Rethinking stewardship: Who deserves our time (and why)

By Maria Rio, well-known pot-stirrer

How my lived experience as both charity recipient and fundraiser taught me that true stewardship should center community, not cash:

I remember the first time I walked into a gala a former employer was hosting. It felt fancy beyond belief for someone who grew up in poverty. I felt out of place.

While I was trying to find my footing, I noticed something: senior leadership spoke differently to the guests with expensive coats versus the volunteers doing registration. Their behaviour modeled that monetary support mattered more than any other gift an organization could receive. 

In fundraising, we are trained to identify “prospects” by their clothing, their postal codes, and their networks. We segment our donor lists by giving capacity and reserving our warmth, handwritten notes, and genuine gratitude for those who can write the largest checks. 

But here’s what donor-centric stewardship doesn’t acknowledge: the person who gives $5 monthly from their disability income is making a proportionally larger sacrifice than the wealthy philanthropist writing a $10,000 check. The volunteer who shows up every week despite working two jobs to make ends meet is giving something more precious than money. They’re giving their very limited free leisure time. 

Let’s be clear about what donor-centric stewardship actually does: it reproduces the same systems of oppression that our nonprofits claim to fight against. When we center wealthy donors’ comfort over community voices or we prioritize those with disposable income over those with lived experience, we perpetuate the very inequities our missions seek to address.  

I’ve been guilty of catering to the wealthy as a donor-centric fundraiser, but with Community-Centric Fundraising, I know we can–and must–do better to steward our entire community.  

Many of us are already trying. The data says that over 90% of nonprofits are now familiar with the CCF movement, and 76% have changed practices in response to CCF or broader equity initiatives, according to a 2025 Johnson Center study. This widespread adoption is happening as more people acknowledge that the traditional donor-centric model without the infusion of CCF values and practices has failed our communities and our missions. 

Redefining Value: Beyond the Dollar Sign 

When I fundraised for an anti-poverty organization, service users couldn’t give money to our organization. But they could, and often did, translate for other Spanish-speaking families. They shared their stories to help secure funding. They advocated fiercely for program improvements. They gave time, expertise, and emotional labor. 

However, none of that showed up in a donor database. 

Community-Centric Fundraising asks us to expand our definition of investment. 

At the heart of CCF are ten guiding principles, and several directly challenge how we think about stewardship: 

• All who strengthen the community are equally valued: volunteers, staff, donors, board members. This means recognizing that the volunteer who coordinates your food bank is as vital as the donor who funds it. The formerly unhoused person who speaks at your gala is contributing as much value as the table sponsor.
• Time is valued equally as money. When someone gives you 20 hours of their time, they’re giving you something they can never get back. That deserves the same gratitude and care as a financial contribution.
• We foster belonging, not othering. Donor-centric stewardship without a CCF lens creates an us-versus-them mentality. CCF stewardship builds community by recognizing that we all have something to contribute. 

This shift in perspective changes everything about how we approach relationship-building in the nonprofit sector. 

So, Who Deserves Our Time? 

Organizations and fundraisers need to take the time to identify who they’re currently stewarding versus who they should be stewarding to be in alignment with CCF Principles. The gap is often shocking. 

• Volunteers: I worked with an organization where a volunteer had been helping with an annual fundraiser for multiple years. She managed about a dozen other volunteers, secured sponsorships from her employer, and personally posted about it on social media. Yet she received the same mass thank-you email as someone who helped for two hours.

  Reflecting on the value of her contribution (both in hours and fundraising outcomes) I’d estimate it to exceed $100,000. But because she wasn’t writing the checks herself, she was stewarded as an afterthought.

  Not only are volunteer contributions incredibly valuable in their own right, volunteers often become your most loyal monthly donors when treated with genuine care. They’re your biggest advocates when they feel valued. They’re also your most likely planned gift prospects because they’ve seen the impact of your cause firsthand. You can easily start stewarding your volunteers toward other ways of giving by adding them into your donor database, sending them the same communications other donors get, and tracking the number of volunteer hours.

  The worst way overt devaluing of volunteers shows up is when a donor is also a volunteer, and you only call to acknowledge their monetary gifts without mentioning their donated time. By stewarding volunteers alongside donors, you avoid those awkward missteps in your relationship building and show true appreciation for the whole of what that person gives your organization. 

• Board Members: Board service is a significant commitment, especially for people who are juggling multiple responsibilities. Yet many organizations ignore board stewardship. By doing so, we contribute to the lack of understanding board members often have about the work. Education is a key part of stewardship, and so is relationship building. Often, the ED will attempt to gatekeep the board from staff, but this only harms the organization. Fundraising staff should be encouraged to steward the board directly, telling them about the stories, programmatic impacts, and internal workings that make your organization special. This will bring the board along in understanding the sector, systemic issues, and the staff’s actual experience of the organization. It will also keep them engaged and inspired.

