“Buying Legacy”: Donors RARELY give for self-serving reasons!
A recent Bloomberg article blew my mind! It’s titled, Getting Your Name on a Building Gets Cheaper as Non-Profits Compete. The article considers the possibility that donors may be able to negotiate gift amounts for naming opportunities during this economic crisis. True enough. Yet it also calls the act of giving “the price for immortality,” claiming that donors “buy” recognition. Nowhere in the article is there any mention of the basic tenet that donors give out of passion for a cause and that they do so to advance the mission of the organization. I’m offended on behalf of all philanthropists and fundraisers. I can only hope that the fundraising consultants mentioned in the article were misquoted to serve the author’s sarcastic premise. Continue reading »
Filed under Anne Manner-McLarty, Donor Communications, Donor Recognition Programs, Philanthropy | Tags: Capital Campaign, Donor Recognition, Fundraising, giving, Naming Opportunities, Philanthropy, Think Before You Thank, Trends in Fundraising | Comments OffAnonymous Donors Deserve Permanent Recognition. Fundraisers Benefit too.
This week Amherst College in Massachusetts announced two impressive gifts, $100 million and $25 million, both made by graduates who asked to remain anonymous. Emory’s Winship Cancer Center recently received $4.7 million anonymously. Earlier this year, more than a dozen colleges and universities received multi-million dollar donations from an anonymous donor who worked through financial advisors to guarantee that not even the institutions knew the origin of the gifts. Despite the donors’ requests to be anonymous, it is imperative that these gifts receive permanent, public recognition.
Filed under Anne Manner-McLarty, Donor Communications, Philanthropy | Tags: Anonymous Donor, area naming, Best Practices for Donor Recognition, Donor Recognition, Naming Opportunities, Philanthropy, Trends in Fundraising | Comments OffLeverage a Position of Authority through Donor Recognition Planning
Today Anne and I presented at the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy International Conference in San Francisco. We used the Greenville Hospital System’s Donor Recognition Program Standards & Guidelines as a case study to demonstrate how documented policy can leverage a position of leadership for the fundraiser. Our experience has shown that donor recognition planning has a positive impact on giving to the organization.
The handouts from this presentation are included here for quick reference.
AHP International Presentation 092609
In short, we focused on the eight key components of any comprehensive and fully-functioning donor recognition policy:
- Written donor recognition policies and procedures
- Comparative analysis of giving programs and their benefits
- Naming opportunities master plan with proposed location and scope of architecturally-integrated recognition elements
- Guidelines for donor recognition design
- Content formatting guidelines
- Product installation maintenance guidelines
- Product order forms
- Product implementation reference library
Participants were asked to complete a survey on the status and value of any donor recognition policy already in existence for their organizations. Likely the first ever research into this subject, findings from this survey will be available here soon. If you would like to participate in this research and analysis of the correlation between programmatic donor recognition and broadened and enhanced giving, please email thanks@rewinc.com for further information. Reference “survey” in the subject line.
This is the AHP presentation: Leverage a Position of Authority through Donor Recognition Planning.
Donor Recognition “Branding” within Your Organization
Most often one thinks of branding as a marketing activity but if you flip the branding coin you see how basic marketing theories go hand-in-hand with donor recognition. The two together work as a team, enforcing your organization’s overall presence, personality, and values. Continue reading »
Filed under Best Practices in Donor Recognition, Donor Recognition Programs, Philanthropy, Recognition Environments | Tags: Best Practices, Communications, Development, Donor Recognition, Philanthropy, Stewardship, Successes, Think Before You Thank | Comments Off