Tributes are made in honor of someone for recognition or in memory of someone who has passed away. In Virtuous, this is a separate object that can be linked to Gifts. Tributes are a great way to preserve the legacy of individuals you want to recognize.
This function allows Users to track Gifts made with a certain Tribute. It also allows Users to know who to notify when Gifts are made in Tribute to specific Individuals.
In Virtuous, there are two different Individuals to include when creating a Tribute:
- The Tribute is the Individual you are recognizing; who the Gift is in honor or in memory of.
- This is a separate object in Virtuous so you don't have to keep a list of deceased Individuals in your database. You may never interact with these individuals, so there may be no need to have their records function as such. However, you still have the option to connect this with an Individual who does exist in your database.
- The Default Acknowledgee is the Individual you can notify when Gifts are created for the Tribute.
- This MUST be an Individual in your database; because you are notifying them, you'll want to note their contact information and track your communications with them.
For example: Jane's grandmother, Joanne, recently passed away. She knows Joanne was passionate about rescuing dogs, so she encourages attendees of Joanne's funeral to make a gift to the local animal shelter in her memory. Jane reaches out to the animal shelter to let them know that several people may donate in tribute to Joanne, and she'll want to know who gave in Joanne's memory. This means that Joanne is the Tribute and Jane is the Default Acknowledgee.
Next Steps
A Tribute must be created before designating any Gifts to it. Check out our handy dandy article on creating a Tribute to get started.