FundSvcs Community

I am curious whether others are experiencing donors requesting changes to their gift agreements over time (after the initial gift agreement has been executed and the funds have been established). We have been seeing an increase in donors reaching out to request changes; for example, to modify the fund name, purpose, criteria, etc. from what they originally established. We have been documenting these fund modifications with a GA amendment. I'm wondering if other shops experience this and how you are navigating these requests. Have you developed any internal policies or guidelines to address donor requests for fund modifications? Have you generally accepted their requests or developed practices to guide them away from making changes? Would appreciate any insights, examples, or lessons learned. Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences!

I second John's statement that finding commonalities oftentimes reveals an underlying reason for these requests. We receive maybe a handful of requests to modify gift agreements (GAs) each fiscal year.

When a change in a GA is requested, it is approved by our leadership team in Advancement. We have the same donors who signed the original GA sign an amended gift agreement stating all of the changes. The President of the University also signs the Amended GA. Our practice is to follow the donor's intent for the GA. We want to make sure their wishes are fulfilled.

However, there have been instances where the donor wants their Gift Agreement to support a specific program or initiative that is no longer active. So, our team will work with the donors and deans of the colleges to find a similar program or initiative that can be supported by the amended GA.

Hope this helps! :)