How to Acknowledge and
Recognize In Kind Gifts

1. Recognize What it Would Have Cost You "Retail"
   
   Recognition of an In-Kind gift became a serious issue with a non-profit client of mine following the conclusion of a successful capital campaign. The new building was up and operating. Everyone---board, staff and the community--- was satisfied and happy. The trouble came as the listing was being finalized for permanent and public recognition of the capital campaign donors on a bronze recognition plaque for the lobby, in preparation for the new building's dedication event. Names were placed in columns under the specific and respective contribution levels. Those of us who were involved in various leadership roles for the campaign together reviewed, edited, and then approved the final rendering of the listing before it was to go to the plaque manufacturer. Then, two of the organization's leading board members abruptly demanded the removal of the name of a major In-Kind donor from the $15,000 to $19,999 category, and demanded that the donor's name be repositioned in the $1,000 to $4,999 category.
   
   The In-Kind donor was a paint manufacturer. The original campaign expense budget for the paint (prepared well before its donation) reflected a best price to be paid in the market in the amount of $15,000 for the gallons required to paint all of the rooms in the new, several story building. The two shortsighted trustees adamantly insisted that, from experience with their own businesses' manufacturing costs, the true expense to the paint company would only be approximately one-third of the retail price, and that was the gift category in which the paint contribution should be recognized. I went tooth and nail on this, and I finally won over the two truculent board members when they realized that, had not the paint been donated (no matter the cost to the paint manufacturer), the non-profit would have had to raise additional cash in the amount of $15,000 to pay for the paint.
   
   Sometimes, being stubbornly practical and literal can do damage to the relations a non-profit has with generous benefactors. Imagine the officials of the paint company attending the dedication event of the building they supported, only to see their company's name placed in a category not in keeping with the worth of the paint as they knew it---but greatly diminished in value as seen by the officials of the non-profit organization.
   
   
2. In-Kind vs. "Real Money"
   
   I was going into the last month of a fund-raising consulting contract for a capital campaign with a social service organization. All had gone extremely well over our ten-month partnership. The organization's volunteer leadership and staff did an outstanding job, the money was raised for the new building, and I felt that the last month of my contract required greatly reduced counsel on my part. Even if no counsel was necessary, the contract required that I be paid. In any event, I told them not pay me for the last month. As I saw it, I "donated" $3,000 to the organization. Naturally, I did not attempt to declare that "value" for a tax deduction. But, when the celebrations were over and the new building was dedicated, I, with some anticipation, looked for my name to be listed in the campaign publication under the "$1,000 to $5,000" category, or included with their listing of In-Kind gifts. My In-Kind contribution was not acknowledged in any way. I asked the Director of Development about what I thought to be an oversight. The answer was quick and curt --- "We appreciate what you did, but it was not "real' money." I saved them $3,000 from their capital expense budget, and the money was not "real?"

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Tony's experiences have won him a wide audience. At many hundreds of seminars and workshops in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico over the course of his 30 years in fund-raising, he has addressed every facet of raising contributed income for social service, medical, educational, religious, and cultural institutions. He is a fund-raising Speaker/Specialist consultant to the United States Information Agency and the Mexican Government.

Tony is the author of a 115 page book on fund-raising published by FundAmerica Press titled "It's a Great Day to Fund-Raise!" In this publication, he has condensed his nearly three decades of fund-raising experience to provide a concise step-by-step guide to help all volunteers and professionals be as successful as possible as they carry out their fund-raising responsibilities for their respective non-profit institutions.