Becoming a steward
Becoming a steward
Becoming a steward takes a few minutes. You find an animal whose caretaker is offering stewardship, read the terms, choose how you want to be recognized, and start a monthly subscription. This guide explains every field and choice along the way.
Step 1: Find an animal to support
Browse animals open for stewardship in the stewardship marketplace. You can filter by species, breed, and distance, just like browsing listings. You might find a rescued donkey near you, a wildlife ambassador, or a conservation animal halfway around the world.
You can also reach an offering directly from an animal's profile (its View offering or Support button), or by opening an invite link a caretaker or a friend sent you.
Step 2: Read the offering
Open the offering and read it fully before you commit. Here is Hollow, the great horned owl at a Virginia wildlife center.
Every part of this page tells you what you are agreeing to:
- Monthly rate, plus the service fee shown just beneath it. The fee is a flat 5% that Creatures adds on top of the rate. The rate is what the caretaker receives; the fee is what it costs to run the payment and platform.
- Updates from the caretaker: how often they promise to post (weekly, every two weeks, or monthly) and in what form (photos, videos, or news). This is the heart of what you are subscribing to.
- Stewardship spots: whether this is an exclusive one to one stewardship or a Circle, and how many spots are open. "0 of 1 filled" means this exclusive spot is open. A Circle shows something like "2 of 6 filled."
- Location, shown as precisely as the caretaker chose (full city and state, region only, or hidden).
- Caretaker: the person or organization you would be supporting. For Hollow, that is the wildlife center itself.
- Stewardship boundaries: the fixed reminders that support does not transfer ownership, custody, breeding rights, or access, and is not a tax-deductible donation by default.
- Terms: any extra expectations the caretaker added.
When you are ready, select Become a Steward (or Join Stewardship Circle for a Circle).
Step 3: Confirm, and choose how you are recognized
The confirmation page summarizes the relationship and breaks down exactly what you will pay.
The price breakdown. You will see three lines:
- Monthly stewardship rate: what the caretaker receives.
- Service fee (5%): the flat platform fee added on top.
- Monthly total: the amount billed to your card every month until you cancel.
Before you continue. These plain-language reminders matter, so read them:
- This is a recurring monthly payment processed through Creatures and Stripe. It renews until you cancel.
- It is not a tax-deductible donation by default. If the caretaker is an organization that provides its own donation or tax language, review that with your own advisor.
- You can cancel anytime from your dashboard, and your access continues through the period you already paid for.
- In the rare case a final spot is claimed while you are still checking out, Creatures cancels that subscription and starts an automatic refund.
Recognition. Choose how your support is shown to the public. This is yours to decide, and you can change it later:
- Show my Creatures profile. Your profile is publicly linked as a steward, so anyone viewing the animal can click through to you. Choose this if you want the credit and the connection to be public. (Worth getting that profile right first; see Setting up your profile.)
- Show a display name. A custom name appears (for example "The Vega Family" or "In memory of Sam"), with no link to your profile. Choose this for a family, a group, a business, or a tribute, when you want a name shown but not your account.
- Keep my public recognition private. Animal pages and routine notifications avoid naming you. The implication to understand: the caretaker can still see the account details they need to manage the stewardship and reach you. "Private" means private to the public, not anonymous to the caretaker.
Promo code and Creatures Credit. If you have a promo code, expand that field to apply it. If you have a Creatures Credit balance, you can put it toward your first payment.
The hold. When you continue, Creatures holds your spot for about 30 minutes while you finish checkout on Stripe, so no one else can claim it out from under you.
Step 4: Check out
You are redirected to Stripe to enter payment. Once it succeeds, your stewardship activates and appears in your dashboard within moments. From there you follow the animal: see Following your stewardship.
What it costs, and how to stop
Your ongoing cost is the monthly rate plus the 5% service fee, billed monthly. There is no minimum term. You can cancel anytime, and access continues through the period you already paid for.
Related information
Updated on: 23/06/2026
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