Donor Listing Form?

Royale Scuderi
Royale Scuderi
Fifth Anniversary
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions
Does anybody send out a form to donors to confirm how they want to be listed in annual reports? If so, is there a template in RE or a way to automate?

We had two donors unhappy because we listed them according to what they listed when making donation, but realize we need to go the extra step of asking how they want to be listed to avoid this problem!

Comments

  • JoAnn Strommen
    JoAnn Strommen Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge 2025 bbcon Attendee Badge
    At previous org we had this down very well IMO. On pledge card/form we had a blank for donor to enter how they wished to be recognized with a checkbox for anonymous. Our reminders contained a statement that donor recognition would be name on payment unless otherwise specified. When we ran a very small capital campaign and a sustaining donor option with their Y membership and did not have this on a form, we sent out a merged letter with a reply slip that they could indicate a different name than the one merged in the letter or checkbox for anonymous - signature line too. I did a global add to all those donor records for that mini-campaign with related addressee type and used that in letter. Think only one or two wanted something different.


    How we recorded the information was using addressee formats: Recognition Annual Campaign / Recognition Heritage Society / Recognition Capital ABC. We chose this over attributes as it could auto populate based on format chosen and eliminated typos. Data can be entered when entering gift data or en masse prior to pulling a listing. As most of our records had spouse info, our default format when listing was informal with both spouse names. And, yes, I've seen some donors who've never changed their listing from year to year and others who changed annually or had different listings for different purposes. I tracked org records using alias listing with those same names. When it was time to report I just created query of needed donors, took query to Export, output the Add/Sal and the Alias to Excel and merged into one column. I can honestly say, I never had any complaints on listings except the year the annual report designer cut out 30+ names in the R-S section when redesigning the layout.


    I've asked how recognition listings are decided where I am now. I get "What? Never considered." And we run significantly more donor lists with a much high giving level. I don't know how they've not had a process in place. We are entering a capital campaign and I have requested to be involved in creating pledge/donation form and will be including a space for listing preference.

  • Angela Tuttle
    Angela Tuttle
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge Name Dropper
    Like JoAnn on our forms that we mail out we include an anonymous check box and a place for donors to put their preferred listing. Last year or maybe the year before we started including a section for donors to give us their updated information as well.
  • Angela Tuttle
    Angela Tuttle
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 January 2026 Monthly Challenge Name Dropper
    In the addressee format we have the option of Preferred Listing for use in donor lists.
  • Christine Cooke
    Christine Cooke
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 Name Dropper Participant
    I think at some point, at every org I've worked at the "how do you prefer to be listed" was on the pledge form and/or gift envelope. The other thing we have done a couple of place that seemed to be helpful was that we ran a 'draft' listing, as if we were getting ready to publish an annual report. And included a short cover that asked them to review their listing and contact us if they wanted it changed. The "draft" has the draft stamp all over it to make it clear we are asking for something. Both helped, especially if you were cleaning up 'publication names' in RE and needed some clarification base on what you are seeing in RE that does not match the naming convention you have chosen. And then one of the Add/Sals added was a "publication name" one. And may advise that you configure as many as possible that match your naming convention and use the Editable as little as possible. But DO add Anyonymous as one of the dropdown choices. It's a great way to insure that you do not accidentally list a name when you're not supposed to (think of it as a backup to the Anonymous checkbox on Bio 1 and Gift 2 tabs)


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