46%
operate on one FTE or less
Finding 01
The capacity gap
Most stewardship programs run on a sliver of a full-time role, so the work competes with everything else on one person's plate.
2026
Stewardship Benchmark Survey
We surveyed 125 institutions about how scholarship donor stewardship actually gets done. This is what the data shows, and why AI changes everything.
At a glance
79%
still mail donor reports
71%
had a fund go unawarded last year
46%
run on one FTE or less
50%
are experimenting with AI
About the study
The first benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship
In early 2026 we ran the first comprehensive benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship, surveying 125 institutions across U.S. higher education on how the work actually gets done: staffing, reporting cadence, quality, and where AI fits in.
- Sample
- 125 institutions
- Fieldwork
- February–April 2026
Who responded
Pillar 01
The capacity-quality trap
Lean teams, and no reliable read on whether the work is any good.
2.7 /5
average self-rated quality
Finding 02
Flying blind on quality
Asked to grade their own stewardship, institutions land below the midpoint, and few have a reliable way to check whether that read is right.
29%
send low-quality thank-you letters anyway
Finding 03
Thank-you letters: high compliance, low quality
Nearly every program sends the letter. Far fewer are confident it says anything a donor will remember.
Pillar 02
The measurement blind spot
Reports go out. Almost no one can tell what actually lands.
79%
still deliver donor reports by U.S. mail
Finding 04
Reporting stuck in the past
Annual reports still go out on paper, and once they are mailed most teams have no signal about what donors actually saw.
45% cannot track whether reports are opened
19%
have zero coordination between financial aid and advancement
Finding 05
The aid and advancement alignment gap
In nearly one in five shops, the offices that share the same donors and students barely talk to each other.
71%
had a fund go unawarded last year
Finding 06
Unawarded funds
Most institutions left at least one fund unspent, and over a third have no plan for the conversation that follows.
37% have no protocol for telling the donor
Pillar 03
The AI inflection point
Interest is nearly universal. Disciplined use is rare.
50%
are experimenting with AI
Finding 07
AI adoption: intent outpaces execution
Half the field is trying AI for stewardship work. Only a fraction has folded it into how the work actually gets done.
15% use it consistently
Score your stewardship
See how your stewardship stacks up.
- 01
Take our 2 minute survey
Share a bit about how your stewardship programs operate.
- 02
Upload an artifact (optional)
Share a thank-you letter or donor report and a team member + AI reviewer will score its quality.
- 03
See where you stand
Your benchmark against the 125-institution field, plus the fixes that move it most.
Watch the webinar
AwardSpring CEO Alex Stepien walks through the survey's highlights and what it means for your program.
Be first to get the full report
The complete 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark releases at NASFAA on June 29, 2026. Leave your email and we will send it the day it goes live.
While you wait