FundSvcs Community

If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can this be booked as a gift?

If the expenses were already approved and budgeted by the institution then I think you could quickly say yes. If the expenses were not originally approved by the institution I would need to know why. If the activity itself was approved but funding was not available, I would insist on the gift being made to HR and let them approve the offsets ensuring they were complying with institutional professional development requirements. John John H. Taylor Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting 2604 Sevier St. Durham, NC 27705 johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com 919.816.5903 (cell/text) Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987 On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:06 PM Jana Hunt <hunt001@gannon.edu> wrote: > If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but > wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their > own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can > this be booked as a gift? >

Yes, that is correct. Doing so will provide greater transparency and avoid any "self-dealing" arguments. John H. Taylor Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting 2604 Sevier St. Durham, NC 27705 johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com 919.816.5903 (cell/text) Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987 On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:22 PM Hunt, Jana D <HUNT001@gannon.edu> wrote: > When you say gift made to HR, would it still be processed through the gift > system and credited to an HR account for their distribution? Just want to > clarify. > > > > Thank you, > > > > Jana Hunt > > Assistant Director, Gift Recording > > 814-871-7469 > > 814-871-5825 > > > > *From:* Advancement Services Discussion List [mailto: > FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG] *On Behalf Of *John Taylor > *Sent:* Friday, July 26, 2019 12:19 PM > *To:* FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG > *Subject:* Re: [FUNDSVCS] Gift to off-set employee travel/development > costs > > > > If the expenses were already approved and budgeted by the institution then > I think you could quickly say yes. If the expenses were not originally > approved by the institution I would need to know why. If the activity > itself was approved but funding was not available, I would insist on the > gift being made to HR and let them approve the offsets ensuring they were > complying with institutional professional development requirements. > > > > John > > > > John H. Taylor > > Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting > > 2604 Sevier St. > > Durham, NC 27705 > > johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com > > 919.816.5903 (cell/text) > > > > Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987 > > > > > > On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:06 PM Jana Hunt <hunt001@gannon.edu> wrote: > > If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but > wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their > own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can > this be booked as a gift? > > Gannon University Disclaimers > • Any views or opinions presented in this email (or posting) are solely > those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Gannon > University. > • CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain > confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized > disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error, > please notify the sender and delete this email from your system. Thank you. >

Two issues come to mind: if the money is going to new expenses not already planned for, and especially if it's going to that administrator's expenses, I'd be dubious about it, as it appears to be a benefit to the individual, or at least it's plausible to construe it as such. However, the deductibility question is maybe the secondary issue. The primary issue is the restriction on the donation. Does your gift acceptance policy allow for this restriction? That's where I'd look first, as the policy issue here of allowing donor control over internal operations, especially when the donor is an administrator, seems much more serious than the tax deduction. Thank you, Isaac Shalev CRM Expert Sage70, Inc. (917) 859-0151 isaac@sage70.com Schedule a *30-minute consultation *now: https://calendly.com/sage70/30min On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:06 PM Jana Hunt <hunt001@gannon.edu> wrote: > If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but > wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their > own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can > this be booked as a gift? >

When you say gift made to HR, would it still be processed through the gift system and credited to an HR account for their distribution? Just want to clarify. Thank you, Jana Hunt Assistant Director, Gift Recording 814-871-7469 814-871-5825 From: Advancement Services Discussion List [mailto:FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG] On Behalf Of John Taylor Sent: Friday, July 26, 2019 12:19 PM To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Gift to off-set employee travel/development costs If the expenses were already approved and budgeted by the institution then I think you could quickly say yes. If the expenses were not originally approved by the institution I would need to know why. If the activity itself was approved but funding was not available, I would insist on the gift being made to HR and let them approve the offsets ensuring they were complying with institutional professional development requirements. John John H. Taylor Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting 2604 Sevier St. Durham, NC 27705 johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com<mailto:johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com> 919.816.5903 (cell/text) Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987 On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:06 PM Jana Hunt <hunt001@gannon.edu<mailto:hunt001@gannon.edu>> wrote: If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can this be booked as a gift? Gannon University Disclaimers • Any views or opinions presented in this email (or posting) are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Gannon University. • CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email from your system. Thank you.

