FundSvcs Community

My first piece of advice is to ask your auditors what they think you should do. These are, after all, booked assets and your organization must set up a reserve for uncollected pledges. Auditors ALWAYS have an opinion here. Personally, I develop formal write-off policies and adhere to them closely. They usually had a 2-3 year window of non-payments with no explanation or request from the donor to extend the payment period - at which time the pledge is written off. 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, Jun 7, 2019 at 4:53 PM Jones, Carol B <Carol.Jones2@uhhospitals.org> wrote: > What do you do when pledges backed by irrevocable gift agreements go > unpaid? > > > > It was suggested in a recent meeting that we not write off any long-unpaid > pledges created with irrevocable gift agreements. The thinking was that at > some point those donors or their heirs might fulfill the pledges – even > those for which we have had no response from the donors for several years. > (Fortunately, there are not a lot of these – but enough to raise the > question and determine our process.) To accomplish this, we determined that > we could mark the pledges Conditional to remove them from cash forecasting > – but leave them otherwise as is on the donors’ records. Then if a payment > were received, we would still have the pledge available. > > > > I’m not really on board with this idea. I think it gives us a more > accurate picture of the donor’s giving history if we see that a pledge was > written off, particularly if good notes explaining why it was written off > were included on the record. (Of course, those notes should exist to > describe all attempts made to collect on the pledge, whether or not we > write it off….) We should still be able to adjust and apply a payment to a > written-off pledge – though the pledge might not be obvious to the > processor when processing gifts in a batch. > > > > What are your thoughts on this? After making attempts to work with the > donors on their completion, would it be better to write off the pledges or > leave them as is? Is there a downside to either choice? > > > > Thanks, > > Carol > > > > *Carol BC Jones* > > *Manager, Development Data and Reporting* > > Institutional Relations and Development > > University Hospitals > > 11100 Euclid Avenue > > Mailstop: WLK-5062 > > Cleveland, OH 44106 > > Phone: (216) 983-5637; Fax: (216) 201-5211 > > > > Visit us at www.UHhospitals.org. > > The enclosed information is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is intended for the > use of the addressee only. University Hospitals and its affiliates disclaim > any responsibility for unauthorized disclosure of this information to > anyone > other than the addressee. > > Federal and Ohio law protect patient medical information, including > psychiatric_disorders, (H.I.V) test results, A.I.Ds-related conditions, > alcohol, and/or drug_dependence or abuse disclosed in this email. Federal > regulation (42 CFR Part 2) and Ohio Revised Code section 5122.31 and > 3701.243 prohibit disclosure of this information without the specific > written consent of the person to whom it pertains, or as otherwise > permitted > by law. >

What do you do when pledges backed by irrevocable gift agreements go unpaid? It was suggested in a recent meeting that we not write off any long-unpaid pledges created with irrevocable gift agreements. The thinking was that at some point those donors or their heirs might fulfill the pledges - even those for which we have had no response from the donors for several years. (Fortunately, there are not a lot of these - but enough to raise the question and determine our process.) To accomplish this, we determined that we could mark the pledges Conditional to remove them from cash forecasting - but leave them otherwise as is on the donors' records. Then if a payment were received, we would still have the pledge available. I'm not really on board with this idea. I think it gives us a more accurate picture of the donor's giving history if we see that a pledge was written off, particularly if good notes explaining why it was written off were included on the record. (Of course, those notes should exist to describe all attempts made to collect on the pledge, whether or not we write it off....) We should still be able to adjust and apply a payment to a written-off pledge - though the pledge might not be obvious to the processor when processing gifts in a batch. What are your thoughts on this? After making attempts to work with the donors on their completion, would it be better to write off the pledges or leave them as is? Is there a downside to either choice? Thanks, Carol Carol BC Jones Manager, Development Data and Reporting Institutional Relations and Development University Hospitals 11100 Euclid Avenue Mailstop: WLK-5062 Cleveland, OH 44106 Phone: (216) 983-5637; Fax: (216) 201-5211 Visit us at www.UHhospitals.org. The enclosed information is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and is intended for the use of the addressee only. University Hospitals and its affiliates disclaim any responsibility for unauthorized disclosure of this information to anyone other than the addressee. Federal and Ohio law protect patient medical information, including psychiatric_disorders, (H.I.V) test results, A.I.Ds-related conditions, alcohol, and/or drug_dependence or abuse disclosed in this email. Federal regulation (42 CFR Part 2) and Ohio Revised Code section 5122.31 and 3701.243 prohibit disclosure of this information without the specific written consent of the person to whom it pertains, or as otherwise permitted by law.