ACGA- American Council on Gift Annuities

Advancement- all external affairs activities, including: alumni relations, former patient relations, community relations, development, governmental relations, public relations. Some organizations mistakenly call the development department the advancement department. Development is a part of Advancement. 

AFP – Association of Fundraising Professionals 

Annual Gift – a gift made this year for this year’s needs 

Bequest – gift made via Last Willand Testament 

BRE – Business Reply Envelope—a postage pre-paid envelope 

Campaign – one year monetary goal and/or goal to achieve a specific number of individual donors 

Capital Campaign – multiple year campaign for building construction, renovation or endowment 

Comprehensive Capital Campaign – multiple year campaign raising money for capital for multiple priorities 

Campaign Feasibility Study – an internal and external study to determine if a campaign would be successful and at what size and time frame 

Campaign Feasibility Study Interview – visits with staff, volunteers, board members, donors, and prospective donors in the first weeks of a campaign feasibility study 

Case for Support/Case Statement – a document shared with donors and prospective donors as a part of the campaign feasibility study process and later refined and used in the campaign 

Campaign Counsel – consultants who work with a charitable organization’s leadership, staff, and volunteers throughout a multi-year campaign. 

Campaign Nucleus Phase – the first few significant gifts to a campaign. Nucleus Phase could mean the beginning of a Quiet Phase or the entirety of a Quiet Phase 

Campaign Quiet Phase – the initial year or years of a comprehensive capital campaign wherein 30%-50% of the campaign’s goal is raised 

Campaign Public Phase – the latter year or years of a comprehensive capital campaign wherein the last half of the campaign’s goal is realized. In general, the further from the start of a campaign, the more difficult it is to raise large gifts. Much of a public phase will consist of small gifts. 

CFRE – Certified Fundraising Executive 

CGA – Charitable Gift Annuity 

Charity/Charitable Organization/Nonprofit/Not-For-Profit/501(c)(3) – all essentially mean the same thing for our purposesC 

LT – Charitable Lead Trust (Lead means income to the charity, principal to the donor/family) 

Conflict of Interest Policy/Statements – policy required by IRS Form 990 for board members to enact and to review/execute annually 

Corporate Gift – gift made by a corporation 

Corporate Sponsorship – typically purchased name recognition at a special event in which only a portion of the transaction is a gift and a portion is payment for goods/services received 

CRT – Charitable Remainder Trust (many different kinds) 

CRAT – Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (income to donor, principal to charity) 

CRUT – Charitable Remainder Uni-Trust (income to donor, principal to charity)Deferred Gift- a gift the organization will realize (may utilize) at a future date 

Development – longer-term, sustainable fundraising via lasting relationships often developed over 24 months or more—contrast with Advancement 

Development Assessment – see Gap Analysis 

Donor – someone who has made a current or deferred/planned gift 

Draft – usually a lawyer’s word for writing a will 

Eleemosynary – charitable 

Endowment – funds invested for the long term and only a portion of the income/dividends/capital gains spent each year. See Quasi-endowment 

Expectancy – gifts via will, trust, insurance, etc. of which your organization is aware 

Fundraiser – a person, volunteer or staff, who is raising funds—not a special event 

Gap Analysis -a detailed study of an organization’s past and present fundraising capabilities, including comparisons to peers and industry recognized best practices 

Gift – cash, check, stock, real estate, tangible personal property etc. given in a third-party, arms-length transaction wherein the donor has relinquished control 

Gifted – a recently-coined term our firm does not use—a gift is given 

Gift-in-kind/In-kind gift – a non-cash gift, usually of equipment needed by the nonprofit organization 

Gift Pyramid/Table of Gifts/Gift Range Table – a key component of a Campaign Feasibility Study and the later Comprehensive Capital Campaign, often visualized as the Rule of Thirds: One Third of a pyramid or table’s dollars come from 10 donors, the Second Third of a pyramid or table’s dollars come from the next 100 donors, and the final Third comes from all the other donors. 

Grant – simply a gift, but the term grant is usually used by private foundations and corporate foundations to describe their gifts which may be made with specific conditions such as timely progress reports 

Honor Gift – gift given in honor of a living person—contrast with Memorial Gift 

Inter Vivos – usually used to describe a trust or gift made or document executed during life/while alive 

IRS Form 990 – the charitable organization’s Form 1040—the informational return required to be filed annually by most charitable organizations 

IRS Form 8283 – donor and her/his advisors file this form for non-cash charitable gifts 

IRS Form 8282 (“tattletale form”) – form filed by charitable organization if it sells 8283 assets within two years 

Leadership Gift – the very largest of comprehensive capital campaign gifts, the gifts which comprise the Nucleus Phase 

Lapsed Donor – a previous donor who has not made a gift this year (or in certain instances, a lapsed donor is considered one who hasn’t made a gift in three years or five years) 

Leadership Gift – typically the top 10 gifts in the Nucleus or Quiet phase of a capital campaign 

LYBUNT – Last Year But Unfortunately Not This (year) 

LOI – Letter of IntentMajor Gift – a gift much larger than the donor’s regular annual gift, usually $10,000 to $100,000 

Matured Gift – a gift resulting from the end of a term or years or a person’s death 

Memorial Gift – gift given in memory of a deceased person 

Moves Management – process of going from a suspect to a prospect to a donor to donor stewardship 

NIMCRUT – Net Income with Makeup Charitable Remainder Unitrust 

Outright Gift – same as a current gift 

Pareto Principle – or the 80/20Rule: 80% of gifts come from 20% of donors, 80% of the volunteer or staff work is done by 20% of the volunteers or staff 

PIF – Pooled Income Fund 

Planned Gift – a gift, usually connected to a donor’s estate plans, made with the help of a trained volunteer, staff member, or professional advisor 

Pledge – a written plan to make a gift in installments over time or pay one lump sum at a later date 

Principal Gift – usually gifts of $1 million or more 

Prospect – a suspect becomes a prospect when we know they have a demonstrated or stated interest in our project and have demonstrated they have the money and they respond to our staff or volunteers 

Quasi-endowment – funds invested for the long term. In normal years, only a portion of the income/dividends/capital gains may be spent 

Remainder/Remainder Interest/Remainderman – the portion of a planned gift which comes to the charitable organization at the end of a term of years or the donor’s death—usually this is the donor’stax deductible portion of a CRT/CRAT/CRUT 

RFP – Request for Proposal 

Rule of Thirds – 10 gifts total first third of campaign; 100 gifts total second third of campaign; all other gifts complete the final third of campaign 

SASE – Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope 

Special Events – best used as “friend-raisers” not as “fund-raisers” due to the high cost to plan and execute 

Special Gift – usually annual gifts between $1,000 and whatever the organization considers a major gift 

Suspect – someone or some organization in whom we think they may have the interest or may have the money or may respond to us 

SYBUNT – Some Years But Unfortunately Not This (year) 

Transformational Gift – institution/organization changing gifts due to their tremendous size relative to the organization’s current budget or current endowment 

UHNW – Ultra High Net Worth–families with over $30 million in net assets 

Will – Last Will and Testament—see Bequest 

Whistleblower Policy – policy required by IRS Form 990 for board members to review annual