Stewardship - PR Star of Library Advancement

Abstract

Stewardship, a close relative of donor/prospect cultivation, is the ongoing appreciation and provision of information to benefactors and a critical element in institutional advancement. But stewardship is more than appreciation and information. For it to be as effective as possible for library advancement, it must be packaged as public relations at its best. As Robert Wedgeworth indicates throughout his article entitled “Donor Relations as Public Relations...,” there is an inextricable link between stewardship and public relations. At the University Libraries of Notre Dame, we recognized this some years ago and began to take measured steps toward a comprehensive stewardship package. Our journey is not complete, nor has it been perfectly executed. But our progress has been good and largely effective, and we are vigilant in honing the former and eliminating the obstacles to the latter.