Recognition Boot Camp

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How does Donor Recognition play into “The Chicken or the Egg” philosophy in the not-for-profit community?

Some Not-for-Profits wait until after they receive contributions in order to extend gratitude and recognition to their supporters. After their fundraising effort, they often establish a budget to create a display in their facility and begin to use that display to inform and encourage other donors to get involved. As an alternative, we can create a recognition display up front and use those same dollars to inform, request, encourage and thank whenever your facility is open to the public. Many organizations consider it an advertising budget before it becomes a recognition budget. So what comes first, “The Chicken or the Egg?” 

One of the tasks usually put on the back burner, surprisingly, is Donor Recognition. Donors are the financial backbone and the entire future of the mission and donor appreciation is the key to acquiring and maintaining that financial and volunteer base. Thus the question, do you establish donor recognition after the donations have been received or do you invest and allow the recognition to HELP you raise those critical funds?

Written By: Bill Miller

• Recognition often inspires further investment from the donor. Virtually no one makes one major lifetime gift and walks away. Giving grows as our involvement grows-and involvement is never more timely than after a person donates. I have yet to find a donor who is inaccessible after making a generous gift.
• There’s virtually no public relations downside to recognition. It’s news, the media like it, and it’s positive. Quite often the recognition highlights a new facility, showcases a campus improvement, or introduces an activity within the institution. The connection between the donor and the new development is obvious; it’s our job to show that relationship.
• Recognition displays your institutions style and gratitude. It shows good stewardship. It says you’re thoughtful, attentive, and caring.
• The donor has friends, family, and business associates who may be inspired by such gifts to be generous themselves. Your trustees also appreciate the recognition; they want to know they aren’t the only ones giving.
• Your faculty, staff, and students may be inspired by donor recognition. Certainly knowing someone just stepped forward to allow your campus to do something it couldn’t before is the kind of good news your institution’s family really appreciates.
• You promised the recognition, and in some way it helped motivate that major gift. (If that isn’t true, you need to re-examine your major gift program.)
• It’s relatively easy to involve your president or your board chair in such a positive activity. Key leaders usually like being asked to do something special for someone who has done something special for them.
• Donor recognition usually doesn’t take much time or money. Rather, sincerity and creativity are the most important ingredients.

Given its importance and value, then, it’s surprising that so few institutions receive top marks for recognizing major donors. Why not? 

Some charitable organizations lack an attitude of gratitude. It’s our job to let donors know we deliberately seek out major givers, we appreciate them, and we want to show it.

Another fault in the process is the idea that donors don’t want recognition. Sometimes volunteers say donors don’t want it; other times donors say, “No thanks.” Our message needs to be: “We are asking you to allow us to thank you. We want to. Won’t you please let us?” When donor say, “Oh, no need; I’d be embarrassed,” what they’re often saying is, “I don’t want it to look like that was the reason I gave. Assure me that you genuinely want to recognize me”

To help your development staff do the right thing, follow these four steps.

1. Write out your donor recognition plan. When I examine an institution’s fund-raising activities, I ask if there is such a plan. If not, the development staff is probably not thanking its donor very well. A good plan says who’s directing it, lists the deadlines, and names the activities designed for donors at all levels. The plan contains details about acknowledgment and thank-you letters, donor listings, special events, follow-up reports to donors, private meetings, news releases, citations, gift club benefits, and more.
2. Budget for it. Some development officers say a donor recognition budget should be 1 to 2 percent of whatever you raise. That’s not always an accurate guide, but whether we’re planning for a capital campaign or annual giving, we should be sure to include donor recognition as a budget line item. How can we properly thank the person who just gave us something if we haven’t allotted the money to do it right?
3. Announce your recognition policies in advance. Let donors know what they can expect. Produce a brochure that outlines your recognition plan: “if you give us $100 you become a member of the President’s Club” or “If you give $1 million we would like to name the building after you.” As fund raiser and author SiSeymomour said, “People relish earned reward and recognition.” So make those things part of asking.
4. Promote your major donor recognition plan, especially with the board members, key volunteers, and the first large givers in any fund-raising effort. Volunteer solicitors must know you want them to stress the idea to major gift prospects. Your solicitors should use the plan as a tool to encourage additional generous gifts.

The best way to make that happen, of course, is to fully and sincerely recognize those volunteers as initial major donors for what they have so generously given.

That’s because showing your institution’s gratitude is not just the right thing to do. It’s essential to keeping those major gifts coming.

By Patrick Ryan.

He was president and CEO of Staley Robeson Ryan St. Lawrence Inc., which is a U.S. fund-raising consulting firm. He was also joint managing director of the Downes Ryan Group, an international fund-raising consultancy. In addition, he currently serves as chair of the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel Inc.

You need to resist this temptation. The secret to crafting effective donation thank-you letters is “making the donor the star of every transaction,” as Conrad Squires puts it in his book, Teach Yourself to Write Irresistible Fund-raising Letters.

