Acknowledgment question

Hi all -

We are in the process of reviewing and/or overhauling our acknowledgment process.  I am looking for some feedback.

Our managing director wants to play a bigger role in acknowledging our donors, which is great.  However, he is pretty dead-set against including the standard IRS "language" at the bottom of the letter (which is what we've always done).  He wants the letter to be more personal, and feels that the tax language destroys this somehow.

After some discussion, we think we may have arrived at a solution of sorts, which is to run the letter sans the IRS language, and include some kind of a "buck slip" which would detail the gift specifics (amount, date received) plus the language.

I am wondering what other organizations are currently doing, and/or if anyone would be willing to share samples of their acknowledgment letters and/or receipts.

Thanks much!

-Lisa McColgan

Annual Fund Coordinator, Huntington Theatre Company

Parents
  • Lisa,

     

    Our new President/CEO also likes to send personal notes for our major donors.  However, we’ve started a process where the devo staff lets him know when a major gift has come in and he sends his own semi-canned TY note and we send our usual donor receipt with the IRS info.  Kills a few more trees, but we feel the additional touches are worth it.

     

    If you’d like the language he’s using, I’ll be happy to ask if he’s willing to share.

    Julie

     

     

    Julie Olsen

    Annual Giving and Engagement Officer

    Walton Arts Center

    P.O. Box 3547

    Fayetteville, AR  72702

    jolsen@waltonartscenter.org

    ph.  479.571.2759

    fax  479.443.6461

    Visit www.waltonartscenter.org - choose your own seats online!

    P Please consider the environment before printing this email.

     

     

    From: Tessitura Development Forum [mailto:forums-development@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Lisa McColgan
    Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 11:16 AM
    To: Julie Olsen
    Subject: [Tessitura Development Forum] Acknowledgment question

     

    Hi all -

    We are in the process of reviewing and/or overhauling our acknowledgment process.  I am looking for some feedback.

    Our managing director wants to play a bigger role in acknowledging our donors, which is great.  However, he is pretty dead-set against including the standard IRS "language" at the bottom of the letter (which is what we've always done).  He wants the letter to be more personal, and feels that the tax language destroys this somehow.

    After some discussion, we think we may have arrived at a solution of sorts, which is to run the letter sans the IRS language, and include some kind of a "buck slip" which would detail the gift specifics (amount, date received) plus the language.

    I am wondering what other organizations are currently doing, and/or if anyone would be willing to share samples of their acknowledgment letters and/or receipts.

    Thanks much!

    -Lisa McColgan

    Annual Fund Coordinator, Huntington Theatre Company




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  • Former Member
    Former Member $organization in reply to Julie Olsen

    Hi Lisa, we do pretty much the same thing Julie mentioned.  In addition to our standard acknowledgement letter which comes from our Director of Development, our Executive Director will sign his own acknowledgement letter for major donors and anyone else we identify for him.  His letter is a few short sentences, in his language, which does give it a more personal touch.

    Anthony

Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member $organization in reply to Julie Olsen

    Hi Lisa, we do pretty much the same thing Julie mentioned.  In addition to our standard acknowledgement letter which comes from our Director of Development, our Executive Director will sign his own acknowledgement letter for major donors and anyone else we identify for him.  His letter is a few short sentences, in his language, which does give it a more personal touch.

    Anthony

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