We've done similar to what John suggests at previous organizations, establishing one record as the Primary and rolling any subsidiaries (or different locations) up to the main corporate record. This is especially helpful when differentiating a gift from the parent company or one of its subsidiaries, as you can often receive contributions from both.
For the Benevity piece you mention, John, we handle that differently as Benevity is merely acting as a facilitator for global giving and does not receive any legal credit for contributions they distribute on behalf of their Foundation partners. Instead, we credit the Foundation partners directly, as instructed by Benevity, so in our case, the American Online Giving Foundation would receive credit (not Benevity). The same is true for any other distributions we receive from any of their other Foundation partners, such as the UK Online Giving Foundation. For the Foundation partners, we have a note added to their records to indicate that their gifts are distributed through Benevity.
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Taylor Dine
Trust for Public Land
taylor.dine@tpl.org------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-17-2025 10:12 AM
From: John Taylor
Subject: Best Practice for Corporate Records and Relationships
You will find a smidgen of this in the Recognition Credit Best Practice.
The short version is that you should establish "parent/subsidiary" relationships for these whenever you know there is a legal relationship between the entities. Typically, when a subsidiary makes a legal contribution, the parent receives soft credit. This allows you to see the overall financial contributions the entire relationship makes in one place.
However, when the "parent" makes a gift, the subsidiaries do not receive any credit.
It gets interesting when a third party, such as Benevity (American Online Giving Foundation), is involved. In that case, you usually do not link AOG as a parent/subsidiary - they are an independent DAF. When they make a gift, they receive legal credit. Soft credit goes to the corporation. However, if you know that the original donor is a subsidiary of a parent organization, you might be inclined to gift soft credit (manually) to both the parent and the subsidiary - as well as the original employee!
John
John H. Taylor, PrincipalJohn H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
2604 Sevier Street
Durham, NC 27705
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
Original Message:
Sent: 3/17/2025 10:46:00 AM
From: Karry Morton
Subject: Best Practice for Corporate Records and Relationships
Hi,
We are working on a corporate record clean-up project. I have checked the knowledgebase but cannot find what I am looking for. I am curious how other organizations set-up their business/corporate constituents. Specifically, companies that have franchises and companies that are an umbrella company with several subsidiaries. I would love to hear feedback on how our peers handle these relationships and recognition credits as well of any "best practice" advice.
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Karry Morton
Director, Gift Services
Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation
kmorton@children's Colorado Foundation
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