From the Charity Governance blog comes an admonition to any organization seeking or negotiating a naming gift: include a clause that allows you to remove the name if the future behavior of your donor warrants it:
Specifically, the charity should include a ”bad-boy” clause in every agreement or ”letter of understanding” specifying the conditions under which the donor’s name can be removed from the building, scholarship fund, or other asset. Pledge agreements…should provide that payments under the pledge will continue even if a ”bad-boy” clause becomes operative before the pledge is paid in full. Many charities will argue against this out of fear of offending donors. Granted, a customized provision will be problematic. However, no one who truly has the charity’s interest at heart should object, particularly if they conduct their lives in an above-board manner.
It will likely be an awkward conversation with the donor — ”we only want to protect our organization should you become an embarrassment to society, heaven forbid, but thanks for your generous gift.” And for gender equity, we really should call it a ”bad person” clause. But there are a few organizations (named after Enron or Alberto Vilar, for example) that might wish they had broached the subject.
