Guidelines and Expectations for the Acknowledgment Process

WFAA and campus staff members who produce gift-pledge acknowledgments will now send the Donor Acknowledgment Report back to WFAA so that the gift-pledge acknowledgment can be recorded onto the appropriate gift and constituent record in 4WARD.

Expectations

• All gift pledges of $1,000 or more will receive an acknowledgment from the unit receiving the gift pledge.
  • We encourage sending acknowledgments for all gift pledges, including those under $1,000.
• The acknowledgment can be in the form of a letter, handwritten note, phone call, etc. — in all scenarios, the gift-pledge acknowledgment should be recorded in 4WARD by following the acknowledgment process. Note: Currently the recording of all acknowledgements is on hold until further notice.
• Because development staff receive information about new gifts in a variety of ways (pulling the Donor Acknowledgment Report, receiving a phone call from a donor, or getting a notification from 4WARD about a new gift, etc.), advancement teams should work together to determine the best workflow to ensure that all acknowledgment activity is recorded back into 4WARD.
  • For example: A director of development gets a notification that one of their donors has given a gift. They call that donor to thank them, and then they also notify their development support staff that the gift has been acknowledged. This can be either entered manually onto the gift record in 4WARD, or included the next time that the Donor Acknowledgment Report is submitted. Note: Currently the recording of all acknowledgements is on hold until further notice.
• In some cases, the gift-pledge acknowledgment is accompanied by a more personalized exchange of information or communication with the donor — in this case, development staff (at WFAA or on campus) should also enter a completed stewardship Activity Report with the donor.