The Stewardship Experience with Mwosi Swenson | Donor Experience Sessions: Chicago

Getting a donor to give once is hard. Getting them to give again — and again — is where sustainable fundraising is actually built. In this session from DX Sessions Chicago, Mwosi Swenson of Mal Warwick Donordigital walks through the real-world stewardship and cultivation tactics her firm uses across 30+ nonprofit organizations to drive second gifts, sustainer conversions, mid-level upgrades, and long-term donor retention. Packed with concrete examples from organizations like Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, KQED, WNYC, World Animal Protection, and Phoenix Children's Hospital, this session is a practical playbook for what to do after the donation lands. In this session, you'll learn: • How to build a donor journey framework that works for any size organization • Why peer-to-peer texting is one of the highest-performing stewardship channels — and how to use it • The pre-campaign cultivation strategy that nearly doubles text response rates • How to structure an automated sustainer welcome and anniversary series • Renewal advertising tactics, lo-fi ad formats, and lapsed sustainer reactivation • Why legacy giving should be marketed to everyone on your file — not just older donors • How to build a stop-loss series that recovers lapsing sustainers before their credit cards expire 🧠 Get more insights on our blog: https://fundraiseup.com/blog/ 🆙 Explore the power of Fundraise Up https://fundraiseup.com/features/ 📽️ Subscribe on YouTube    / @fundraiseup   💬 Connect on LinkedIn   / fundraiseup   00:00 Introduction & Donor Journey Framework 04:37 Measuring Retention: New, Reactivated & Multi-Year Donors 08:37 Welcome Series & Peer-to-Peer Texting in Action 15:43 Stewardship Emails: Impact Content, Quizzes & Pre-Campaign Cultivation 20:32 Automated Sustainer Series, Renewals & Mid-Level Upgrades 28:55 Renewal Advertising & Lapsed Donor Reactivation 31:43 Legacy Giving, Stop-Loss Series & Multi-Channel Campaigns