Tribute Gifts

Hi
When you receive a tribute gift (either honor or memorial) do you send a letter to both the donor and the honoree or family of the deceased? If so, what information do you include? Do you specifically ask the donor for permission to send a card to the honoree/family? For years, in addition to sending an acknowledgment letter to the donor, we have been automatically sending a card to the honoree/family that includes the donor's name and contact information. Given privacy concerns, we are re-evaluating if this is the best practice and would like to hear how others are handling this.
Thanks
Jess Levy
San Francisco Opera
415-551-6319

Parents
  • In addition to a letter of acknowledgement to the donor, we send a letter to the honoree/family notifying them that we received a gift in their loved one's honor/memory. We inform the family that we sent a letter of acknowledgement on behalf of the organization, and we provide them only the name and address of the donor in case they wish to also send a word of thanks. 

    I find that our small community expects to learn of such gifts, so I am curious about what is leading you to reconsider. Would love to learn more, if you can share. 

    Mary-Ellen

Reply
  • In addition to a letter of acknowledgement to the donor, we send a letter to the honoree/family notifying them that we received a gift in their loved one's honor/memory. We inform the family that we sent a letter of acknowledgement on behalf of the organization, and we provide them only the name and address of the donor in case they wish to also send a word of thanks. 

    I find that our small community expects to learn of such gifts, so I am curious about what is leading you to reconsider. Would love to learn more, if you can share. 

    Mary-Ellen

Children