How we work with gift officers.

We don't advocate for a particular gift vehicle. The donor's actual goals - income needs, family situation, charitable intent - are what determine which structure makes sense. The nonprofit's preference doesn't enter into it.

If the best answer for the donor is an outright gift to your organization, that's what we'll say. If it's a donor-advised fund with another nonprofit as successor advisor, we'll say that instead. Our recommendation follows the donor's interest.

This independence is the value we add. Your fundraising team has the relationship and the mission; we have the math.

From the introductory call forward, you are copied on all material donor communication unless the donor specifically requests otherwise. We confirm the communication preference on the introductory call.

The recommendation memo - and any side-by-side modeling - reaches you and the donor on the same day. There is no version we share with you that we don't share with the donor, and vice versa.

Engagement fees are agreed in the scope memo before any work begins. Most engagements are fixed-fee, scaled to the complexity of the vehicle comparison required.

Who pays is a conversation we have at scoping. Sometimes the donor prefers to engage us directly; sometimes the nonprofit prefers to underwrite the analysis as part of the stewardship investment. Either is fine. Both is not - we don't double-bill.

We don't pay referral fees to gift officers or nonprofits, and we don't accept them either.

At the close of a gift-officer engagement, you receive:

• A written recommendation memo (the same one the donor receives)
• Side-by-side vehicle models with assumptions made explicit
• A short note covering what comes next and who's involved at each step

You're free to forward to the nonprofit's planned-giving committee, board, or counsel. We work on the assumption that good information shared improves the donor's experience.

If the donor would be better served by a vehicle other than the one your organization benefits from, we say so. In writing. To both of you.

This sometimes means the gift doesn't come to your nonprofit on the timeline you were hoping for, and we understand that's a real cost. We still do it - because the alternative is a donor locked into a structure that doesn't serve them, and that hurts every fundraising relationship in the long run.