: this is a rumor I’m trying to get started).
In our article, we make the case that in day-to-day interactions with donors, fundraisers often use terms like “stewardship” and “engagement” interchangeably. But the two concepts represent uniquely different forms of outreach and activation: “engagement” invites donors (and potential donors) to explore connections with an organization’s mission while “stewardship” builds upon existing relationships to further uncover a donor’s interests. In other words, engagement creates donor interest while stewardship reinforces it, facilitating the very community and belonging Advancing Philanthropy explores in this issue.
Stewardship (left) battles Engagement (right) with weapons that clearly aren’t made of plastic at all. Notice the astronaut from the Advancing Philanthropy cover watching on in bloodthirsty delight. So shameful!
A colleague who read last October’s post asked me if I made up that stuff about Caitlin’s love for Kendrick Lamar. I didn’t. I never lie to you, Substack. See below:
Caitlin’s holiday card this year. Kendrick is the cat.
Proof positive that Kendrick Lamar the cat is an avid Advancing Philanthropy reader. We can only assume the same is true about Kendrick Lamar the person.
In the first draft of the article, Caitlin and I wanted to create a thread connecting each section. Caitlin suggested making, eating, and serving soup was a metaphor we could trace through the article. It was a fun idea that we eventually abandoned. But behold! Below are a few snips from section headers from the first rough draft before we eighty-sixed the soup motif:
If you check out our article (which, for the last time, you can find here), try to do it while eating a bowl of soup. Perhaps a gazpacho. Or a cold cucumber soup. Or an Ajo Blanco (it’s a chilled Spanish soup with almonds and garlic, you heathens!). Eat up our article the way Caitlin and I tried to write it and you’ll leave with a full belly of delicious fundraising soup.
Bon Appetit!
PS: Next Monday is Memorial Day, so look for me again on Tuesday, 5/27
Wise choice to ditch the metaphor. This may be controversial, but no one LIKES soup; they tolerate soup. They consume it because they’re cold, sick, waiting for their entree to be served, or are too tired to prepare something good. Prove me wrong!
Wise choice to ditch the metaphor. This may be controversial, but no one LIKES soup; they tolerate soup. They consume it because they’re cold, sick, waiting for their entree to be served, or are too tired to prepare something good. Prove me wrong!
Brilliant in every way! Bravo Caitlin and Dan!