The quickest and cheapest way to build donor loyalty and reduce donor attrition is to tell your donors how much they are accomplishing in the world through your organization. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your mission. And that they are right in continuing their support.

How to make the donor the hero!

1. Use the word “you” more than you use the word “we.” Make the letter all about the donor.

2. Show a direct link between the donor’s donation and your mission. For example: “Thanks to your generous gift of $100, we fed 52 homeless men last night while the temperature hovered around -18� outside. Those men are thankful to you. And so am I.”

3. Go beyond the donation to the donor, and describe how grateful you are for the donor as a person, as a supporter, as a friend of your organization.

4. Make your donors feel special by describing how they are one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, by supporting your cause while others do not.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_20880_3.html
Author: Alan Sharpe

However, charitable bequests, giving through ones personal will or other estate planning vehicle, continue to be a popular method of giving. Americans bequeathed another $17 billion to charities in 2005. The advantages of making bequests to your favorite charity are many.

• First, leaving money to a charity through your will ensures that, if needed, the donor can use the assets during his or her lifetime.

• Second, money bequeathed to a charity is not subject to federal or state death taxes.

• Third, assuming that an individual or couple plan or developing a personal will or other estate planning tool, bequeathing money to a charity does not cost the donor extra legal or other fees.

• Additionally, there are a variety of ways to bequeath money so that the needs of heirs, loved ones and friends can be addressed. Charitably inclined individuals have also found that they can afford to make a more significant death after their death, instead of giving a smaller gift of cash while alive.

Bequests can be made in any amount that the donor desires. Many individuals will bequeath a fixed dollar amount to a charity. There is no minimum or maximum amount. An individual can leave $1 or their entire estate to a charity, or any amount in between. Bequests can be made that are contingent on another event. For example, an individual may leave money to a charity “only in the event that they have no heirs that survive themselves”. One may provide for a charity through their will be leaving the organization a percentage of their estate.

In certain cases, individuals will name more than one charity as a beneficiary of their estate. As an example, one may designate five charities to share equally a portion of their estate. There are many variations of charitable bequests. Donors are urged to include close family members in their discussions about charitable bequests and to seek competent, professional legal and financial advice before making any decisions about the distribution of their wealth after death. While charities are always grateful of the thoughtfulness of donors who leave charitable bequests, most non-profit organizations want donors to ensure that the needs of heirs, loved ones and friends are considered first, before the needs of the charity.

About the Author

JOHN D. PASTOREK, CFRE

John Pastorek has served as President of the Allegheny-Kiski Health Foundation since 1990. John has been a member of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals (AFP) since 1988 and has been a Certified Fund Raising Executive since 1999. He also has served on the Board of Directors of the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations (PANO) since 2004. John was instrumental in establishing the Pennsylvania State Issues Task Force in 1996, which took a lead role in writing, and motivating the PA legislature to pass, PA Act 127, “the Charitable Gift Annuity Law”. John has taught many fund raising and non-profit seminars, and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Education and Communication, and a Master of Science Degree in Management.

1) In 2006 and 2007, individuals 70 1⁄2 and older may cumulatively transfer up to $100,000 directly from an IRA to qualified charities;

2)The charitable distribution counts toward minimum distribution requirements;

3) Charitable distributions may be made in addition to any other charitable giving you may have planned; and

4) Because the distribution generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, even non-itemizers can benefit. Please note that distributions must be made to qualified charities via direct transfer but may not be directed to donor advised funds, charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities or similar planned gifts. State tax treatment varies from state to state. You should seek the advice of tax and/or legal counsel to best determine how this new federal legislation impacts you or your charitable organization.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the information contained in this communication is not intended as legal or tax advice. It is provided purely for information purposes. To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax references contained in this communication (including any attachments) are not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Written By: Jack Miller, CFRE

Director of Gift Planning,
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation

Jack Miller has coordinated capital campaigns, special events and estate planning seminars. He has written and produced two planned giving videos and helped individuals contribute millions of dollars to charity. Miller, is a certified fund-raising executive, member of the National Committee on Planned Giving and president-elect of the Pittsburgh Planned Giving Council (PPGC). In 2000, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (APF), Western Pennsylvania Chapter, named him its Outstanding Fund-Raising Executive. In 1992, he helped to organize a statewide development issues task force that was instrumental in passing Act 1996-127 that established parameters for Pennsylvania charities to issue gifts. Some of the more interesting gifts he has closed during his career include an outright gift of a personal residence with a retained life-interest and the first funeral home in Pennsylvania to fund a charitable remainder annuity trust. In 1998, his planned giving program at United Way of Allegheny County received United Way of America’s Lasting Legacy Award, symbolic of the best planned giving program in the United States.

1)      “D.A.V.E. is working even when you’re not”

2)      “D.A.V.E. is a strong public relations resource”

3)      “Building ongoing relationships is easy with D.A.V.E.”