  I encourage organizations to acknowledge both the time and any financial contributions board members make. Send them updates between meetings. Celebrate their professional milestones. Recognize that they’re leaders choosing to stake their reputations on your work, and that–just like donors of money–they are looking to learn more about the issues. 

• Your Staff: In a Small Nonprofit Podcast episode I did with Vu Le, we talked about this: “We are the biggest donor to the nonprofit sector… And if we’re donor-centered, then why aren’t we donor centered that way? Why don’t we focus – and we’re going to be focused on major donors – why don’t we focus on the biggest donors of all, which is nonprofit staff?” Every person working for below-market wages is essentially contributing the difference to your mission. That’s a form of giving. And it’s often invisible in our stewardship strategies and CRMs.

  Do you celebrate work anniversaries with the same enthusiasm you show major gift milestones? Do you invest in professional development as intentionally as you cultivate major donors? Do you acknowledge the financial sacrifice they’re making to serve your mission? Do you even say thank you? These are all critical considerations for nonprofit leaders looking to move towards CCF Practices. 

• Monthly Donors: Monthly donors are the backbone of sustainable fundraising. They give smaller amounts but demonstrate consistent commitment. They’re more likely to increase their giving over time, respond to additional appeals, and stay connected to your mission for decades. Like volunteers, monthly donors are also your best planned giving prospects.

  Yet many organizations treat them as “set it and forget it” revenue streams rather than valued community members.

  Fundraisers should have specific stewardship tracks for monthly donors that recognize their consistency and commitment. This might include quarterly phone calls, special impact reports, or invitations to traditionally Major Donor events. 

• Your Champions and Amplifiers: Some of your most valuable supporters never write checks, but consistently show up in other ways. They attend every event, share every social media post, and tell their friends about your work. They bring energy and enthusiasm that’s worth far more than money.

  The most powerful advocacy often comes from people who haven’t been asked or paid to promote your work; they do it because they genuinely care. Cultivating and stewarding these champions shows that you invest in those who support you as deeply as they invest in your work. 

Practical Steps Toward Justice-Based Stewardship 

Shifting from donor-centric to Community-Centric stewardship requires intentional changes in how we see and value our community members. 

Instead of segmenting solely by giving capacity, try these approaches: 

• Segment by longevity: Who has been with you for years, regardless of the size of their contribution? Loyalty and consistency deserve recognition.
• Segment by engagement: Track more than financial gifts in your CRM. Note volunteer hours, event attendance, social media engagement, and advocacy efforts. 
• Segment by role: Create distinct stewardship tracks for volunteers, board members, staff, and community advocates that acknowledge their unique contributions. 
• Segment by values alignment: Some people demonstrate deep commitment to your mission through multiple forms of engagement. These are your champions, and they deserve champion-level care. 

And if you are looking for even more ways to steward in ways aligned with CCF, try these: 

• Practice cultural humility: Not everyone expresses gratitude or engagement in the same way. Be mindful of cultural differences in communication styles and relationship-building. 
• Remove barriers to engagement: Ensure your stewardship activities are accessible. This means considering language, location, timing, childcare needs, and transportation barriers. 
• Center lived experience: When planning recognition events or creating thank-you materials, ensure you dignify the perspectives of people with direct experience of the issues you’re addressing. 
• Address power dynamics: Acknowledge when there are power imbalances in your stewardship relationships and work actively to minimize harm. 

When we steward with justice in mind, several things happen: 

• We build stronger communities. People stay engaged longer when they feel genuinely valued, not just cultivated for their wealth. 
• We create authentic advocates. People who feel genuinely cared for become passionate ambassadors for your work. 
• We model our values. If we’re fighting inequality, our fundraising practices should reflect that commitment. 
• And we may identify hidden capacity. That volunteer you’ve been thanking with mass emails might have significant planned gift potential you’ve never explored. 

Community-Centric Fundraising ultimately asks us this question: What kind of world are we trying to build? 

If we want a world where everyone’s contributions are valued, community matters more than cash, and dignity isn’t determined by bank account balances, then our stewardship practices must reflect those values. 

The 2025 Johnson Center data shows that organizations implementing CCF principles aren’t just feeling better about their work; they’re also achieving better results. We’re seeing a sector-wide transformation toward justice-based philanthropy. By jumping on the justice-based stewardship bandwagon, you’re ensuring your organization thrives through the many challenges ahead. 

As someone who has been served by nonprofits and now serves them, I know that transformation is possible. But it requires all of us (fundraisers, executive directors, board members, volunteers) to examine our practices and choose courage over comfort. 

The communities we serve deserve nothing less. And frankly, so do we.