Why it matters
Without a written journey, what a donor hears from you depends on who remembers. A journey writes it down once: when someone gives for the first time, they get a thank-you within days, a call in the first weeks, an impact update a few months later, and a second ask at a sensible moment.
The first year matters most, because that is when a new donor decides whether to give again. Start with one journey for first-time donors and one for monthly givers, then add more once those run smoothly.
How Steward shows it
Journeys in Steward start when something happens to a person, such as a first gift, and put each step in front of whoever owns the relationship at the right time. A journey never sends anything. If a step has a draft, Steward writes it for you to read, and it is yours to send.
You can start from a ready-made card, such as "New donor, first year".
Related terms
- Stewardship Stewardship is everything a nonprofit does after a gift arrives: thanking the donor, showing them what the gift did, and keeping the relationship warm so they choose to give again.
- First-year retention First-year retention is the share of donors who gave for the first time last year and then gave again this year. It measures how well you turn a first gift into a second one.
- Engagement score Engagement score means a number that sums up how involved a person is with your organization, based on actions such as meetings, event attendance, volunteering, calls and email replies, with recent actions usually counting more.
The free Lost & Found audit reads a giving export in your browser and shows your lapsing donors and what they used to give. Nothing is uploaded. Then bring the same file to a 20-minute demo.