4)      “D.A.V.E. can support your future fundraising efforts” 

5)      “D.A.V.E will showcase your programs and your activities” 

6)      “D.A.V.E. lets your constituency know how their donations have helped the mission”

7)      “D.A.V.E. communicates your gratitude for donor and volunteer giving”

8)      “Donors and volunteers like to feel needed and D.A.V.E. tells them they are”

9)      “D.A.V.E. wears many hats. Recognition, Marketing, Advertising just to name a few”

10) ”D.A.V.E. honors donors and encourages giving at higher levels. It inspires further investments from donors, families and friends”

A dynamic recognition display allows everyone to participate. It not only recognizes those large single gifts that are received from time to time (especially in a specific campaign) but also those smaller gifts given with consistent caring over a longer duration.  Each is important to the organization’s success and growth and both deserve recognition to show appreciation.  Additionally, cumulative recognition allows the donor to see and be thanked for his/her entire history of giving and not simply for a brief “snapshot” of the donor’s generosity.

Not-for-profits spend significant amounts of money to recognize donors who give during annual appeals or capital drives.  With static recognition, those donors will feel appropriately thanked at the time of dedication; however, the recognition vehicle soon begins to fade into the surrounding décor after the end of the event.  As a plaque on the wall, it soon loses its appeal and disappears—if not from view, then certainly from our consciousness.

If, however, organizations would invest a little more into the display, a flexible, expandable, non-defined perimeter piece can be created that will become a dynamic part of their ongoing fundraising efforts.  For example, it could include a rotating art exhibit of historic and/or current events that tell a story; this will keep it a consistent area of interest.  It will allow organizations to recognize into the future for all donations: large and small, planned gifts and legacies, life insurance proceeds and wills.

Not-for-profits can create giving levels and giving clubs, which allow donors to be continually recognized as their gifts grow through the years.  Additionally, they can identify capital campaign donors as the “founders” for a cumulative approach and use their gifts to help generate dollars forever.  This method will multiply the effects of donor generosity for years to come.

As you can see, cumulative recognition, or a dynamic display, works for organizations dependent on their donors both large and small; after all, both should have the opportunity to be recognized for their total effort on behalf of the not-for-profit.

 Whichever direction you ultimately decide to take (static or cumulative); we hope you allow Design for Recognition to prepare a design to meet your goals and objectives.  At that time, we will review the Information Worksheet in detail, and then proceed with a design which will fulfill all your needs and expectations.  The result will be a plan that will lead to consistent recognition for a deserving, ever-expanding donor base.

Written by: Bill Miller

Investing in well thought out recognition art can be a sincere “Thank You” to the people who sustain your organization through financial contributions, reminding them that you could not have accomplished your mission without them. Donor recognition is also a great way to recognize the “little guy.” A common misconception and pitfall of organizations is that they only spend time to truly recognize their major contributors, leaving the “little guy” not feeling important. In most cases, the majority of a nonprofit organization’s funding comes from many “little guys” not a handful of large donors. Initiating donor recognition in your organization can be a cost effectively strategy to thank even your smallest financial contributors while creating a community between your donors. For example, a donor wall is a great way to show your donors you appreciate their sacrifices in a creative and positive way; and you may be surprise how it can fit your budget. So seek a experience recognition consultant who can help your organization in creating and implementing a donor recognition initiative, it can be the important link between your donors and your organization, creating a lasting and supportive relationship which both parties can appreciate.

Written By: Bill Miller

1. Write Out

This may seem like a no-brainer but you may be surprised how often it is forgotten. Many donor recognition campaigns can last a couple of years and if you do not have a plan written out, you may find yourself lost or forget your goals once you get started. A good plan will tell you who’s directing it, when and what are the deadlines, and what is designed for donors at all levels. The plan should also contain details about acknowledgment and thank you letters, donor listings, special events, follow-up reports to donors, private meetings, marketing initiatives, press releases, social networking, and gift club benefits.

2. Budget

How can you properly thank a donor if you haven’t allocated any money to do it? Some fundraising consultants say a donor recognition budget should be one to two percent of whatever you raise during your campaign. This is not always accurate, as every campaign is unique; but whether you are planning for a capital campaign or annual giving, you must ensure that donor recognition is an expense that is planned for.

3. Announce

Make sure that your donors know exactly what to expect. Produce a brochure, e-mail, or other marketing collateral that outlines your recognition plan (and make sure it is on your website). Not only can this clear up any misconceptions with your donors, it also provides the direction and incentive donors are looking for. A simple and well communicated guide can encourage donors to give at their highest level possible, ensuring a successful campaign.

4. Promote

Make sure everyone knows about your donor recognition plan; especially board members, key volunteers, and your major donors. If your volunteer solicitors do not know about your donor recognition plan, they may be leaving valuable funds on the table. Make sure your solicitation material includes how you will recognize donors and that your solicitors use it as a plan to encourage more generous donations. Also, do not forget to make sure that previous donors have already been thanked for the gifts that they have already given. Showing your organization’s gratitude is not just the right thing to do, it’s essential to ensuring future funding.

Written By: Mike Ingelsby