Law Practice Today

A best practice is to have an annual budget designating what your firm will spend and which groups you’ll support each year. Budgeting in advance makes it easy to decline unexpected donation requests. You can decline by letter, email, or voice mail, whichever is most appropriate in light of your relationship to the group or person making the request. A number of marketing directors and consultants from around the country contributed to the language and messages below. Consider using these points when declining to make a donation:

• Thank you for your letter/request that we participate in this year's "whatever."

• We appreciate the good work your organization does to support “our community's children/hungry citizens/abandoned companion animals.” (This part of your message is key. You don’t want your response to appear to be boilerplate).

• We will not be able to “participate/contribute” to this year's “dinner/luncheon/capital drive/golf tournament” because our firm has already allocated its donation dollars for the year.

• We set our budget for donations in the fourth quarter. If you are going to be involved again with “name of group” next year, please let me know in the fall.

• We wish you the best of luck in your fundraising efforts.

Be prepared for a call back from the organization, client or referral source asking what the firm's donation guidelines are, and how the organization can better position a solicitation next year. If you do have guidelines, such as "we only give to programs that support education in our community" that can prove helpful. Most firms also require that an attorney (or the client/referrals source) be seriously involved with the organization.

Also, you should ask that the firm’s donation be publicly recognized in the organization’s newsletter, on its Web site, and at the event through an advertisement in the program and/or by recognition from the master-of-ceremonies.