Four Most Common Donor Groups Defined
It might be going back to the basics, but defining the typical donor recognition groups is essential in planning and executing how you will thank those who support your organization’s goals. Let’s start by listing 4 of the most used donor groups in the fundraising industry:
1. Capital Campaign Donors
2. Cumulative Campaign Donors (Lifetime Giving)
3. Annual Campaign Donors
4. Planned Giving Donors (Legacy Giving)
Recognition for these four donor groups represents about 90% of the donor recognition displays that PIR designs and builds. Other groups are being recognized, but we’ll concentrate on the four most widely used for now. We’ll define each campaign or group listed and give examples of how these donors can be recognized on a display.
Capital Campaign Donors
A Capital Campaign is designed to raise large sums of money for a particular project in a defined period of time. It may be used to acquire funding for a new building, to add to an existing building, such as a hospital wing, or to increase an organization’s endowment. These campaigns may last for short periods or several years.
As a subset of a Capital Campaign, there are other groups to be recognized within this campaign, such as Major Donors who gave larger than normal amounts to your campaign or those who donated a specific part of the project, like Named Room Donors or Named Area Donors. These subset donors can be recognized on the main comprehensive display and have individual recognition plaques tied to the area they donated towards.
Donors listed on the comprehensive display will typically have several categories based on the giving level. Donor names usually graduate from a large font size to a smaller font size or may be distinguished by a different material or a nameplate that has more depth to show it’s a more significant gift size. It is common to begin planning your donor recognition long before your Capital Campaign is over or your building/project is complete. Many times, the recognition display will go up while still receiving donations. When this is the case, PIR will design your recognition display to be able to add more names as your donations come in. Some organizations, however, wait for the campaign to be completed before recognizing their donors – these displays can be static with no additional names being added.
Cumulative Donors
Cumulative recognition, also known as Lifetime Giving, is an ongoing program that adds up all the donations a person or entity has contributed throughout their relationship with your organization. The donor’s gift level is equal to the combination of all contributions given to your organization since its beginning or since a set start date. Various giving levels on your donor display will encourage donors to advance to a higher tier. Typically, once your donor is on the display, they will stay on it. A threshold amount is set for entry onto the donor recognition wall to make the donor group more exclusive. Donor levels could be indicated by different sizes of names or nameplates or simply by their location on the wall, for example, higher-level donors toward the top. Alternatively, you may want to have all the nameplates a consistent size so that you can move them up through the categories without purchasing a new nameplate size due to the progression of donors moving up in tiers. Another popular system for advancing donors through the tiers is our Clear Change system, which consists of changeable lists that allow updating often and economically.
Annual Campaign Donors
An Annual Campaign is a yearly appeal for donations to help fund an organization’s day-to-day operations. These donations are usually smaller than other campaign gifts. They are unrestricted and can be used for whatever purpose your organization deems necessary.
Since Annual Campaigns run for a calendar or fiscal year, it makes sense to have your recognition easily and affordably changed. Many clients ask for our Clear Change System to recognize their Annual Donors. PIR’s Clear Change System is a printed film that attaches to the donor wall, with an acrylic panel sandwiching the film between the acrylic and base material. Many Annual Campaigns have giving levels to encourage donors to hit a higher category level. Unlike Cumulative Giving, Annual Giving starts over each year. Most donor recognition for Annual Campaigns has a minimum donation criteria to be listed on the display. When there is no minimum, the lists can be lengthy because a $1 donation will get your donor recognized on the display. When the donor name lists are too long for a conventional display, an interactive computer monitor can be used.
Planned Giving Donors
Planned Giving, or Legacy Giving, is donating money or assets to your organization via the donor’s will or trust. Donors are recognized when your organization learns of their commitment, not when the gift is realized. Donor names on the donor display will typically all be the same size and without levels because the size of the gift is unknown at the time of recognition.
If you would like more details on the campaign types and how to recognize your donors, feel free to contact us; we’d be happy to help!