Having gift acceptance policies in place is best practice. But it can take a lot of time to draft policies, and as a fundraiser, you are already overwhelmed with things on your to-do list. Taking policies to your board for approval can lead to long and sometimes unproductive discussions about minute issues in the fundraising process, taking the board’s attention away from bigger issues. And policies need to be updated regularly, as laws and tax regulations change.
So why bother?
To protect you and your fundraising team, that’s why. To give your frontline fundraisers back up to what they are telling donors and prospective donors, to provide consistency in your fundraising program and messaging, and to build trust with your donors.
The National Council of Nonprofits says, “A written gift acceptance policy can help manage the expectations of donors (while treating them with respect) and also serves as guidance for board and staff members who are on either the asking or receiving end of contributions.”
Having a gift acceptance policy in place is a best practice, both in relationship to donors and managing risk. And, most importantly, it is a requirement of the IRS.
And yet, in Advancement Advisors’ practice, we see a surprising number of nonprofits that don’t have gift acceptance policies in place or, if they do have them, they were written years ago and haven’t been reviewed since.
Gift acceptance policies:
- Provide a roadmap for how to handle various types of gifts when they present themselves
- Help ensure that all gifts accepted are in line with your organization’s values
- Can prevent the acceptance of gifts with legal obligations that your organization may not be able to or want to handle
- Ensure that your organization has the ability to use, dispose of, or maintain certain types of gifts
Having these parameters in place becomes even more critical as your organization moves toward accepting complex gifts (like cryptocurrency) and planned gifts. Decisions about accepting/rejecting a gift don’t have to be made on the fly or based on the knowledge or experience of a particular fundraiser or board member. Acceptance policies ensure that everyone in your organization knows where to go for guidance and that decisions about gifts are consistent.
Taking the time and effort to develop gift acceptance policies provides a unique opportunity to educate your staff and board on the fundraising process and help build an organization-wide culture of philanthropy that is the backbone of effective fundraising.
Engaging your executive leadership, development committee and the full board in reviewing, discussing and deciding how your organization will engage with donors, what kinds of gifts you will accept and those you won’t, and how you will handle those gifts once they are received leads to a better understanding of the fundraising process, a deeper appreciation of the work you and your fundraising team do every day, and ultimately, greater engagement as well.
Gift acceptance policies help to develop a culture of philanthropy, make you a better fundraiser, and ultimately, make your fundraising program more effective. And that’s why you need gift acceptance policies.