--- title: "The Stewardship Benchmark: 2026 Donor Stewardship Study | AwardSpring" description: "What 125 institutions across higher education revealed about scholarship donor stewardship, and why AI changes everything. Watch the webinar, download the executive brief, and get the full report." canonical_url: "https://awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark" markdown_url: "https://awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark.md" --- 2026 # Stewardship Benchmark Survey We surveyed 125 institutions about how scholarship donor stewardship actually gets done. This is what the data shows, and why AI changes everything. [Get the report](#report) [Score my stewardship](https://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey) At a glance 79% still mail donor reports 71% had a fund go unawarded last year 46% run on one FTE or less 50% are experimenting with AI About the study ## The first benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship In early 2026 we ran the first comprehensive benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship, surveying 125 institutions across U.S. higher education on how the work actually gets done: staffing, reporting cadence, quality, and where AI fits in. Sample 125 institutions Fieldwork February–April 2026 Who responded 52% community college 29% four-year 15% private + community foundations 4% other In this report 1. [01 The capacity-quality trap](#capacity-quality) 2. [02 The measurement blind spot](#measurement) 3. [03 The AI inflection point](#ai) [Get the report](#report) Pillar 01 ### The capacity-quality trap Lean teams, and no reliable read on whether the work is any good. 46 % operate on one FTE or less [Finding 01](#finding-01) #### The capacity gap Most stewardship programs run on a sliver of a full-time role, so the work competes with everything else on one person's plate. 2.7 /5 average self-rated quality [Finding 02](#finding-02) #### Flying blind on quality Asked to grade their own stewardship, institutions land below the midpoint, and few have a reliable way to check whether that read is right. 29 % send low-quality thank-you letters anyway [Finding 03](#finding-03) #### Thank-you letters: high compliance, low quality Nearly every program sends the letter. Far fewer are confident it says anything a donor will remember. Pillar 02 ### The measurement blind spot Reports go out. Almost no one can tell what actually lands. 79 % still deliver donor reports by U.S. mail [Finding 04](#finding-04) #### Reporting stuck in the past Annual reports still go out on paper, and once they are mailed most teams have no signal about what donors actually saw. 45% cannot track whether reports are opened 19 % have zero coordination between financial aid and advancement [Finding 05](#finding-05) #### The aid and advancement alignment gap In nearly one in five shops, the offices that share the same donors and students barely talk to each other. 71 % had a fund go unawarded last year [Finding 06](#finding-06) #### Unawarded funds Most institutions left at least one fund unspent, and over a third have no plan for the conversation that follows. 37% have no protocol for telling the donor Pillar 03 ### The AI inflection point Interest is nearly universal. Disciplined use is rare. 50 % are experimenting with AI [Finding 07](#finding-07) #### AI adoption: intent outpaces execution Half the field is trying AI for stewardship work. Only a fraction has folded it into how the work actually gets done. 15% use it consistently Score your stewardship ## See how your stewardship stacks up. 1. 01 Take our 2 minute survey Share a bit about how your stewardship programs operate. 2. 02 Upload an artifact (optional) Share a thank-you letter or donor report and a team member + AI reviewer will score its quality. 3. 03 See where you stand Your benchmark against the 125-institution field, plus the fixes that move it most. [Score my stewardship](https://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey) ## Watch the webinar AwardSpring CEO Alex Stepien walks through the survey's highlights and what it means for your program. [Download the slides](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/AwardSpring_Stewardship_Webinar.pdf) ## Get the full report The complete 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark is here. Leave your email and we'll send you the PDF. Work email address Email me the report By submitting, you agree to receive communications from AwardSpring. More from the study - [Read the 4-page executive brief instant PDF](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/2026%20Stewardship%20Executive%20Brief.pdf) - [Watch the webinar](#recording)