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Date of DAF Gift

  • 1.  Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 04:04 PM
    Our practice has been to use the date of the ACH deposit as the gift date for DAF gifts. However, we just received an ACH deposit for a DAF gift we typically receive in December.  My manager wants to re-date the gift to count it as a December gift. I can't quickly/easily locate either IRS rules or DAF rules about determining the gift date of a DAF gift. Can anyone help answer this one for me. (BTW, I don't think our Finance department will go along with re-dating the gift to December, but I need still need legitimate information to either support the actual January deposit/gift date or if it is OK to date these January ACH deposits as December gifts. Thank you! Karen Snyder

     



    ------------------------------
    Karen Snyder
    Tubman
    Minneapolis, MN
    ksnyder@tubman.org
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 04:14 PM
    Karen,
    We will count it as a December if the post mark date on the envelope is December 31 or before. 
    Blanca

    BLANCA E. MESTA-MARTINEZ

    Sr. Specialist, Donor Systems

    MLK Community Health Foundation
    1680 E. 120th Street 
    Los Angeles, CA 90059
    C (562) 445-7953
    blanca@mlk-chf.org
    mlk-chf.org | @yourmlkch





    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 04:28 PM

    There isn't a postmark date as this is an ACH/EFT deposit.  Karen

     




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 04:17 PM
      |   view attached
    You should never attempt to ascertain a "gift date" for IRS purposes. That's between the donor and the IRS (and their advisors). We usually go with either the processed or received date. But under NO circumstances should you ever fraudulently modify a transaction to reflect a date that never occurred.

    Although I sent the attached to the list on November 28, I think it might be useful to you today!

    John


    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987




    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    2022 Date of Gift Summary.pdf   163 KB 1 version
    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 04:19 PM
    PS - as this gift came from a DAF the "date" is irrelevant from a tax perspective. The legal donor is the DAF and they cannot claim charitable deductions. Further, they do not need a receipt.

    But as the date of gift summary indicates, this gift was transmitted electronically and it is not a valid donation until it hits your account.

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987


    On Tue, Jan 3, 2023 at 5:16 PM John Taylor <johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com> wrote:
    You should never attempt to ascertain a "gift date" for IRS purposes. That's between the donor and the IRS (and their advisors). We usually go with either the processed or received date. But under NO circumstances should you ever fraudulently modify a transaction to reflect a date that never occurred.

    Although I sent the attached to the list on November 28, I think it might be useful to you today!

    John


    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987




    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 04:39 PM

    As always, thank you, John! Karen

     




    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-03-2023 10:11 PM
    Finance should record the gift the day it was actually received. There's really no wiggle room there, that's when the transaction happened, and anything else would be a misrepresentation.

    However, your CRM is not bound to the same rules, and you could possibly make an exception. It sounds like the issue here is that the work to raise the money was done in the previous year, and the money should have arrived in the previous year, but was delayed for reasons that had nothing to do with the gift officer. I can see the logic in wanting to credit the gift officer with those dollars in the last year, not only for their benefit, but also to help the organization understand its fundraising in '22 vs '23 more clearly. There may be a valid case to adjusting the gift date, only in the CRM, especially if the transaction is large. Adjustments can be made to reports instead, though these can be hard to track and maintain consistency with. If an adjustment is made in the CRM, you'll need to also note it when you reconcile with Finance. 


    Thank you,
    Isaac Shalev
    Data Strategy Expert
    Sage70, Inc.
    (917) 859-0151
    isaac@sage70.com

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:




    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-04-2023 05:13 AM
    I disagree, Isaac.

    There are many ways a gift officer can demonstrate their productivity accomplishments when they happen. For instance, they can secure a pledge in advance of a gift. And they can record their "moves" in the prospect management system.

    While a CRM may let you alter dates, deliberately indicating that cash was received on a date you know to be incorrect can lead to many issues - not the least of which is reconciling with bank statements and GLs as you mentioned.

    If I want to give a gift officer credit, I will look at alternate methods of adjusting their productivity reports before recording a gift date that never existed.

    John

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-04-2023 05:40 AM
    Many organizations are shifting away from "cash in the door" as the sole measure of productivity.

    Fifteen years ago, when I was at NC State, we began issuing two productivity reports. You might refer to the first as "The VSE Report." That report, and the VSE, look at cash in the door.

    However, to your point, such a report does not give a gift officer "credit" for all their work to secure that gift. So, we developed the "Gifts & New Commitments" report. This tracks outright gifts, new pledges, new irrevocable deferred gifts, and new bequest expectancies. Pledge payments and realized planned gifts were excluded. This report was a better marker for productivity.

    So, I was pleased when CASE announced a similar concept in its new Global Standards issued two years ago. CASE now advises member institutions to track productivity in two ways, too:
    • "Funds Received are monies and property received within the reporting year from any individual or qualified organization. This includes outright gifts, payments received to fulfill pledges made in the current or previous years, irrevocable planned gifts received at face value, and realized bequests/legacies."
    • "New Funds Committed are new monies and property committed in the reporting year from any individual or qualified organization. This includes new outright gifts, new documented pledges for up to 5 years, new irrevocable planned gifts received or committed, and new qualified and documented bequests/legacy intentions."
    These two reports, together, paint a fuller picture of fundraising performance - and allow us to track actual activity without modifying dates.

    John

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-04-2023 10:27 AM
    Agreed - there are many other ways to respond to the recognition issue that may be preferable to changing the dates in the CRM. 


    Thank you,
    Isaac Shalev
    Data Strategy Expert
    Sage70, Inc.
    (917) 859-0151
    isaac@sage70.com

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:





    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Date of DAF Gift

    Posted 01-05-2023 09:22 AM

    I agree with John 100%! Manipulating dates WOULD lead to issues with reconciliation, etc.  We do our best to have the gift officer secure an agreement, so we can record a pledge.

     

    Best regards,

     

    Tracy

     




    Original Message


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