Custom Stewardship Touches
One of the highlights from my internship at the University of Iowa Center for Advancement
Development Officer Meetings
​
During my internship, I attended 10 stewardship meetings with development officers across departments. Additionally, I prepared materials for and led a stewardship meeting with an officer from the Healthcare Philanthropy team. These meetings exposed me to some of the time-sensitive and spontaneous tasks that arise for the stewardship team, including from phone calls, ThankViews, and cards for birthdays, anniversaries, and well-wishes.
​
From these meetings, I worked on projects such as:
-
Creating an invitation in Canva for an event celebrating the partnership between the Tippie College of Business and one of its sponsors
-
Drafting a letter on behalf of a staff member to be sent to a donor
-
Requesting, editing, and sending Thankviews
-
Ordering birthday cards
Donor Anniversary Card
​
One example of personalized stewardship that I was involved in was creating a card for a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I collaborated with development officers and the stewardship team to design a card that included special elements meaningful to these donors, who have a passion for canning and shoemaking, which has earned them significant recognition at state fairs. The card featured a canning jar, a blue state fair ribbon, and one of their shoe designs, while the shape of the message of on the front alluded to their state fair involvement. We chose a black and gold color scheme to honor both Iowa and their golden anniversary. I coordinated with a vendor, sought feedback from the development officers, made necessary adjustments, ordered the card, and once it arrived, I circulated it for everyone to sign.