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  • 1.  Family Foundation Donor Credit

    Posted 09-06-2023 01:44 PM

    Hi,

    We are wondering how other schools handle soft credit for donations received from a Family Foundation. Do you put all board members as soft credit? Board members as soft credit only if they have a connection to the school? Or soft credit only on the person who was on the letter that came with the donation?



    ------------------------------
    Danielle Muller
    Union College
    mullerd@union.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Family Foundation Donor Credit

    Posted 09-06-2023 01:48 PM
    I've not seen Board members automatically receive soft credit. More often, it's the individual that you have worked with to secure the grant. Sometimes, as has happened to me, the head of the Foundation requests that all family members receive equal soft credit as they jointly decide where distributions should go. However, if there is a separate Board (not common with private foundations), they would not receive soft credit.

    Whenever in doubt, it's best to ask the head of the Foundation!

    John

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Family Foundation Donor Credit

    Posted 09-06-2023 02:03 PM

    Could you explain what you mean by the individual who secured the grant?

    For example we have the Jones Family Foundation. Both John and Jane Jones are alumni and have given through the foundation. Their child Sam Jones is also an alumni and has given through the foundation. They are all board members of the Jones Family Foundation. Sometimes when we have received donations from the foundation the corresponding letter is from John and Jane then others times from just Sam. When we received a donation, who would you give soft credit to?



    ------------------------------
    Danielle Muller
    Union College
    mullerd@union.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Family Foundation Donor Credit

    Posted 09-06-2023 02:08 PM
    If you have worked with a single member of the family with no involvement by any other member, then I'd tend only to give that individual soft credit.

    However, as I suggested, donations are a "family affair with some foundations." In those cases, I'd give each soft credit.

    In my book, soft credit is used to indicate where a gift would not likely have been made without the involvement of the individual receiving soft credit. This could be one person, legal partners, or an entire family. I do not think you can make a blanket rule but, rather, evaluate each case on its own merit.

    John

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Family Foundation Donor Credit

    Posted 09-06-2023 02:40 PM
    Danielle, I often assist organizations in developing donor recognition and soft credit protocols. Here's a snippet from a recent protocol approved by a college. I have replaced the college name with XYZ:

    1. An individual affiliated with a Family or Private Foundation issues a check from their Foundation account:

     

    Hard         Family or Private Foundation

    Soft           Individual

    If the individual is married or has a legal partner, the "Check Signer" rule #II above will be applied for soft credits. [The referenced rule assigns soft credit to the spouse or legal partner as well as the individual facilitating the gift]

    Note that the XYZ standard is to award soft credit to only the one individual (and their partner/spouse, if any) who made the gift possible.  However, there might be occasions where the 'head' of one of these foundations will insist on all family members receiving soft credit.  This is an institutional decision and rare but not unheard of.  However, soft credit assignment to family members is generally limited to one generation below the patriarch/matriarch of the family.


    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987


    On Wed, Sep 6, 2023 at 3:07 PM John Taylor <johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com> wrote:
    If you have worked with a single member of the family with no involvement by any other member, then I'd tend only to give that individual soft credit.

    However, as I suggested, donations are a "family affair with some foundations." In those cases, I'd give each soft credit.

    In my book, soft credit is used to indicate where a gift would not likely have been made without the involvement of the individual receiving soft credit. This could be one person, legal partners, or an entire family. I do not think you can make a blanket rule but, rather, evaluate each case on its own merit.

    John

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


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