Following your stewardship
Following your stewardship
Once you are a steward, your stewardship dashboard is home base. It is where you follow the animal, read updates, adjust how you are recognized, and manage billing.
Your stewardships at a glance
Open Animals I'm Stewarding. Here is a steward following Clementine, the rescued donkey.
Each card explains itself field by field:
- The animal and its caretaker, with the date of the last update.
- Monthly support: your all-in monthly charge (the rate plus the 5% fee), so you always know what leaves your card.
- Started: the date your stewardship began.
- Next payment: when the next monthly charge will run. If you have canceled, this is replaced by the date access ends.
- Caretaker promise: how often updates are expected (for example "Monthly updates"). This is the commitment the caretaker made.
- Public recognition: how you currently appear (your profile, a display name, or private).
- Latest from the caretaker: a preview of the most recent update and when the next one is expected, with an Open updates link to the animal's profile.
What your read access includes
You appear on the animal's profile in its Team block, marked as a steward.
As a steward you can see the animal's profile, posts, gallery, pedigree, and records, even when the animal is private to the public. That access is the point: you get a real window into the animal's life. For a tour of those tabs and what each one holds, see Your animal's profile page: the tabs and what each one does.
You cannot: edit the animal, post to its profile, list it for sale, claim ownership, or manage its team. Stewardship is read access and connection, not control. The caretaker remains the only one who manages the animal. Knowing this up front sets the right expectation: you are a supporter and a follower, not a co-owner.
Reading updates
The caretaker posts updates on the animal's profile, and any post they make counts as a stewardship update. You will see new updates on the profile and in the Latest from the caretaker preview. The dashboard also shows when the next update is expected, so you know what to watch for.
Change how you are recognized
Use the Recognition control on the card to switch between showing your profile, showing a display name, or keeping your recognition private. If you pick the display-name option, a field appears for the custom name. Save to apply it everywhere your support is shown. There is no limit on changing this.
Billing, canceling, and what happens next
Your card shows your Next payment date. To stop, use Cancel Stewardship. The implication to understand: canceling stops the next charge, and your access continues through the period you already paid for. It is month to month, with no penalty for leaving.
If a payment fails, you keep access during a 7-day grace period while Stripe retries the card, so a card that simply needs updating does not cut you off immediately.
If the animal is sold, you are notified and billing stops. If the animal passes away, you are notified, its history is preserved, and future billing stops. A stewardship is never silently moved to another animal. When a stewardship ends for any reason, you and the caretaker can leave each other a review.
Related information
Updated on: 23/06/2026
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