How Steward suggests

The ladder

Every giver sits on one rung, from their own giving. A household is one giver. New: no gift yet. Second gift: one gift so far. Retain: two or more gifts, your regular base. Upgrade: a regular donor whose last 12 months are at least 1.5 times the 12 before, or who moved their giving into a family foundation, or designated a program. Major: a last 12 months, or any single gift, at or above your major-gift line.

Your major-gift line is the smaller of $5,000 and what your top 5% of donors reach, unless you set your own. Planned sits beside a rung: a gift of stock, an IRA or investment distribution, a donor-advised fund or foundation gift, a memorial or honor gift, or 5 or more years in a row of giving.

Each rung has a status: Steady, Slipping (past their own usual time, lapsing, or far below last year) or Moving up. A December giver is not slipping, or Lapsing, in October. Someone with an undated gift or an open pledge is never called slipping because of time.

The order matters: keep the donors you have first, then turn first gifts into second gifts, then upgrade, then major gifts, then planned gifts. Suggestions are ranked that way, then by the dollars at stake.

The ask

Retain asks last year's amount. Upgrade asks 1.5 times their last 12 months, rounded to a natural number ($7,500, not $7,512). Second gift asks the first gift's amount, within 12 months of it. A sponsor renewal asks last year's level and offers the next level up. Major shows their history and a range to talk about, never a single number. Planned never asks for money: it suggests a conversation about legacy and impact.

The timing

December givers are approached in early November. Sponsors are approached before last year's gift date. A second gift within 90 days of the first is best, and within 12 months at most. A lapsing donor is reached before they get to 12 months.

What you can do with a suggestion

1. Read What (the facts), Why (one sentence) and How (who reaches out, when, how, what to say and the ask).
2. Use a "Steward can" button to make tasks with dates, a call list or a group, or to open a draft or a visit briefing. Nothing is sent.
3. Click Done when it's handled, Not now to bring it back on a date you pick, or Doesn't fit to set it aside.
4. In "Rows that may not be gifts", choose Keep as gift, or say what it was (a purchase, tickets or a reimbursement) and click Not a gift. Not a gift takes it out of everyone's giving and keeps it in Finance as revenue. Totals change only after you choose, and Undo puts it back as it was.
5. In "Family or network to link", choose Link or Not related. Steward links nothing on its own.

What worked

Reports, What worked, counts for each kind of suggestion how many givers it showed, how many you marked Done, and how many gave within 60 days of first seeing it. It records what followed; it never claims the suggestion caused it.