These are the two issues that I was struggling with. We do allow for support for professional development, but the specifity of the restriction is where I am a little leery. Thank you for your guidance. Jana Hunt Assistant Director, Gift Recording 814-871-7469 814-871-5825 From: Advancement Services Discussion List [mailto:FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG] On Behalf Of Isaac Shalev Sent: Friday, July 26, 2019 12:29 PM To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Gift to off-set employee travel/development costs Two issues come to mind: if the money is going to new expenses not already planned for, and especially if it's going to that administrator's expenses, I'd be dubious about it, as it appears to be a benefit to the individual, or at least it's plausible to construe it as such. However, the deductibility question is maybe the secondary issue. The primary issue is the restriction on the donation. Does your gift acceptance policy allow for this restriction? That's where I'd look first, as the policy issue here of allowing donor control over internal operations, especially when the donor is an administrator, seems much more serious than the tax deduction. Thank you, Isaac Shalev CRM Expert Sage70, Inc. (917) 859-0151 isaac@sage70.com<mailto:isaac@sage70.com> Schedule a 30-minute consultation now: https://calendly.com/sage70/30min On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:06 PM Jana Hunt <hunt001@gannon.edu<mailto:hunt001@gannon.edu>> wrote: If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can this be booked as a gift? Gannon University Disclaimers • Any views or opinions presented in this email (or posting) are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Gannon University. • CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email from your system. Thank you.

The short answer is yes, but where this gets icky is when the faculty member or administrator is also the account administrator on the funds to be dispensed. Such arrangements can appear as self-dealing and should be frowned upon when suggested. If the faculty/administrator is NOT the account administrator on the funds that should be OK, although there may not be a specific designation in your CRM directly assigned to the specific professional development account for that one department. You can ask the faculty/administrator if it’s OK to record it under the general (discretionary) account for that same department. Then the faculty/administrator can let the account administrator know to internally encumber the amount from the discretionary account for professional development. Otherwise, you may end up creating an new allocation in your CRM for just that one time gift. Your call. However, if the faculty/administrator IS the account administrator I suggest you have a conversation with that person and explain that such donations are frowned upon as they could be abused and the optics are not welcome. You may also want to have a conversation with your controller and explain what’s going on to make sure the controller checks back to see if the expenses where truly used for professional development as originally promised. Just my 2c, Eric Eric F. Valdescaro Associate Vice President, Advancement Services Office | 808-376-7830 University of Hawai‘i Foundation<http://www.uhfoundation.org> 1314 South King Street, Suite B Honolulu, HI 96814 <https://goo.gl/maps/n8uM1mFV5WS2> Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/UniversityHawaiiFoundation> • Twitter<http://twitter.com/UHawaiiFdn> • LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/university-of-hawaii-foundation> <http://www.uhfoundation.org>[University of Hawaii Foundation]<http://www.uhfoundation.org/><http://www.uhfoundation.org> FOR OUR UNIVERSITY, OUR HAWAI‘I, OUR FUTURE From: Advancement Services Discussion List [mailto:FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG] On Behalf Of Hunt, Jana D Sent: Friday, July 26, 2019 7:02 AM To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Gift to off-set employee travel/development costs These are the two issues that I was struggling with. We do allow for support for professional development, but the specifity of the restriction is where I am a little leery. Thank you for your guidance. Jana Hunt Assistant Director, Gift Recording 814-871-7469 814-871-5825 From: Advancement Services Discussion List [mailto:FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG] On Behalf Of Isaac Shalev Sent: Friday, July 26, 2019 12:29 PM To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG> Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Gift to off-set employee travel/development costs Two issues come to mind: if the money is going to new expenses not already planned for, and especially if it's going to that administrator's expenses, I'd be dubious about it, as it appears to be a benefit to the individual, or at least it's plausible to construe it as such. However, the deductibility question is maybe the secondary issue. The primary issue is the restriction on the donation. Does your gift acceptance policy allow for this restriction? That's where I'd look first, as the policy issue here of allowing donor control over internal operations, especially when the donor is an administrator, seems much more serious than the tax deduction. Thank you, Isaac Shalev CRM Expert Sage70, Inc. (917) 859-0151 isaac@sage70.com<mailto:isaac@sage70.com> Schedule a 30-minute consultation now: https://calendly.com/sage70/30min On Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 12:06 PM Jana Hunt <hunt001@gannon.edu<mailto:hunt001@gannon.edu>> wrote: If a faculty/administrator wants to make a gift to our university, but wants it to be specifically used to off-set the expenses incurred by their own department members for travel/conference/professional development, can this be booked as a gift? Gannon University Disclaimers • Any views or opinions presented in this email (or posting) are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Gannon University. • CONFIDENTIALITY: This email (including any attachments) may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged information, and unauthorized disclosure or use is prohibited. If you received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this email from your system. Thank you. This message (including any attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521. It is the property of the University of Hawaii Foundation. It may contain confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose. If you are not the intended recipient, you must delete this message. You are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message is prohibited.