Thanking supporters for their generosity to the University is one of the most important ways we can steward our donors. The Donor Acknowledgement Report can be used to produce a merge file for donors to your funds. As a best practice, we recommend not including the gift dollar amount in the donor’s acknowledgement letter (unless they have specifically requested that). We recommend sending an acknowledgement letter for pledge initiations and the last payment on a pledge (rather than for every single payment). Refer to the guideline chart as you acknowledge donor gifts and pledges, click through the links for process work flows, and view the acknowledgement samples below.
| Stewardship Practice | Owner | WFAA Contact | Notes/Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| All gifts receive a standard, branded tax receipt and acknowledgement | WFAA Gift Processing Team | Carrie Park | Within 1-2 weeks of gift processing; includes specific purpose of gift. |
| Chancellor’s Office acknowledgement for all outright gifts, pledges, and deferred gifts of $100K+, and gifts of $1,500+ to the Chancellor’s Annual Fund | WFAA | Kasey Crampton | Monthly |
| WFAA Leadership acknowledgement for gifts, pledges, and deferred gifts of $25K+ | WFAA | Kasey Crampton | Monthly |
| Gift acknowledgement for all deferred gifts/Wisconsin Legacy Society welcome | WFAA Office of Gift Planning | Andrea Shiu | Monthly |
| Acknowledgement from unit for all gifts and pledges of $1,000+ | Unit/WFAA | Unit-based development staff | At least monthly; sent from Dean, Department Chair, Center/Institute Director or DoD |
| Acknowledgement of gifts and pledges below $1,000 | Unit/WFAA | Unit-based development staff | Optional; units may determine their own minimum gift thresholds |
| Gift acknowledgements are loaded into ABE | WFAA/Unit | Unit-based development support ABE: Catherine Garvens | Adding Acknowledgements in ABE |
| Thank you phone calls for gifts under $1K | WFAA BadgerCall | Bryce Swanson | Monthly |
| Donor Advised Fund confirmation letters for all donor-directed gifts of $1,000+ | WFAA Front Desk | Tera Soltis | Weekly |
| Welcome packet for first-time donors to the University | WFAA Annual Giving | Josh Wolfgang | Monthly |
Process
- Using Acknowledgement Process
- Guidelines and Expectations for Acknowledgement Process
- Acknowledegment Cross Walk
- Acknowledegment Process Tips and Tricks
- Campus Acknowledgement Audit
Samples
- Gift Acknowledgement from a Chair – Biology 2018
- Gift Acknowledgement from an Assistant Dean – SOHE
- Gift Acknowledgement from a Dean – SOHE Annual Fund
- Gift Acknowledgement from a Director – OSFA
- First Time Donor Packet – 2017
- First Time Donor Postcard – L&S 2017
- Chancellor Thank You Templates
- Chancellor Thank You – Chancellor’s Annual Fund Template
- Honorary Gift Notification – AFCH
- Honorary Gift Notification – Dept of Surgery
- WFAA CEO Thank You – General Template
- WFAA Donor Advised Fund Confirmation Template
- Donor Thank You Card – Art 2018
- Donor Thank you Cards – WUN 2018
- Unit Acknowledgment Matrix – EGR 2018
Tools
To submit samples of Acknowledgements to the Toolkit, please contact Noel Miranda.