Child-focused Donor Recognition: Opportunities for Creative Design

Designing donor recognition for projects focused on children provides special challenges and special rewards. “Bright and colorful, playful, engaging, interactive…” are the first instructions we hear. If a brand manager or the architect is in the room, “integrated, coordinated, and tasteful” get added to the list. Facilities chimes in with “safe, durable, and easy to maintain.” The foundation reminds us, “we may need to add names later” and “it has to be cost-conscious.” Such was the case in Chattanooga, Tennessee but there is so much more to be said about the Kennedy Outpatient Center at the Children’s Hospital at Erlanger.

Challenges and Advantages for Digital Donor Recognition

There are benefits and compromises inherent in the decision to use a screen to present donor recognition. A traditional donor wall allows a passive viewer to understand a considerable amount of information about the relationship between an organization and its donors without reading a single name. One can glean an idea of the number of donors from the size of the list. If a hierarchy of plaque sizes or categories is part of the display, those details let the viewer know that people give different amounts. The location of the display, the environment surrounding it, and the materials used to build it all help indicate the value the organization places on its donor. The best donor walls motivate the viewer to consider giving and explain how to make a gift.

Interactive Campaign Recognition on School Playground

Heurista recently completed a fun, interactive campaign recognition display at Hammond School, a private K-12 school in Columbia, SC. We were engaged to create a donor recognition strategy for the 50 Forward: the Campaign for HAMMOND, a campaign list that would be represented in three locations on campus- the new Innovation Center, the lower school gymnasium, and the lower school playground.

Sign Programs, Recognition, EngagementAnne Manner-McLartyNovember 30, 2017Creative Campaign RecognitionComment

Latest Thinking Regarding Naming Opportunities

Naming opportunities are a key component in fundraising for major gifts. Organizations associate donor names with campus-based spaces, programs, funds and faculty positions. The science of using naming opportunities to motivate giving — and using strategy and policy to manage possible risks — is evolving. Heurista has been studying advances in cross-departmental coordination, recognition policy, and design guidelines. We've gained valuable perspective by working with different types of institutions all across North America.

Sign Programs, RecognitionAnne Manner-McLartyMay 30, 2017naming opportunitiesComment

National Public Gardens Day

Over the years, Heurista has enjoyed working with a number of public gardens, helping to develop donor recognition strategy that is integrated with the overall visitor experience. Today we honor public gardens! National Public Gardens Day was created in 2008, by the American Public Gardens Association and then partner Rain Bird, to drive local and national exposure to the importance of building vibrant, relevant gardens committed to community enrichment and environmental responsibility through community engagement, sustainable practices, and conversation.

Brick Paver Programs: Lessons Learned

A paver program may be an attractive and relatively inexpensive way to raise friends, ensure good will and improve the surroundings at your institution....if the program is well thought out and streamlined so it is easy to perpetuate.

RecognitionAnne Manner-McLartyMay 2, 2017Fundraising, Paver ProgramComment

Stewardship Closeup: Naming Opportunities

Naming opportunities are a key component in fundraising for major gifts. Organizations associate donor names with campus-based spaces, programs, funds and faculty positions. The science of using naming opportunities to motivate giving — and using strategy and policy to manage possible risks — is evolving. Heurista has been studying advances in cross-departmental coordination, recognition policy, and design guidelines. We've gained valuable perspective by working with different types of institutions all across North America.

Professionalism, RecognitionAnne Manner-McLartyApril 19, 2017naming opportunitiesComment

Naming Opportunity Strategy

Naming opportunities are a familiar tool for securing and recognizing major gifts. This practice is now used by all types fundraising organizations and can address both physical spaces, like a building or office, or a concept, like a center or a faculty position.

Recognition, StorytellingAnne Manner-McLartyNovember 16, 2016donor recognition, donor wall, donor relations, Greenville Health SystemComment

Bok Tower Gardens: Campaign Recognition

Bok Tower Gardens is a historic landmark. The singing carillon tower and surrounding gardens were a gift from founder and philanthropist Edward W. Bok. Designed by architect Milton B. Medary, the tower features the finest design and craftsmanship of the period, including stonework by Lee Lawrie, tiles by J.H. Dulles Allen and metalwork by Samuel Yellin. The 60-bell carillon is one of the finest in the world. The gardens were designed by the renowned landscape architect Frank Law Olmstead, Jr.

RecognitionAnne Manner-McLartyOctober 26, 2016Campaign Recognition, donor recognition, donor wallComment

WNCAP: Leah Karpen donor recognition wall

Too often, smaller not-for-profit organizations assume that quality donor recognition is out of their reach. They don’t select products that represent their missions effectively or provide flexible communication potential. In doing so, they miss the opportunity to invest in outcomes that speak to the value the organization places on its donors and the unique character of the work that they support.