Business with a Foundation

Sandra BradfordJennings MHA

We have a first time donor that is the property management company for a complex where four of our programs operate. The donation came through his company's charitable foundation. I do not currently have a constituent record for the property management company OR the foundation.

Here is my question:Should I 1) just add a new record for the foundation, apply the gift to the foundation and mention the company in the notes, 2) add a new record for the company, apply the gift to the company and include the foundation info in the notes, or 3) add a new record for both, and soft credit the gift to the company?

 Or another answer that I don't know.

I am asking this questions because I am also working on Policies and Procedures as I continue to configure our new RE database.

 Thoughts and Thank You!

Melissa Graves 2

Sondra Jennings:

We have a first time donor that is the property management company for a complex where four of our programs operate. The donation came through his company's charitable foundation. I do not currently have a constituent record for the property management company OR the foundation.

Here is my question:Should I 1) just add a new record for the foundation, apply the gift to the foundation and mention the company in the notes, 2) add a new record for the company, apply the gift to the company and include the foundation info in the notes, or 3) add a new record for both, and soft credit the gift to the company?

 Or another answer that I don't know.

I am asking this questions because I am also working on Policies and Procedures as I continue to configure our new RE database.

 Thoughts and Thank You!

I do not think there is a single answer to this. I think it depends. Why did this gift come about? Which relationship is most important to the organization? Is this a gift that you expect will be repeated/cultivated/stewarded?

In this situation, I think that your organization has a relationship with the management company so creating that record and putting in the proper relationships to your org would not be a bad thing. Obviously the gift needs to go on the foundation record if the foundation is the donor. That is best practice to know who needs to be receipted and to count the giving as a foundation gift and not a business gift. 

In other situations, if you had no relationship to the business and/or it was a one time gift - I think creating a record for only the foundation is perfectly acceptable.