Chairs, Professorships and Scholarships are Underappreciated on Campus
In our recent survey to Georgia Education Advancement Council members, who are responsible for fundraising and communication efforts at the state’s colleges and universities, we learned a lot about methods and attitudes related to non facility-based gift recognition. By that term I mean, gifts aimed at named chairs, professorships and scholarships as opposed to those that name a room or building.
Filed under Best Practices for Donor Recognition, Donor Recognition Programs, Recognition Environments, Stewardship, Think Before You Thank | Tags: area naming, Best Practices for Donor Recognition, Communications, Fundraising, Naming Opportunities, Philanthropy, Stewardship, Think Before You Thank, Trends in Fundraising | Comments Off“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 OffUnintended Messages in Thanking!
This picture is the result of an actual donor complaint. An elderly donor drove by the building named for her husband in order to show it to a friend. As soon as she returned home from her “drive-by”, she called Institutional Advancement. Her exact words to the Stewardship Manager, I did not overhear, yet I can imagine her chagrin. Suffice it to say that she felt that this building represents his legacy and in the past she found great comfort from seeing his name on it. And I do know she very pointedly asked questions as to the importance of his legacy to the university! It was, I was told, a difficult phone call to manage.
