 In 1997, he received the Charles P. Taft Civic Gumption Award from the Cincinnati Charter Committee of the Charter Party.In 2001 the Cincinnati Park Board created the Donald A. Spencer Overlook in Eden Park to recognize his years of service to the park system.Donald Spencer received the Founders’ Citation from the Ohio University Board of Trustees, and was one of only fourteen people to receive the honor in the university’s 200-year history.