# What Does This Box Promise? Original field notes by Gratona. The worked cases and templates use invented people and organizations. Write a donor priority question, the sentence that says what the answer does, and the handoff that makes sure your team does it. Research: Getting the Rich and Powerful to Give. ## Reading connection Judd Kessler, Katherine Milkman and Yiwei Zhang tested two reply cards in a university annual fund. One invited alumni to mark which university priorities mattered most to them. Every gift stayed unrestricted. ## Team kit ### Your priority question Keep only the sentences that are true for your organization, and agree them with program and finance before printing. ```text WHICH PART OF OUR WORK MATTERS MOST TO YOU? Tick any that apply. ☐ [Program area you can report on] ☐ [Program area you can report on] ☐ [Program area you can report on] Your gift supports [what the general fund pays for], whatever you tick. [Keep only the true sentences:] If you’ve asked for program updates, we’ll use your answer to choose what we tell you about. We share the totals, without names, with our program team each [month]. WOULD YOU LIKE PROGRAM UPDATES? ☐ Yes, email me a short update about [how often]. Leaving this blank keeps your current preferences. To change them, contact [name] at [email] or [phone]. If you want your gift used for one program only, please contact [name] before you give: [phone] or [email]. ``` ### Your field and handoff sheet Fill it in at the meeting with program and finance, before the form goes live. ```text DONOR PRIORITY QUESTION: FIELDS AND HANDOFFS Form or card: Owner: Agreed with program (name, date): Agreed with finance (name, date): WHAT THE ANSWER DOES ☐ Chooses program updates, for donors who opted in ☐ Counted and shared with [who], [when] ☐ Restricts the gift (only if finance has approved a restricted option) Sentence on the form, word for word: What the form must not imply: OPTIONS Option | Who supplies update content | Updates per year 1. 2. 3. FIELDS Priority answer goes to field: Dated: ☐ Source recorded: ☐ Update permission goes to field: A blank box means: Gift fund: Set by: Notes copied word for word to: Review flag if a note mentions how the gift is used: ☐ Staff observations kept in: HANDLING A note asks for a restriction (who calls, within how many days, who approves, what is recorded meanwhile): No reply by [date] (finance’s policy for the gift, person responsible, next review and any permitted contact): Several options ticked: No option ticked: Donor changes their answer (latest is current; earlier answers kept with dates): Interest ticked, but no update permission: A program area pauses or ends: Donor asks how “their” program used the gift: HANDOFFS Acknowledgment sent by, within: Totals to program (who, when, format): Restriction requests to finance (who, within how long): Update content due from program (dates): SIX-MONTH CHECK (date): Forms returned: Forms with at least one priority ticked: Notes asking for a restriction: Resolved within the agreed time: Donors with permission who received an update matching their interest: Donor questions showing the form was misunderstood: Changes for the next version: ``` ### Your acknowledgment Use after checking the gift record and the donor’s update permission. Include the update sentence only when they have asked for those updates. ```text Subject: Thank you, [first name] Hi [first name], Thank you for your gift of [amount] to [organization], received on [date]. [Receipt sentence, if applicable.] You told us [program area] matters most to you. Your gift supports [the general fund’s work, in wording agreed with finance]. [If they asked for updates: The program updates you asked for will focus on [area]. The first comes in [month]. To change your interests or stop the updates, reply here or contact [name] at [email] or [phone].] With thanks, [Name] [Role], [Organization] ``` ### If a donor wanted a restricted gift Use while finance reviews the donor’s instruction. Agree option 2’s wording, any offer to return the gift and the review date with finance first. ```text Hi [first name], Thank you for your gift of [amount], and for the note on your reply card asking that it go to [program]. Gifts to [organization] normally support all of our [work], including [program]. Before we settle how yours will be used, I wanted to check what you’d prefer: 1. Keep it as a general gift. We’ll note that [program] matters most to you[, and the updates you’ve asked for will focus on it]. 2. Use it only for [program]. We can do that, and we’ll tell you by [date] how it was spent. [If your organization can’t accept a restriction for this program, replace option 2 with: “We aren’t able to set gifts aside for [program] alone. If you’d rather not give on that basis, tell me and we’ll return your gift.”] Reply here or call me on [number]. We’ll keep your instruction with the gift while finance reviews it, and check again on [date] if we haven’t heard from you. [Name] [Role], [Organization] ``` ### When the answer changes or doesn’t fit If a donor ticks something different next year, the new answer is current. Keep the old one with its date; the donor may mention the change, and it helps to know. If a program area pauses, tell the donors who chose it and asked for updates, and ask whether they’d like a different focus. If a donor asks how “their” program used the gift, answer truthfully: the gift went to the whole program, and here is what that program did. If the donor doesn’t answer a restriction query by the agreed date, finance decides the next step under the gift acceptance policy. Keep the original instruction, assign a person and a next review date, and record any contact the donor’s preferences allow. Silence doesn’t turn the gift into an unrestricted one. Recording the money and settling its use are separate tasks; follow finance’s policy for both. The development director owns the form and the six-month check. The program director owns update content and receives the totals. Finance owns every restriction decision. Whoever processes gifts owns the fields and the review flags. ### Check after six months Count the notes that asked for a restriction and how quickly each was resolved, and read every donor question about where a gift went. If several donors thought they had chosen where their money went, rewrite the sentence on the form. A higher average gift after adding the question doesn’t show the question caused it. To find out, send the two cards to randomly assigned halves of the same mailing and compare everyone assigned, including people who didn’t give. ## Read further Compare the two reply-card designs, shown early in the paper, then read how the authors grouped alumni by census tract. Their discussion of whether some alumni thought their choice directed their gift explains why your form should say exactly what the answer does. [Read the research]() ## Related Atlas tool [Design the priority question and its handoff]() Write the choice, its meaning, the reply and the record each colleague needs to honor it.