PROTOCOL
FOR CAMPAIGN GIFT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Wabash College will need to acknowledge donors in a timely manner,
both immediately and for the long haul. Wabash will respond promptly
to new gifts and pledges both in writing and by other appropriate
means; the College will also issue further acknowledgement and
recognition of leadership donors through reports, letters from
beneficiaries, visits from Wabash representatives, and naming of
fiscal or physical assets.
Timely acknowledgement will help keep donors connected with the
Wabash community. A prompt acknowledgement honors their investment
in Wabash. Reports, correspondence, and visits will strengthen the
connection with Wabash through information about the life of the
College and involvement in that life. Publicizing the gift through
an honor roll, event, or naming of a room, building, or fund will
enable other members of the Wabash community to acknowledge the
donor’s impact on the College, thereby strengthening his
relationship to the community.
Acknowledgement of gifts and recognition of donors will be
consistent with Wabash’s image. Events, publications, and thank-you
gifts will reflect in both style and quality the values that
characterize Wabash.
Acknowledgements are just the beginning of the process of
Stewardship, but they can be the most important step of an overall
stewardship plan for donors, as they set the tone for continuing
relations between the donor and the College. As Wabash acknowledges
gifts in a timely manner, maintains connections between the donor
and the College community, and sustains a consistent image, the
strong legacy of philanthropic spirit started by the Campaign for
Leadership will continue.
In order to accomplish this, Wabash will act in the following
manner.
A: The baseline or default response to gifts and/or pledges is:
All gifts to the College will be acknowledged by an official receipt
thank you letter within two working days of the arrival of the gift
on campus.
Annual donors of $250-999 will receive a letter from the Chair of
the Greater Wabash Foundation at the beginning of the month after
the gift is received. (Trustees will not receive this letter). Any
changes in gift club status will be noted.
Donors of $1,000+ will receive a letter from the Chair of the 1832
Society at the beginning of the month after the gift is received.
(Trustees will not receive this letter). Any changes in gift club
status will be noted.
Phonathon pledges will be acknowledged in writing immediately after
the pledge is made via a handwritten note from the student caller
who took the pledge.
The Director of the Greater Wabash Foundation will acknowledge all
pledges (excluding phonathon pledges) of $1-999. These pledge
acknowledgments will be prepared within 48 hours of receipt of the
pledges.
The Dean for Advancement will review all gifts and pledge payments
of $1,000 and above and add personal acknowledgements, as
appropriate, within 48 hours of receipt of the gift or pledge
payment.
The Chairman of the Campaign will acknowledge outright gifts and
pledges of $10,000 and above.
Documented bequests, trusts, life insurance gifts, and other planned
giving vehicles that have been confirmed (not matured) shall be
acknowledged by the Director of Major Gifts within 48 hours of
notification for all gifts up to $100,000. The Dean for Advancement
shall acknowledge any confirmed planned gift of $100,000 and above.
The Dean for Advancement and the Director of Major and Planned
Giving will advise the President of the College regarding the donors
he should acknowledge.
The President of the College will be provided a list of all
donors who have made a gift of $1,000 or more for his personal
acknowledgements.
The Dean for Advancement will acknowledge all gifts and pledges from
trustees and members of the board of the National Association of
Wabash Men. These acknowledgements will be prepared within 48 hours
of receipt of the pledge.
The Dean for Advancement and Chairman of the Faculty/Staff Campaign
will acknowledge any pledge or gift made by a faculty or staff
member. The Dean will send a receipt thank you letter and the
Chairman will send a thank you letter. These acknowledgements will
be prepared within 48 hours of receipt of the pledge or gift.
The Dean for Advancement will acknowledge any gift from the
Independent Colleges of Indiana.
The Senior Advancement Officer and Coordinator of Volunteer Services
will acknowledge any gifts from non-alumni or non-parent owned
corporations and all foundations, excluding matching gifts from
corporations.
When a matching gift is received, a letter to the donor will be
generated and signed by the Director of the Greater Wabash
Foundation, excluding trustees. Matching gift companies will receive
a receipt only.
Any alumni-owned or parent-owned business that makes a gift will be
acknowledged as if the individual owner made the gift.
Letters acknowledging the receipt of memorial gifts, without
specifying the gift amount, will be sent to the appropriate person
in the family by the Dean for Advancement once a month.
When a gift of stock is made, the valuation of the stock will be
included in the receipt thank you letter, which will be signed by
the Dean for Advancement.
If volunteers give their expenses to the College as an in-kind gift
instead of reimbursement, the Senior Advancement Officer and
Coordinator of Volunteer Services will acknowledge the gift with a
thank you letter.
Upon receipt of the final pledge payment (excluding phonathon
pledges), a letter of acknowledgement from the Dean for Advancement
will be generated thanking the donor for the completion of the
pledge.
All letters will be changed quarterly, or as needed to refresh the
content and reflect on recent news of the College. These letters
will be prepared or reviewed by the Director of Campaign
Communications.
B. Special recognition should be completed for certain gifts as
follows:
Further recognition of gifts or pledges of $50,000 or other special
gifts will be tailored to fit the donor and the gift. A stewardship
plan will be filled out by the major gifts officer, with specific
steps and timelines for completion or implementation.
The Director of Advancement Services, in consultation with the Dean
for Advancement and the Director of Major Gifts, will maintain a
list of naming opportunities. This list will be available to all
major gift officers.
Gifts from estates and other matured planned gifts will be reviewed
by the Dean for Advancement and other members of the Advancement
office. If warranted, realized estate gifts will be acknowledged by
the President of the College and sent to the surviving family
members. Otherwise, the gifts will be acknowledged by the Dean for
Advancement and sent to the appropriate party.
Gifts of endowments, scholarships, prizes, awards, and building and
capital projects will be covered in more detail in their respective
sections.
C. Reminders:
Reminder letters will be sent to each phonathon pledge both 60 days
and 120 days after the pledge is made.
If a donor requests a reminder, that reminder will be generated at
the beginning of the month that the pledge is due. The Dean for
Advancement will sign capital Campaign pledge reminders. Pledges to
the Senior Gift Campaign will be generated at the beginning of the
month that the pledge is due and signed by the Director of the
Greater Wabash Foundation.
Twice a year, in approximately June and December,
the Stewardship Assistants will send reminder letters for all
outstanding pledges, whether they have been reminded previously or
not.
The Major Gifts Officers will examine delinquent Campaign pledge
reports frequently to see if a gentle reminder needs to be sent to a
major donor. The Director of Advancement Services will issue this
report at least once a month and distribute it to Senior Advancement
Staff and all major gifts officers.
The Director of Advancement Services will maintain a list of current
life insurance donors. The month before the annual premiums are due,
a letter from the Director of Major Gifts will be sent to those
donors to remind them of their premium payments. Donors of life
insurance will not be called during the phonathon.
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