Original Message:
Sent: 4/22/2025 1:16:00 PM
From: Maribeth Dauphinais
Subject: RE: Counting a match challenge pledge
maybe a bit different.. we have a grant for an initial $500k, and then a matching challenge grant of $500k. folks want to "book" the matching challenge grant this year for production and opportunity funding purposes. is it recommended to add this as a "pledge - gift intent" or "matching gift pledge" in RE NXT? (like stated in this thread) this way it does not show up for finance, but shows as a "gift" for our MGOs purposes? i personally was not a fan of this because it is a conditional match (and i dont have concerns about tracking the gifts that come in to meet the "challenge"), and then finances and our production is different/confusing even more so.
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Maribeth
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 08:17 PM
From: John Taylor
Subject: Counting a match challenge pledge
I should not have said NEVER :-).
What I should have said was, No, not this way ;-).
As one of my "partners in crime" in the early days of the CASE Matching Gifts Symposium (I miss that conference), I thought you would appreciate my reference to this "match," much like you might a corporate matching expectancy.
As we know, we cannot treat those anticipated corporate matches as conditional pledges, either. That's why most CRMs offer the ability to record a "matching claim." That claim does not count for anything more than a notation you hope money will come in.
But that anticipation is not a bonafide pledge or a conditional pledge - not unless the original donor is willing to guarantee those funds.
John
John H. Taylor, Principal
John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
2604 Sevier Street
Durham, NC 27705
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
I would NEVER record the full match amount without the condition you already suggested, putting the donor on the hook for any amounts not paid/matched.
But as I said, even as a conditional pledge you can only record the amount the donor plans to pay. That a mount cannot include anticipated matches unless the donor makes up the difference.
John H. Taylor
919.816.5903 (Cell/Text)
Big Ideas; Small Keyboard
Original Message:
Sent: 8/7/2024 12:40:00 PM
From: Amy Phillips
Subject: RE: Counting a match challenge pledge
Hey there, John - I wondered if you might flag my idea of putting the conditional pledge amount of $500K on the donor record. I confess, though I didn't articulate then, I already was plotting and planning in my own head how I might try to process that in a database if I were to be faced with this scenario.
My idea was to go ahead and post the entire $500K as the conditional pledge which would (should!) not be posted to Finance. Having that singular pledge transaction - in my head - enables the most efficient tracking of donor gifts made to meet the challenge by having those other donor gifts pay toward the challenge pledge. My thought was to have them pay down the pledge rather than trying to do variations of tribute gifts or other types of coding/tracking devices...
My presumption is that the intent would be to recognize and steward the original donor somehow for the ultimate total amount raised. Having the match gifts pay toward the $500K challenge pledge would not only facilitate the paydown but could also provide a very convenient mechanism for tracking those payments to "bill" the original donor for the matching funds.
In the end, I figured this might be an easy way to track both the original donor's $500K challenge and then the gifts which need to initiate the fulfillment of matching funds. The challenge donor would only ever be receipted for their match payments much as the individuals whose gifts were being made toward the match would also be appropriately receipted (or not, of course, if they pay via DAF, etc.)
Is that completely off the rails? I would be curious to hear any comments or challenges around this idea.
Best to all - Amy ��
Original Message:
Sent: 8/6/2024 9:35:00 PM
From: John Taylor
Subject: RE: Counting a match challenge pledge
I agree completely with Amy's comments. I assume that the "match" is of the variety that this donor will match ANOTHER $500,000 if the institution raises another $500,000. However, if the match was for a total of $500,000 with this donor only paying half ($250,000), then the conditional pledge can only be for that amount.
John
John H. Taylor, Principal
John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
2604 Sevier Street
Durham, NC 27705
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
Original Message:
Sent: 8/6/2024 12:35:00 PM
From: Amy Phillips
Subject: RE: Counting a match challenge pledge
Shelby,
As long as your GC and Finance folks are okay with it, I would suggest it is reasonable to split this into a standard pledge for $500K and a conditional pledge for the other $500K.
I believe you could only record the full $1M if the donor has allowed language that s/he would be willing to pay any balance toward the "matching" portion of the commitment.
Good luck and best regards - Amy
Original Message:
Sent: 8/6/2024 11:42:00 AM
From: Shelby Gould
Subject: Counting a match challenge pledge
We have a donor that has pledged $1M for scholarships to a specific program. $500k is outright and $500k is a 1:1 match for additional scholarship funds raised for the same program during the next four years. Is it acceptable to count the full $1M pledge now? I have reviewed CASE Reporting Standards and did not find this exact situation addressed anywhere but could have missed it. I am uncertain if a match challenge should be treated like a traditional pledge since it is conditional. Thanks in advance for any guidance. Shelby
Shelby Gould
Associate Vice President, Advancement Operations
Executive Director & COO, TWU Foundation
940.898.3861 | office
903.920.2415 | mobile
sgould1@twu.edu
University Advancement
1605 N Bell Ave. | Denton, TX 76204
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