Stewardship Care (At-Risk Donors): Caring for Members Who May Be Drifting
Every church knows the feeling: a faithful giver who used to give monthly or weekly suddenly stops. Sometimes it’s a temporary season of life. Sometimes it’s a sign of deeper disconnection. Whatever the reason, the earlier you notice and reach out, the more likely you are to restore that relationship and support.
Why Pastoral Care Matters for Giving
When someone drifts from their normal giving pattern, it’s often not about money—it’s about connection. A job loss, a health crisis, a move, or simply feeling unnoticed can cause someone to step back. The church that reaches out with care and compassion during those moments doesn’t just recover donations; it strengthens ministry and reminds people they belong.
That’s why OnlineGiving.org built the Stewardship Pastoral Care Report. Instead of guessing who might need a check-in, or waiting until someone has been gone for months, the report automatically identifies members whose giving patterns have changed—and organizes them by priority so you know exactly who to reach out to first.
It’s About Patterns, Not Amounts
The Stewardship Care feature doesn’t focus on how much someone gives. It focuses on when they give. If someone regularly gave every month for years and suddenly hasn’t given in three months, that’s a meaningful signal. The system tracks each person’s typical giving rhythm and flags when they go significantly longer than usual without a gift—typically between 60 and 365 days.
This approach is pastoral, not punitive. The goal is to surface people who may benefit from a gentle check-in, a phone call, or a note—not to shame anyone into giving. The report is designed for pastors, stewardship staff, and care teams who want to love well.
From List to Action
Once you have your care list, the report helps you act. You can log care touchpoints (phone calls, emails, visits) directly in the system, so your team knows who’s been contacted and when. You can export the list to CSV or Excel for your team or ChMS. You can schedule weekly or monthly email reports so you never miss an update. And you can mark people as “moved on” when they’ve left your church, so they’re removed from future reports.
In this article, we’ll overview the OnlineGiving.org Stewardship Care feature.
Stewardship Care User Guide:
The Stewardship Pastoral Care Report (also called the At-Risk Care Report) is a control panel tool that helps churches identify members whose giving patterns have changed and who may benefit from pastoral outreach. It’s available under Reports in the left navigation menu.
The report is built for pastors, stewardship staff, and care teams. It surfaces people who may be drifting—not because of amounts given, but because they’ve gone longer than their usual pattern without a gift. The system organizes them by priority tier so you can focus on those who need the most immediate attention.
Key Takeaways
- Automatic identification: The system identifies at-risk donors based on their typical giving rhythm and flags when they go significantly longer than usual without a gift—typically between 60 and 365 days.
- Priority tiers: Care list members are grouped into Priority Care, Personal Outreach, and Gentle Check-in tiers so you know who to reach out to first.
- Log care touchpoints: Record phone calls, emails, visits, and other care actions directly in the report so your team can track who has been contacted.
- Email reports: Schedule weekly or monthly care report emails to be sent automatically to your team, or send the report on demand to specific recipients.
- Export and print: Export the care list to CSV or Excel, print the report, or save as PDF for offline use.
Table of Contents
- What is “At-Risk”?
- Accessing the Report
- Understanding the Report
- The Care List
- Email Outreach
- Export, Print, and PDF
- AI Pastoral Summary
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is “At-Risk”?
In the Stewardship Care context, “at-risk” means a person whose giving pattern has changed in a way that may signal they need pastoral attention. The system does not judge based on amounts—it focuses on timing. If someone usually gave every month and hasn’t given in three months, that’s a meaningful signal worth a check-in.
How Donors Are Identified
The report uses each person’s giving history to determine their typical rhythm. It calculates:
- Average days between gifts: How often they typically give (e.g., monthly, quarterly).
- Days since last gift: How long it has been since their last approved gift.
- Overdue ratio: How many times longer they’ve been absent compared to their usual pattern.
The system only includes people who:
- Have gone longer than their usual pattern without a gift (overdue ratio of 1.0 or higher).
