Exterior Naming Opportunities Support the Mission

Many organizations shy away from exterior naming opportunities. Signs suitable for the outdoors can be harder to install, require more effort to maintain, and often cost more than interior signage. However, some environments warrant the extra effort. Such is the case at the Willson Hospice House in Albany, Georgia, where outdoor gardens and pathways create a unique and soothing experience for patients, families and visitors to the hospice. The design was inspired by the Atamasco lilies found on the site. The lilies now grow along the Nancy Lopez Walking Trail that encircles the hospice campus.

Donor Recognition Displays Stay Current with Community Stories

The 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.

Digital Donor Recognition: 6 Considerations Before Going Digital

Nonprofits must engage and inspire their audiences through virtual technology, too. Virtual experiences are the go-to solution for sustaining the philanthropic relationships that nonprofits rely on to meet their missions. Technology is more than a response to this emergency. It should be seen as an opportunity to put new tools to use, to innovate and disrupt our traditional, event, and facility-based habits. Technology is reducing traditional engagement participation barriers, providing efficiencies and cost-savings, and generating new, distinctly 21st century methods for building a culture of philanthropy.

Food as Medicine: Donors support a new approach at Grady Health System

In what was an unused space in the parking deck outside the main entrance to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta, there is now a bright and welcoming spot to get a nutritious meal. The Jesse Hill Market opened in 2020 as a partnership between the Grady Health System, Open Hand Atlanta and the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Recognition, StorytellingAnne Manner-McLartyJanuary 27, 2021donor wall, donor recognitionComment

Philanthropic Placemaking at the Lowcountry Food Bank

As the reality of stay-at-home orders and business closures unfolded in the spring of 2020, Heurista made a decision: if one of our nonprofit clients asked us to complete a project, we’d do it even if it meant our team would need to travel. We completed many amazing projects over the course of the year, but none as large or as surprising as the work we did for the Lowcountry Food Bank.

Recognition, Storytelling, BrandingAnne Manner-McLartyJanuary 11, 2021donor recognition, environmental graphicsComment

Expanding A Family’s Legacy: Recognition at Roper Hospital

Heurista was contracted to design, fabricate, and install a recognition plaque telling the story of the Parker legacy at Roper St. Francis, as well as updated dimensional lettering and general improvements to the space including the installation of the portraits of the father and son.

RecognitionAnne Manner-McLartyDecember 14, 2020donor recognition, portraitureComment

Sheltering Arms Institute: Donor Recognition as a Beacon for the Community

In October 2019, Heurista was engaged by the Sheltering Arms Foundation in Richmond, Virginia to develop the donor recognition strategy for the “state of the science” Sheltering Arms Institute rehabilitation hospital. From the earliest stages of the building’s design, there’d been a desire to draw attention to the verticality of the prominent, all-glass atrium at the entrance. Referred to as “the Beacon,” the four-story atrium serves as a focal point and is visible from the highway and the approach to the new facility. In conversation with the foundation, Heurista recognized a unique and exciting opportunity – to combine a visually dynamic hanging sculpture with recognition of the campaign donors.

Naming Opportunities Can Demonstrate Organizational Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Nonprofits 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.

Creative Renovation: The Gambrell Center at Queens University

From 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.

Recognition, Sign ProgramsAnne Manner-McLartyJune 11, 2020donor recognition, creative placemaking, artComment

Series: The Donor is Everything in Donor Recognition – True or False?

Organizations often misinterpret the concept of “donor-centric” and establish subjective goals like “surprising and delighting” donors. Then that becomes a measure of success. But while it’s always good to excel in the expression of gratitude, setting this as a goal is not a substitute for a fully formed donor recognition strategy. An organization must strive to achieve the greatest impact with the time and money invested — not just with the donor, but with its entire community.

Recognition Series, RecognitionAnne Manner-McLartyFebruary 22, 2020Donor-centricity, donor recognitionComment