At the core of Electing Women Alliance is a commitment to building community. Stewardship is essential throughout the entire cycle of a donor’s experience: It is how we build lasting relationships with donors, deepen engagement, and sustain continued growth.
This guide outlines best practices and suggestions to help support strong, year-round stewardship.
Communication Touchpoints
Finding the right level of engagement is an important balance — we want to keep members involved without overwhelming them. We suggest the following best practices for communication touchpoints:
Communication Method:
Email is most effective but check with your members and see if they prefer a text or phone call. Make sure to actively update your email list with new members. The Donor Engagement Team is always here to help strategize and support you on list management.
Communication Frequency:
- Send regular group updates (at least once a month) sharing the EWA Monthly Zoom with members, upcoming EWA or EWA member events, and political updates
- Hold Quarterly Steering Committee meetings for your steering committee members
- Annual membership dues: As you reach out to your members with reminders to complete their annual dues commitment, this can be a valuable opportunity to connect with personalized messages and group updates.
Event-Based Stewardship
As you build out a candidate event, several strategies can help make your fundraiser successful.
Before the Event:
- Send out personal invitations to group members
- Share reminders with event details
- Encourage members to bring prospective members (when appropriate)
- Host a stakeholder Zoom or phone call with hosts, key members, and any additional stakeholders
- Ask the candidate to make recruitment or thank you calls for the event. You can provide them a list of members you would like to be more engaged or prospective EWA members.
During the event:
- Allow for mingling with other group members
- Engage prospective members and collect contact information
- Highlight member contributions to the event and acknowledge hosts
- Preview future events or other events EWA members are hosting
- Discuss EWA membership benefits during remarks
After the event:
Thank you notes or emails to attendees, which can include the total amount the event raised and upcoming events/group engagements
Best Way to Cultivate Steering Committee
- Identify at least two women who are prepared to commit to a higher level of giving and time commitment
- When recruiting the Steering Committee, clearly define expectations and time commitments
- Emphasize decision-making opportunities around candidate support, operations, and group strategy
- Encourage inclusive participation and input from all members, and continually identify members who would be good candidates for your Steering Committee
Engagement Opportunities to Offer
- Host at least two non-fundraising, social events per year to build community
- Offer fundraising trainings (Donor Engagement Team can support or lead these)
- Organize political briefings with EWA Political Director
- Schedule office hours (in person or virtually) on a monthly/quarterly basis
Support from the EWA Donor Engagement Team
- Donor Prospecting: We can help you identify and apply strategies to grow your group’s donor list.
- Who to Host: We provide political insight and background documents to guide decisions on which candidates align with your group’s interests and make sense to host.
- Campaign contacts: We can facilitate introductions with campaign staff.
- Convening: The national convening is a great opportunity to engage both current and prospective members in the broader EWA community.
Group Materials
It is helpful to have updated materials that are readily available to send to prospective and current group members. There are templates for you to customize in the Groups Google Drive linked HERE.
Some resources to have available are:
- Group One Pager with Membership Model [template here]
- EWA Membership Benefits
- EWA Groups Deck
- Sample Event Outreach Email
- Frequently Asked Questions
Onboarding New Members
- Personally welcome new members with a brief intro call or coffee chat.
- Pair them with a steering committee member or active member as a way for them to feel included.
- Check in after the first month and offer opportunities to provide feedback.
Year-Round Stewardship Timeline
(Customize for what makes sense for your group)
| Month/Quarter | Stewardship Action |
| January (Q1)
February (Q1) March (Q1) |
|
| April (Q2)
May (Q2) June (Q2) |
|
| July (Q3)
August (Q3) September (Q3) |
|
| October (Q4)
November (Q4) December (Q4) |
|