Donor Recognition & Story-telling: Fundraisers’ Powerful Engagement Tool

October 9th, 2012

I’ve got a link below that will serve donor recognition immensely through improved story-telling. Stories work to engage viewers and don’t forget that viewers are all propsective donors. There’s a webinar being given that should sharpen the skills of us all. I’ve signed up. I thought others should know about it, too. Continue reading »

Total Recognition Program Review or an Immediate Product Need?

August 24th, 2012

There are 2 primary occasions when we are called upon to help. This is written as an open letter to any fundraiser who understands that donor recognition is the most under-utilized “moves management” tool at hand.  We simply urge that you “think before you thank”. Continue reading »

Donor Recognition as “Jewelry”

June 12th, 2012
$100,000 - $499,999 gift level

While there are definite administrative advantages for taking a programmatic approach to recognizing donors, when it looks this good, no one even notices!

As part of their moves management strategy for the “Pillars for Support” campaign at Georgia College and State University, VP for Institutional Advancement Amy Amason and consultant Del Martin established standards and guidelines for all donor recognition implementation, including internal processes.

And for those of you who like these details: they utilize an interactive re-ordering system meant to enhance layout/working consistencies and accuracies; this plaque commemorates a naming opportunity at the $100,000-$499,999 gift level; and at 12″ x 14″ x 1/2″, it only cost .006% of the minimum gift amount.

Written by: Robin E. Williams

Cast Bronze Commemoration in the 21st Century

December 15th, 2011





These are sculpted 3d Bronze using photgraphic image












I really do know that the sculpted bronze castings on the left that we conceived of and just installed as part of an extensive for a Centennial celebration at the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany GA are not really comparable in beauty to Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise below.





Michaelangelo named the masterpiece "The Gates of Paradise"

















Yet they really are lovely and I show them here because they represent  a unique evolution in bronze castings.  All it takes to cast an image in bronze like ours for Phoebe is good photography and an understanding of how lights and darks within a photo will translate into the “highs” and “lows”  of a casting. Anyone’s photo can result in a three dimensional cast metal product.

An age-old tradition (remember the “Bronze Age“?), cast plaques have been a standard for commemoration and donor recognition literally for centuries. Yet just in my lifetime, hand-set type has replaced by photographic typographical reproduction which meant that logos and anyone’s typestyle preferences could be reproduced in bronze perfectly.  This photographic advancement in castings (bronze and aluminum) is called “Imagecast” by Matthews, is a natural “next step” for the industry.

We’ve been using Imagecast reproductions as a replacement for hand-sculpted castings for quite awhile whenever it’s appropriate for a client’s need. Certainly it is cheaper than having an artist sculpt for a casting in bronze. And at the same time, since the outcome is a realistic, almost exact, reproduction of an image, the impact is much more meaningful to most viewers and donors. It’s a treat to have the pleasure of seeing a cast image as a replica of the photographic image .

And here’s one more photo of the entire Gallery on the 2nd floor. The 1st floor here houses their completely re-purposed and renovated Distinguished Leadership Gallery which was completed at the same time. This newly recharged philanthropy center celebrates this community’s remarkable commitment to giving and is an absolutely beautiful conclusion to a very satisfying client relationship.





Distinguished Leadership and Centennial Galleries at Phoebe Putney Hospital















Written by Robin E. Williams