The Problem With Donor Recognition

The late Hank Rosso, founder of the Fund Raising School that now has international roots through Indiana University, stated that "one of the chief fundraising officer's roles is that of a teacher."

That said, I am constantly doing research on various topics related to our field of service. All of us work very hard to research, cultivate, solicit and steward donors. As part of the teaching and learning process, continual knowledge of how we recognize donors must come into play.

Donors are recognized in many forms from handwritten thank-you notes to names on buildings. As the recognition level increases in permanence, the stakes are higher for potential problems. I was surprised that I had to open five books on the subject of recognition before I found a specific section on this important topic.

I opened the Indianapolis paper this week and, to my surprise, saw a front-page article that gave me pause. The headline was "Purdue donor set to sue over 'God.'" A donor in good faith made a multiyear pledge in honor of his parents. The university asked the donor to create words for a plaque to be placed outside a dedicated conference room. The university ultimately rejected the plaque and gift due to the usage of the word "God" in a public facility. There is now possible litigation and a potential long-term relationship between a donor and university that has now turned sour. All of the good will that was created in this case has resulted in a public relations mess.

The point of my story is not to debate that specific issue. The point is there are problems seen and unseen with recognition of donors and the institutions that are recipients of funds. Problems with naming recognition come in many forms.

Here are a few examples of recognition problems that I have seen in my career: