Donor Walls: The Gift that Gives Back
Giving is not just about making a donation, it’s about making a difference.
- Kathy Calvin, CEO of UN Foundation
If you are an academic institution, nonprofit organization, any type of club, association, or charitable group, you know one thing to be true: your donors provide vital support to your organization.
This support, whether it be providing much needed income for future plans or instilling support and providing assurance for your programs, allows you to make a difference in the world. Now, it's time to return the favor of recognition with a Donor Wall.
Donor Walls are a great way to show appreciation in both a permanent and symbolic way- while adding a little something “extra” to your space. Your Donor Wall doesn’t have to just be plaques and trophies but can be a symbolic image or artwork for your organization and its vital benefactors.
Investing in your donors not only provides much needed recognition for their efforts, but also shows that you invest back in people who uplift and support you. Forming, ultimately, a mutually respected relationship between the organization and contributors. However, not everyone takes part in fundraising, donation, and charity work. So, why should you invest the time into creating one?
Donations Provide:
- A source of income (often annually)
- Uplifting your organization’s reputation of stability, prestige, and credibility
- Program expansion such as scholarships or equipment
- Builds toward the future since most donations and endowment gifts are intended for future use
- Assurance and trust in your programs, so you can continue to make change and impact in the world
But, donations don’t just benefit the organization. They benefit the donor as well. Most times, donors invest in an organization because it plays into their own values, cares, or personal experiences. Maybe the organization really played a part in their own development, helped their wife or family member when they needed it most, or are carrying out a campaign they support.
By donating to these organizations, benefactors can carry their best visions and wishes out through the organization (as long as it is both possible and reasonable). It also creates a sense that their legacy or impact will carry on even after their life, which for many older donors (especially those with limited family) provides them a sense of purpose and impact. Much like the impact an organization hopes to achieve with their work.
By recognizing donors' efforts, not only are you deeming their goals and dreams admirable and worthy of praise, but you are also encouraging future donations and random gifts to the organization. Whether it be influencing donors through a little healthy competition of recognition, or it is attracting new contributors, a donor wall will provide added support to your organization...every single time.
Interested in talking about your organizations' donation plans or already have an idea for your donor wall? We’d love to talk. Contact us today.