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  • 1.  Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 03-03-2026 03:40 PM

    Hello all!

     

    We are updating our thresholds for naming opportunities for both spaces and funds in preparation for our next campaign and we are interested in adding a termed-naming option for some spaces. If you have any examples of policies or thresholds that you are willing to share, I would appreciate it. And if you're open to sharing permanent naming thresholds, I would welcome those, as well.

     

    I have downloaded the NC State University's Naming Opportunities Toolkit, which is very helpful!

     

    Thank you, in advance!

     

    Best,

    Laura

     

    Laura Martin '98G

    (she/her)

    Director of Stewardship and Gift Compliance

    Advancement

    +1 603 862 0193 (office)

    University of New Hampshire

    9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824

    unh.edu

     



  • 2.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 03-04-2026 07:51 AM
      |   view attached

    Hello, Laura –

     

    Below is the link to the University of Louisville's naming policy, along with the thresholds for each.

     

    https://louisville.edu/policies/policies-and-procedures/pageholder/pol-naming-of-university-physical-space-endowed-funds-and-academic-units

     

    I think our P&P library is public, but it may be behind a login so attaching a PDF in case.

     

     

     

     




    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    UofL-Pol-Naming.pdf   150 KB 1 version


  • 3.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 03-04-2026 07:58 AM
    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







  • 4.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 6 days ago

    John-

    Is there a best practices for how long a building should maintain the donors' name?  Is it always lifetime of the building or have you seen policies stipulating the number of years the name will be on a building/classroom/program/etc...?

    Lisa Geiersbach

    Northwood University



    ------------------------------
    Lisa Geiersbach
    Northwood University
    geiersl@northwood.edu
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 6 days ago
    The "lifetime" business (although the more common phrase is "useful life") is no longer the default language. 

    Of course, you cannot undo past naming agreements. But nowadays, "term limits" are very common. We adopted them at NC State around 2010. However, as I work with clients to develop new naming policies, I am aware that many institutions still refer to "lifetime."

    And I should add that at NC State, we still used "useful life" if the donor insisted. For many institutions, a "transitional period" before shifting to strictly term-based naming is common. Here's a portion of the naming policy I wrote for a university last month:

    "The attached Naming Agreement must be used in all cases. It will specify whether the naming is for the facility's useful life, subject to this policy, or "temporary." The University encourages temporary or term namings in most cases, with the term generally not exceeding 10 years. Shorter terms, but not less than five years, may be considered based on the facility or object's expected useful life. The determination of whether a naming is permanent or temporary will be made in consultation with the Dean of the affected College and the Naming Committee."

    The corresponding naming agreement for my client included the following language, borrowing liberally from what we used at NC State, and included:

    "Subject to the other provisions of this Agreement, the Facility shall be named XYZ for a period not to exceed 10 years, which is the term of years approved for this Agreement in accordance with University policy."

    "Upon expiration of the period designated above, the exclusive right to determine the Facility's name shall vest in XYZ University. Among other options, XYZ University may change the Facility's name or remove the current name from the Facility. XYZ University may also offer the current naming donor the option to make a contribution of the stated new naming rights value or to elect to retain the Facility's name indefinitely after the designated period expires."

    Does this help?

    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







  • 6.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 6 days ago

    Thanks, John.  I'm surprised at the 10 year limitation.  If the donor has given more than 50% for a new building is 10 years typical?  I've been searching all over the internet using your helpful google term but have not yet found policies with anything but the "useful life" language. 



    ------------------------------
    Lisa Geiersbach
    Northwood University
    geiersl@northwood.edu
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 6 days ago
    Ten years is quite common in these cases. But, at the same time institutions rethink the formula for calculating the naming amount.

    That said, new construction terms might have different criteria than refurbishing. 


    John Taylor Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC 919.816.5903 Big ideas; small keyboard






  • 8.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 6 days ago
    Sorry for the earlier abbreviated email-I was picking up my daughter in carline!

    Here's more fodder:

    When you shift to a term-naming environment, you must reconsider the formula used to calculate the "cost" of naming. In the olden days, you were "selling" a long-duration asset. 50% helped pay for the creation of the asset, not just recognition rights.

    With terms, the optics change, and you are shifting toward paying for recognition.

    What I've seen for naming rights (ten years) for a new major building during a campaign is a lead or principal gift, probably one of the three largest gifts in the campaign, and somewhere around 20-25% of the fundraising goal for that building.

    I've heard talk about using an amortized model, but that's usually coming from the business office ;-). And I've not seen it implemented. Basically, if the "useful life" is 50 years and you had to pay 50% of the cost, then a ten-year term would be 20% of the useful life.
    • Useful Life: 50% of a $50MM building = $25MM gift
    • Ten-year term: 20% of $25MM = $5MM gift
    I'd shy away from using percentages, period. Treat each naming uniquely. But for a new building and a ten-year term, somewhere between 10% and 25% of the project cost is probably right.

    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







  • 9.  RE: Naming Opportunities Thresholds

    Posted 03-04-2026 07:59 AM

    Thank you, Aimee!

     

    This is very helpful. I really appreciate it.

     

    Best,

    Laura