In a fundraising auction catalog, most groups list the donor of an item. It acknowledges and thanks the person or company who gave the item to the nonprofit.
In some cases, knowing who donated the item is also important for guests.
As I stand near live auction displays talking with passersby, I frequently have conversations with them about the vacation homes available in the auction. “You can talk with the donor tonight,” I’ve said, “The donor is attending this event, too!” I’ve even introduced buyers to sellers once I’m offstage.
But sometimes I see this: nonprofits use consignment, but list the consignment company as a donor.
When your nonprofit is buying the merchandise, you can’t honestly say the consignor is a donor.
I think it’s misleading to guests and unfair to real donors when a nonprofit gives the same credit to a donor as they do to a consignor.
Instead, I encourage the “donated by” language to change.
I’ve talked before about using the language, “Made possible by.” But in today’s 2-minute video, I found something I might even like better.
Not only did the nonprofit change the language from “Donated by” to “Arrangements by,” but they used the consignment company’s logo. Check it out in the video.
Leave a Reply