Gifts in honour Archives - FundraisingForce

6 Apr 2016

Stephen Mally Anniversary, Charitable organisation, Charity, Gifts in honour, Gifts in memory, Nonprofit, Nonprofit organisations, Tribute giving

Charity reminders for anniversary gifts in memory

A friend of mine passed away a year ago tomorrow. His family and friends have been dreading this one-year milestone. I can only imagine what his parents and sister are facing.

Not everyone remembers the exact date a relative, friend, colleague, or neighbour passed away. At the time of death, people send cards, flowers, gifts to charities in memory of, and perform other gestures to emphasise their condolences.

But, a year on and people typically forget.

I received a helpful Email this week and it triggered an idea of a possible technique we may wish to adopt in the nonprofit sector. The Email was from a florist I used to send flowers to the parents of my friend a year ago. It reminded me I sent the flowers, the date I sent the flowers, and what arrangement I sent. The Email served as a prompt to send them again.

The Email caused me to wonder why charitable organisations do not use this methodology to prompt supporters to give on the anniversary of the death of loved ones, friends and colleagues. Such a reminder would trigger follow up or further gifts on the anniversary of the death.

Does your nonprofit organisation send any sort of reminder on the anniversary of a tribute gift? If so, tell us the steps you take and about the success of the program.

21 Jan 2016

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Gifts in honour, Gifts in memory, Nonprofit, Nonprofit organisation, Stewardship, Tribute giving

Gifts in memory – what follow up is appropriate?

People often times create a tribute at a charitable organisation when their loved one passes away. They will often times request people to give a donation to designated charities in lieu of flowers. Gifts in memory are a beautiful way to memorialise someone and to also support nonprofit organisations important to the survivors or to the loved one who has died.

The charitable organisations work hard to acknowledge the gifts made in memory of the person as quickly as possible. Nonprofit organisations focus on the processing of these gifts and sending notifications to the designated family member. But, what sort of follow up is done once the gifts start to trickle off?

Perhaps charities might do a better job maintaining contact with the survivors a few months after the tribute period and, likewise, make contact on the anniversary of their love one’s death. Not only is this a humane and meaningful thing to do for the family who will continue to grieve for the rest of their lives, but it is also a prudent act as part of your stewardship activity. It shows the family you truly care and, at the same time, may cause them to remember your charity on the anniversary of the death and/or the next time a sad or happy occasion requires a tribute. It is a safe bet to assume a hand written note or a phone call a few months after the death and, again, on the anniversary of the death will be most welcome.

23 Dec 2014

Stephen Mally Birthday, Christmas, Gifts in honour, Gifts in memory, MaryRose Mazzola, Tribute giving

Selfless acts for Christmas, birthdays or other milestones

A birthday reminder? Indeed, my birthday is just around the corner. It’s 5 January. On 5 December I received an email reminder about my own birthday and a terrific suggestion by Crowdrise, an online fundraising Website.

In this email reminder, Crowdrise suggested I set up a page for charity and ask friends to give in my honour to the charity. I thought this was a terrific idea and one many may implement.

The email reminded me of someone from Boston. A young woman named MaryRose Mazzola with whom I became acquainted with when she was just a young girl. MaryRose asked family and friends to give a donation to Lahey Clinic in lieu of gifts for herself on her 12th birthday. When Lahey Clinic was notified, I remember being amazed that someone so young would act in such a way. Motivated by an illness her beloved Grandmother (Nana) had, she wanted to make a difference as a 12 year old. I am not sure most adults would act in such a way, but MaryRose set a good example for all of us.

This last week, I was at a client site and learned about a 9 year old boy who is giving the money which would have been spent on his Christmas gifts to this particular charity. This story reminded me of MaryRose and the others who take such selfless acts to make a difference. Not only are people like MaryRose and this boy raising needed funds, but they are also attracting new donors to these charities who may otherwise have not donated to their charity of choice (or donated at all).

MaryRose, now attending Harvard University Law School, recently reported she has raised $100,000 to date in donations in tribute to her Nana. This is truly remarkable.

fundraising This holiday season, I hope you will think about what you can do. And, perhaps, you will set up a giving page in lieu of your birthday, anniversary, or some other milestone event. Organisations like GoFundraise, Everyday Hero, JustGiving and others are set up specifically to aid you in such efforts. As individuals we can do what GoFundraise call Do It Yourself (DIY) fundraise and get started now. As charities, we can promote such activity as party of our gifts in honour/gifts in memory program.

MaryRose Mazzola set a good example for each of us to follow and now it’s our turn.

16 Sep 2014

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity data, Customer Service, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, Gifts in honour, Gifts in memory, Memorial donations, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship, Tribute giving

Gifts in Honour of/in Memory of are critical and sensitive

I have given many donations to charities to recognise happy occasions – milestone birthdays, retirements or special recognition of friends and colleagues. I also give donations in memory of individuals, including relatives or of situations where a friends’ parents who passed away. I prefer to do this in cases where I am not in the same city and cannot be at the funeral services and prefer to do this in lieu of sending flowers or some other expression of sympathy. I have had some experiences where a charity really got it right and others where I wished I had taken some other course of action.

I had to call one charity, identified by my friend because of his father’s military service, repeatedly as I attempted to make a donation in his father’s memory. When I finally reached someone, after four messages to the staff at the charity, the person tried to convince me that I meant to make the contribution in memory of someone completely different. I was asked “Are you sure you do not mean (Mr X)?” when, in fact, I wanted to make the donation in memory of my friend’s father whose name I clearly knew. The same charity took more than 6 weeks to send notification to my friend. The notification to my friend finally arrived, but with my name spelled incorrectly.

Another charity took more than 4 weeks to send notification to a friend whose mother had passed away.

There is nothing worse, as a donor, to wonder if the donation was actually processed and then to wonder if the honouree or the family of the memorialised will actually ever get notified of the donation. The situation puts the donor in an uncomfortable position. The situation becomes more awkward over time when the family may believe you did not send an expression of sympathy. Additionally, the situation becomes a bit of a nightmare when the donor and family are talking about the charity’s bad practices.

I should state that when I have given gifts in memory, there have also been outstanding experiences. One, a US hospice where a friend’s mother was cared for in her final weeks, handled the international telephone call in a superb manner, sent immediate acknowledgement to me, and, also, quickly sent notification to my friend the same day of my gift. This hospice has continued to steward me over time and sends me their quarterly e-newsletter and the very occasional request for more support.

Speed and accuracy are important in any donation and acknowledgement processing. Speed and accuracy are the two most important attributes in tribute gifts. Tribute gifts are the most time sensitive gifts your organisation accepts. When a charity fails in either place (or both) that charity is not worthy of our support.

There are 6 questions which need to be asked within your organisation to ensure you are operating the back end of your tribute program in an effective manner:

Does your charity have trained staff to handle tribute calls?
Do you process donations in honour or memory within the same day or do these donations wait for a staff person who may only work part-time?
Does your charity pay attention to detail and ensure spellings of names and the addresses are accurate?
Does notification to the honouree or to the survivors get sent the same day or do you wait until you have a lot of them to notify parties?
Is your notification highly personalised?
Do you thank the donor the same day?

Do you inform the honouree or the survivors of the contact details of everyone who makes a donation in their honour or in memory of their loved one? Doing so assists them to pass along their gratitude, as well.

Tribute gifts are a source of income for most charities. Those who decide gifts should be directed to your organisation expect the gifts will be handled with accuracy and expeditiously. Donors expect the same. Do not let anyone down.