- Are between 60 and 365 days since their last gift.
- Have enough giving history to establish a pattern (e.g., multiple transactions).
People beyond 365 days are considered lapsed rather than at-risk and are not included in this report. New churches or churches with limited giving history may see a message that the system is still building insights—typically 3–6 months of data is needed.
Care Tiers
The care list is grouped into three tiers based on how overdue someone is:
- Priority Care: At serious risk of lapsing—these people need pastoral care this week. They are at least twice as overdue as their usual pattern.
- Personal Outreach: Drifting from their normal pattern—a timely check-in can make the difference. They are between 1.5 and 2 times overdue.
- Gentle Check-in: Slightly overdue—keep these on your radar but no urgent action needed. They are between 1.0 and 1.5 times overdue.
Each tier shows a count and a link to view all people in that tier in the People section. You can filter by tier when exporting.
Accessing the Report
To open the Stewardship Pastoral Care Report:
- Log in to the control panel.
- Click “Reports” in the left navigation menu.
- Click the “Stewardship Pastoral Care” card or link.
You can bookmark the Reports page and navigate to Stewardship Pastoral Care for quick access.
Time Window (Last Week / Last Month)
At the top of the report, you can switch between:
- Last Week: A 7-day window aligned with the previous week (Monday–Sunday). Best for weekly care rhythms.
- Last Month: A 30-day window aligned with the previous calendar month. Best for monthly overviews.
The time window affects:
- Trend data: Whether the report compares to the prior week or prior month.
- Recovered count: How many people returned to giving this period.
- Email reports: Weekly emails cover the previous week; monthly emails cover the previous month.
Campus Filter
If your church has multiple campuses, a campus dropdown appears in the report context bar. You can:
- All Campuses: View the full care list across all campuses.
- Specific campus: Filter the care list to only that campus.
Changing the campus filter reloads the page with the selected scope. Email settings and exports can be scoped to a campus as well.
Understanding the Report
At a Glance Metrics
At the top of the report, the “At a Glance” panel summarizes key metrics for your care list:
- Needs Attention: The number of people on your care list who may not have had care logged in the last 30 days. These are organized by priority below so you know who to reach out to first.
- Returned this period: How many people on your care list started giving again during the selected time window. Celebrate these wins with them!
- On care list: The total number of at-risk people, with a comparison to the prior week or month. A growing list is normal and means your tracking is working.
The Care List
The main care list shows each at-risk person grouped by tier. For each person you see:
- Name (linked to their profile)
- Tenure and giving pattern (e.g., “Faithful monthly giver for 3 years”)
- Days since last transaction and usual frequency
- Last gift date and last login date
- Contact info (email, phone, address) when available
- External IDs (e.g., ChMS links) when configured
- Care status (whether care has been logged recently)
- Log Care button
Each person also has an AI care briefing that loads with personalized context to help you prepare for outreach.
The list is paginated (default 30 per page). You can use Show All for Print to load the full list before printing or saving as PDF.
Former Recurring Donors
A separate section at the bottom highlights Former Recurring Donors—people who had active recurring giving that was cancelled and are now at-risk. Cancelling a recurring gift is often a deliberate decision, so these people may benefit from extra care.
The report shows their previous gift amount and frequency, plus when the subscription was cancelled.
Log Care Touchpoints
The Log Care button opens a modal where you can record a care touchpoint. You can:
- Select the type of care:
- Phone call
- Visit
- No concern (e.g., you confirmed they’re fine)
- Other
- Add optional notes
- Save the touchpoint
Once saved, the row updates to show the care status and the button changes to “Done.” Care logged in the last 30 days is counted toward the “Needs Attention” metric—people without recent care are highlighted.
The modal also shows the person’s contact info, giving history, and AI care briefing for quick reference.
Mark as Moved On
If someone has left your church or moved away, you can mark them as “Moved On” from the care modal. This removes them from future Stewardship Pastoral Care reports so your list stays focused on people who are still part of your congregation.
