Having a strategic plan in place is great and often necessary, but if you don’t engage in an inclusive planning process to co-create a shared vision, you’re missing the point of creating a strategic plan in the first place, and your organization is more likely to struggle in achieving impact. If your organization is getting ready to develop a strategic plan, consider weaving these key essentials into your approach to maximize the work of the process and resulting plan.

Our experience working with international NGOs, domestic organizations fundraising for global causes, and grassroots start-ups shows that the steps we take to build a successful resource development program can vary from country to country.

In this series, “Lessons from Global Philanthropy,” we’ll be sharing fundamental truths we have learned from our work in global philanthropy that can improve your organization, no matter the shape, size or location.

At the core of every successful fundraising program is a well-thought-out donor stewardship plan – a detailed outline of an organization’s processes and strategies for keeping a donor engaged, illustrating gift impact and building long-lasting relationships. Whether you are looking to create a plan from scratch or check your current plan against best practices, in this blog post, I’ll cover four of the donor stewardship plan essentials.