What is the legalese and protocols of making a gift donation to some cause in another persons name? What if that person doesn’t believe in the cause and doesn’t want their name associated with the organization? I certainly wouldn’t want a donation made to the Brady Campaign in my name. If somebody did, what could I do about it?
Depends on what you mean by “in another person’s name”.
If I make a gift to the Brady Campaign, telling them that I am pkbites , that’s what we call a flat-out lie. If you find out about it you may have limited recourse, though, beyond asking the Campaign to withdraw or correct any statement they may have made indicating that pkbites has donated to them. (I’m sure they’ll be happy to do that .) You might have some kind of case against me for defamation by innuendo if the facts are such that your being known to have donated to the Brady Campaign would imply that you are a hypocrite, or something of the kind.
If I make a gift to the Brady Campaign using my own identity, but say that I am making the gift to honour or commemorate you in some way, you might be pissed off, but there’s not much you can do. My motivation in making the gift is mine, not yours, and I can characterise it how I like. If my linking of the gift to you is intended as a jab at your views, well, I am entitled to have, and express, my opinions about your views, even in ways which annoy you.
None of the organizations I’ve worked for would list honor/memorial gifts as regular gifts - in other words, if your jackass friend made a gift to the Human Fund in your name, we’d list him as the donor, and you in the honor/memorial section. And we’d have also sent you confirmation of his gift, so if you were upset about it, you’d just contact us and tell us not to print your name.