The system will ask for confirmation before applying this change.
Email Outreach
Click the Email button in the report header to open the email settings modal. You can send the report on demand or schedule recurring emails.
Send Report Now
To send the report immediately:
- Open the email settings modal.
- Under Send Report Now, choose the report format (Weekly or Monthly).
- Enter recipient email addresses (comma-separated or one per line).
- Click Send Report Now.
The report will be sent to the specified addresses within a few minutes.
Scheduled Email Reports
You can schedule automated care report emails:
- Weekly: Sent every Monday morning, covering the previous care week.
- Monthly: Sent at the start of each month, covering the previous month.
For each frequency, you can choose:
- All Donor Admins: Send to everyone with the Donor Admin role.
- All Donor Admins + Customize: Add or exclude specific people.
- Custom Email List: Specify exactly who should receive it.
You can also choose whether to include contact details (email and phone) in the report email. When off, recipients must log in to view donor contact information—recommended for privacy.
Schedules are disabled by default. Turn on the toggle for each frequency you want to enable.
Export, Print, and PDF
The report header includes several options for sharing and archiving:
- Print: Opens the browser print dialog. Use the report’s print styling for a clean layout.
- Save as PDF: Downloads the full report as a PDF file.
- Pastoral Briefing PDF: Downloads the AI summary and contact quick reference as a compact PDF.
- Export: Dropdown with options to export:
- All At-Risk People
- Priority Care
- Personal Outreach
- Gentle Check-in
Exports go to the People export page with the at-risk filter applied. You can then download as CSV or Excel. The campus filter is preserved when exporting.
Connecting to People and ChMS
Each person in the care list links to their profile in the People section. From there you can view their full giving history, update contact info, and manage their account. If your church uses a ChMS integration (such as Rock RMS, Planning Center, or Ministry Platform), external IDs may appear as badges in the care list—clicking them can open the person’s record in your ChMS for a complete view of their involvement.
AI Pastoral Summary
The report includes an AI-generated pastoral summary that:
- Summarizes key metrics (at-risk count, recovered, needs attention)
- Highlights notable patterns or trends
- Offers brief pastoral context for the period
The summary is expandable. If it’s long, click “View more” to see the full text. The AI summary is also included in the Pastoral Briefing PDF.
The care list includes per-person AI care briefings that load when you view each page. These provide context for outreach when you click the Log Care button.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can access the Stewardship Pastoral Care Report?
Users with the Donor Admin role can access the report. It appears under Reports in the navigation menu.
Why don’t I see any at-risk donors?
You may see a “zero at-risk” or “building insights” state. Zero at-risk means no one currently meets the criteria—everyone is engaged. Building insights means your church is new or has limited giving history; typically 3–6 months of data is needed before the system can identify patterns.
Can I filter the care list by campus?
Yes. If your church has multiple campuses, use the campus dropdown in the report context bar above the main content. The report, exports, and email settings will all reflect the selected campus.
What happens when I mark someone as “Moved On”?
They are removed from future Stewardship Pastoral Care reports. The system records a care touchpoint of type “moved on” so you have a record.
Why are some people in a “Former Recurring” section?
These people had active recurring giving that was cancelled and are now at-risk. Cancelling a recurring gift is often a deliberate decision, so the report surfaces them separately for extra pastoral attention.
Can I receive the care report by email automatically?
Yes. Open the Email settings modal and enable either Weekly or Monthly care emails. You can send to all Donor Admins, customize the list, or use a custom email list. Schedules are disabled by default.
Does the report show donor contact information?
Yes. If your church has collected email, phone, and address for donors, the contact info appears in the care list and in the Log Care modal. For scheduled email reports, you can choose whether to include contact details in the email or require recipients to log in for privacy.
Need help setting up or using the Stewardship Pastoral Care Report? Contact us at support@onlinegiving.org or (615) 206-4000. OnlineGiving.org provides courtesy setup assistance for churches.