As you may know, pulling the trigger to finally make a charitable donation, especially when it is a large sum of money, can be scary and exhilarating all at once. After spending months or years saving up, you are proud with your decision to give to those less fortunate. You have taken the time to do your due diligence and have researched charities that align with your interests and values. You are sharing your wealth with a cause near and dear to your heart – and that is cause for celebration.
All too often, donors feel as though charities/non-profit organizations fail to properly acknowledge them or that they pester them too often. It is always a delightful surprise when you hear about a donor that has had an exceptionally positive experience and we want to highlight that here.
We interviewed Kim Enright, the owner of multiple Boston Pizza locations in Canada, about a recent donor experience to the SSCY Centre that she enjoyed.
FineLine: What was the approximate donation amount?
Kim: $100,000
FineLine: And in what year was the donation given?
Kim: 2014
FineLine: What was the charity, what kind of work does it do?
Kim: The charity is the Specialized Services for Children and Youth (SSCY): an initiative focused on the integration and where possible, co-location, of services for Manitoba children and youth with disabilities and special needs. The SSCY Centre will be a manifestation of integrated service providers, serving in a community environment under one roof. Their coordinated, holistic endeavor will create valuable time for service providers and save precious time for families with children and youth with special needs. The goal of the Centre is to offer families a one-stop shop with multiple services under one roof, helping to make some of the challenges of raising a child with special needs a little easier.
FineLine: Since your donation, how has the charity communicated with you and how often? Is the communication personalized?
Kim: The communication since our donation has been appropriate. We were interviewed and featured on their donor page via the Together is Better Capital Campaign Website where they featured our donation and asked us a little bit about why it was important to us. There was value for us in this recognition and we appreciated the professional process around it. Ongoing communication includes being updated with their newsletters, etc. that have been generic in direction.
FineLine: Why was this experience exceptionally great or horrible?
Kim: Overall the experience has been a positive one since the beginning. The SSYC team worked closely with us to ensure that they gave as much recognition and value to our donation. They worked with us to ensure that our contribution would be appropriately reflected inside the building and let us choose the area of the Centre that we wanted our dollars to directly support. We dictated the amount to which we felt comfortable to donate and at no point was additional pressure put on to come in at a higher level, which so often happens. They put every effort forward to have us see the building, meet the families and feel as much of a part of the process and development that they could.
FineLine: What do you wish the organization did differently, or what do you love that they do?
Kim: One of the things that was most appreciated were the efforts that the fundraising team went too to ensure that our donation would be recognized. They came up with very creative ways to reflect donations within the building that allowed companies and donors to customize where their dollars would be highlighted. This allowed us to choose an area that aligned with what our passion was towards the project.
We love hearing great donor stories! If you have a story of your own, please write to us at . tamara@finelinesolutions.com