A Major Gift Q & A
Question:
I followed the link to the U of Nebraska announcement that the photo came from in your earlier blog posting. In reading the story/release, I found it curious that the donors were mentioned by name and that theirs was the lead gift, but no mention of the size of the gift. Is that common practice? Sure, I'm curious about the size of the gift, but it also seems knowing the size of the gift would be inspirational to other donors.
Answer:
Many donors are willing for the size of their gift to be known internally and are very willing for the amount to be shared with other potential lead gift donors to help inspire giving. But, it's fairly common for these same donors to be reluctant to make the gift totally public as it just exposes them to many other nonprofits asking for gifts.
The recognition options listed above are part of my standard gentle letter of intent (commitment form or pledge form) that I use with major gift donors. After closing the gift, I walk the donor(s) through each recognition option so thinking can begin on how to control their exposure in the community.
Of course the ideal is full disclosure as a role model to everyone in the community. Warren Buffet's gift was a classic. But, many people are quite ready for this.
Many people need time to think about recognition issues so we agree to meet in a few weeks to determine their level of visiblity. I have been somewhat amazed to know of the number of donors who want virtual anonymity but are willing for other pace setting gift prospective donors to be made aware of their gift.
This whole discussion is a great example of how you do major gift fundraising personally rather than in the newspaper.
Permanent Link: Donor Recognition Options
http://majorgiftsguru.com/2008/12/donor-recognition-options.html
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