The exterior area naming program for the Bridge Garden uses a centralized map element to provide an overview of landscaping elements and gifts given in support of the Bridge Garden. The map also serves as a therapeutic tool used in patient care.
Read MoreCreating an authentic, memorable experience of a place is fundamental to building a sense of community that bridges generations. It is the place—and the experiences associated with it—that become the shared experience.
Read MorePlacemaking is a tool that can be used by nonprofit organizations to build understanding and affinity for their missions. It entails integrating the values and character of a community and crafting architecture, landscape, signage, and experiences that are aligned with the culture of the community.
Read MoreThe Phoebe Foundation has been providing opportunities to give in southwest Georgia for decades. In the mid-1990s, during a substantial facility expansion, the Foundation launched the six bay donor recognition display known as the Distinguished Leadership Gallery. The bays are on the first floor connector between the main lobby and the outpatient center, a path travelled by patients, family, visitors and staff at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. The displays are visible through the peaceful trees in the memorial plaza and on the second floor, elements of the Centennial Museum echo the design of the bays below.
Read MoreNonprofits are subjected to persistent criticism around the practice of naming opportunities. The questions being lobbied are not new. Students, faculty, under-represented constituents, and the media have pointed to the disparities, if not the outright hypocrisy, in how naming rights are awarded. Who is being honored and why? Most often, the answer is the donor making the largest gift.
In light of the current focus on systemic racism, some organizations are considering naming rights removal often under daily pressure from the press. Many nonprofits are coming to terms with the risks inherent in the naming of institutional assets and facing the reality that ethical challenges may come from aligning with the ever-evolving legacies of individual, fallible people.
Read MoreFrom the outside, the fully reworked facade now integrates with the aesthetic of the campus, offering a wide plaza and cooling fountains to passersby. Inside, The Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement is a distinctively contemporary arts space with no indications of its previous lines.
Read MoreHammond School provides a unique pre-K through 12th-grade educational experience in Columbia, SC. The program focuses on character development, leadership, and experiential learning. The Innovation Center, completed in 2018, demonstrates the atmosphere where students at Hammond have the opportunity to learn and share experiences that go beyond what is available at many colleges. Education in facilities of this caliber is made possible through the support of philanthropists who support the school’s mission, vision and values.
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There are benefits and compromises inherent in the decision to use a screen to present donor recognition. A traditional donor wall allows a passive viewer to understand a considerable amount of information about the relationship between an organization and its donors without reading a single name. One can glean an idea of the number of donors from the size of the list. If a hierarchy of plaque sizes or categories is part of the display, those details let the viewer know that people give different amounts. The location of the display, the environment surrounding it, and the materials used to build it all help indicate the value the organization places on its donor. The best donor walls motivate the viewer to consider giving and explain how to make a gift.
Heurista recently completed a fun, interactive campaign recognition display at Hammond School, a private K-12 school in Columbia, SC. We were engaged to create a donor recognition strategy for the 50 Forward: the Campaign for HAMMOND, a campaign list that would be represented in three locations on campus- the new Innovation Center, the lower school gymnasium, and the lower school playground.
Read MoreNaming opportunities are a key component in fundraising for major gifts. Organizations associate donor names with campus-based spaces, programs, funds and faculty positions. The science of using naming opportunities to motivate giving — and using strategy and policy to manage possible risks — is evolving. Heurista has been studying advances in cross-departmental coordination, recognition policy, and design guidelines. We've gained valuable perspective by working with different types of institutions all across North America.
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