The 2026 Stewardship Benchmark Report is here. Read it now

AwardSpring

On-Demand Webinar

After the Gift

Donor stewardship stalls for predictable reasons. In this 30-minute session, AwardSpring CEO Alex Stepien shares three habits that keep it moving, no new software or new headcount required. Recorded live July 28, 2026.

30 minutes

  • Alex Stepien

    CEO

Download the slides (PDF)

What's covered

What Alex walks through

  • Why stewardship stalls

    Scholarship programs are built to do two things well: raise the money and give it away. What happens after the gift is where relationships are won or lost, and it usually gets lumped into one outreach a year, if it happens at all. Four in five first-time donors never give again, and more than half of institutions say staff time is the single biggest barrier.

  • Habit 1: Pick the record

    Name one system of record for donors and put everything on it: contact information, conversations, event attendance, the funds they support, and the students who benefit. If it doesn't live in the system, it didn't happen. Give yourself a clean slate and start from today instead of reconciling years of shadow spreadsheets.

  • Habit 2: Make the next touch automatic

    Set stewardship dates in advance, inside the system your team actually works in. Swap the January mega-packet for three lighter drops tied to your scholarship calendar: thank-yous when dollars disperse, student stories before the luncheon, and the renewal ask after the luncheon, before the next cycle opens.

  • Habit 3: Split the list once

    One cut of segmentation by fund type beats one-size-fits-all. Donors fund students, not programs. A memorial fund and the general fund should never get the same letter.

  • Start with the tools you own

    Every habit works without buying anything new. Even a once-a-year export from your scholarship system into your donor CRM is a real step forward. Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress.

  • How the Fund Platform makes it the default

    One donor record that carries scholarships, funds, communications, and student stories together. Built-in outreach that collects thank-you notes from students and delivers them to donors. Segmentation that is native to the platform. Donor Experience and Fund Management arrive this fall.

Limited-time offer

Sign by August 15, migration and implementation on us.

Switching is our job, not yours. Talk to us before August 15 and our team handles the move.

Talk to us

Learn more

Keep exploring

See these habits in your own environment.

Schedule a demo