October 30, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
NEW BOOKS
Naming Rights: Legacy Gifts & Corporate Money
by Terry Burton
“The commodity of choice for nonprofits has become naming rights to their tangible properties and endowment funds,” writes Terry Burton, president of the fund-raising consulting group Dig In Research.
In this book, Mr. Burton examines the history of naming rights, how the practice of offering naming rights has grown as many nonprofit groups, especially universities, embark on large capital campaigns, the appropriate “ask amounts” for naming rights, and the special issues inherent in providing corporations with naming rights.
In the past 10 years, he writes, the number of universities in the midst of billion-dollar fund-raising drives has grown from two to more than 30, and each of the campaigns has featured giving opportunities whereby a donor can see his or her name on a building or scholarship fund for the right amount.
In one chapter, Mr. Burton offers a “manager’s toolbox” for naming rights, which includes instructions on how to determine spaces at a university to which a donor’s name would be appropriately attached, such as a garden, athletic field, building, or entire college, and how to figure what size gift to seek in exchange.
In another chapter, “Corporate Naming Rights with Strings Attached,” he discusses some of the benefits of selling naming rights to a corporate partner, but stresses that nonprofit groups must have policies in place to revoke those rights if a corporation faces scandal, as with Enron or WorldCom.
Mr. Burton also includes instructions on creating a policy statement so that fund raisers don’t find themselves backed into a corner during discussions with donors. Examples of these policies are included in the appendix.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 111 River Street, Fourth Floor, Hoboken, N.J. 07030; (201) 748-6000; fax (201) 748-6088; http://www.wiley.com; 256 pages; $45; ISBN 978-0-470-23063-3.
