Thanks John. I should have mentioned, but our next step is the contract review that will involve our finance and legal teams. I was just trying to get my head around the giving portion before we got too far down that road.
Thanks.
Sean
| Sean Shappell Asst. VP, Information Services Lehigh University Development & Alumni Relations 306 S. New Street, Suite 500 Bethlehem, PA 18015
(610) 758-5814 (office) (570) 594-6397 (mobile)
ses211@lehigh.edu alumni.lehigh.edu/campaign |
Original Message:
Sent: 2/5/2025 3:43:00 PM
From: John Taylor
Subject: RE: Donation of Round of Golf for Auction
For the non-tangible donations, think of the donation as a "gift card." Have the donor provide you with a coupon the winning bidder can redeem.
As for sales tax, organizations essentially sell donated items at the auction. Those items are subject to the same sales tax rules for your bookstore. I do not know if PA exempts certain items from those fees. This is why organizations will want to work with your CFO so you know what items are subject to those taxes, and how best to pay the state.
I note you have contracted with a Foundation to handle the auction. That means THEY have to follow all Federal and State rules. However, you and your CFO likely should meet with them to ensure there aren't any surprises, find out how they do receipts and pay sales taxes, and ensure you are left with unanticipated costs or processes.
As an aside, the only gift to YOU will be the net proceeds from the foundation - unless they are serving as your legal agent - in which case you may need to pay the taxes.
John
John H. Taylor, PrincipalJohn H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
2604 Sevier Street
Durham, NC 27705
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
Original Message:
Sent: 2/5/2025 3:30:00 PM
From: Sean Shappell
Subject: RE: Donation of Round of Golf for Auction
John,
Thanks for the additional pointers. I did skim over the auction piece as the vendor is doing the auction on our behalf, and the gift is to their charitable foundation, not us directly. So, they're responsible for that portion. Of course, I'll be checking to make sure they are actually doing those things.
Regarding the receipting of the rounds of golf to be auctioned off, that's a good idea to not receipt until after the auction. Even then, do you normally get something in writing from the donor committing them to actually paying for the round? I guess what's confusing me is that with the GIKs we normally get, there's usually a physical thing we take possession of or, in the rare certainly not encouraged cases, a donor provides us with a receipt for something they paid for that we would normally pay for (e.g. catering for an event). The GIK always happens after the fact. Here, we're auctioning off something without ever actually receiving it.
Regarding your note on sales tax, can you clarify exactly what you mean? Are you saying if a donor wins an auction for a round of golf with a FMV of $1,000 with a winning bid of $2,000, we (Lehigh) would need to remit sales tax on the $1,000 non-charitable portion? That's not something I've encountered before. As I said, we don't really do auctions here (at least not that DAR is made aware of -- which is another problem entirely). If that's the case, I wonder how that's impacted by the fact that the vendor is running the auction, and we just get proceeds. They're not our agent in this case.
Thanks.
Sean
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Sean Shappell
Lehigh University
ses211@lehigh.edu
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2025 04:44 PM
From: John Taylor
Subject: Donation of Round of Golf for Auction
One quick point - only the portion of the winning bid over and above the FMV of the item they purchased is a charitable donation - and the donor gets a QPQ receipt. There is no gift if the winning bid is at or below FMV. Here's a summary from the IRS:
And winning bids cannot be paid from a DAF or a private foundation.
For the in-kind donation, I never issue a receipt until after the auction, as often, if something doesn't sell, the donor asks for it back.
And it does not matter if the winning bidder never uses what they bought.
And you cannot issue any receipt for services or partial interest items. For example, if a Country Club gives you rounds of golf or a hotel donates free rooms, those are not tax-deductible gifts. There are many other rules and regs - it's best to work out details with your CFO and Counsel.
And keep in mind that you have to pay state sales tax on all of those purchases! Usually, that's done as one lump sum taken from the total proceeds - but it's a necessary evil!
John
John H. Taylor, PrincipalJohn H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
2604 Sevier Street
Durham, NC 27705
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
Original Message:
Sent: 2/4/2025 2:40:00 PM
From: Sean Shappell
Subject: Donation of Round of Golf for Auction
All,
I'm approaching a new type of gift (for me), and I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.
Our Athletics dept. is pursuing a new fundraising opportunity by auctioning off golf rounds (which constituents are donating to us) using the site Member for a Day.
I believe I have a complete understanding of how the auction portion works. Member for a Day runs the whole auction, and winning bids are charitable donations to the Our Change Foundation (not us directly), and we get a donation from Our Change Foundation less the fee that Member for a Day charges.
Where I have less of an understanding is the part where we solicit and receive the donations of the golf rounds to be auctioned off. My understanding is these would not be charitable GIKs to the university if they were given directly by the golf course (no property exchanging hands, partial interest, etc...), but if (for example) an alum who was a member at the course donated a round, they would be making a charitable (unrelated use) GIK to the university because they are donating their full property interest. Do I have that correct?
If so, what are the best practices around receipting/booking these kind of gifts. I realize we wouldn't put a value (like with any GIK) on the receipt, but when do we actually receive the gift? Does the round have to happen? Do they need to produce some kind of gift certificate/letter/receipt from the course proving they have "bought" the round? This will be my first time (I managed to make it 15 years!) booking an experiential unrelated use GIK to be auctioned off. So, I want to make sure I'm not missing or misunderstanding something.
Of course, if anyone has any specific feedback on Member for a Day, I'd welcome that as well!
Thanks.
Sean
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Sean Shappell
Lehigh University
ses211@lehigh.edu
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