IRS Publication 561 deals with non-cash donations. But you are not going
to find specifics on this sort of thing. The focus of your consideration
is whether the donation serves to further the mission of the organization -
not necessarily whether it is a budget relieving gift.
You have not provided sufficient "proof" to support this as a
mission-related event. You only say you encourage reunion programs. So
the first stop I would make is in Counsel's Office and have them determine
whether this qualifies as a gift.
Of course, you could avoid all this consternation by reimbursing the donor
even without a specific budget, and then they could make a cash gift.
One key issue here, though, about tax deductibility is your statement that
this donor is in the business of providing event support of this nature.
That limits what they might be able to deduct if deductible at all.
Therefore, I'd be specific on the receipt to itemize what was provided
(food/beverage/staff) and further be very clear who made the donation - the
individual or their company. And under no circumstance should a value be
stated on the receipt.
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 14, 2019 at 12:46 PM Tanya Cole <
00000034fc5c57b5-dmarc-request@listserv.fundsvcs.org> wrote:
> Good morning! Thank you all for your time in reading my question. Here's
> the situation. For an upcoming reunion (independant school PK-12), an
> alumnus would like to cover the cost of the entire CLASS-HOSTED event.
> (The school hosts activities for all alumni, 25th and 50th on Thursday and
> Friday.) These class dinners/parties are typically on Saturday night and
> have never been part of the school's alumni relations budget. Reunion
> committees determine a ticket price, dollars are collected and many times
> the reunion committee members end up making up the shortage. (We have
> moved toward an online registration for school-hosted AND class-hosted to
> support the reunion committee volunteers.) There's also an added element in
> this situation that the alumnus is in the hospitality industry and could
> reasonably provide the food/bev/staff. Can he request a GIK for hosting?
> Does anybody have any GIK policies and Reunion guidelines to share that
> address this situation, and is there an IRS publication that covers this
> type of GIK? Hosting the class-sponsored event is not budget relief,
> however one could say it is part of our encouraged alumni/reunion program.
> If you do NOT provide GIK for this type of situation AND have been asked
> for a GIK, how have you handled that decline? Any advice would be
> appreciated.
>