‘Business Week’: Earmarking Gifts

More and more donors are “restricting gifts, large and small, to projects that reflect their values and priorities,” says Business Week (April 9).

With the economy weakened, donors “have a lot of leverage today to negotiate what they want with charities,” Joanne Johnson, a wealth adviser at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, tells the magazine. How much leverage a donor has, however, “will depend on the size of your donation relative to the nonprofit’s wealth and prestige,” says the magazine.

The magazine urges donors who want to earmark $10,000 or more to sit down with someone at a nonprofit institution and discuss the organization’s needs.

Nevertheless, Business Week tells donors not to attach restrictions “simply to throw your weight around.” One reason: “If you load conditions onto a small gift, it may cost the nonprofit more to use it than to return it.”

The article is available online at http://www.businessweek.com.