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  • 1.  faculty donation questions

    Posted 07-15-2025 07:22 AM

    Questions related to faculty donations:

    1. We have a faculty director of a program who wants to donate anonymously to benefit their program. The gift officer wants us to set up a separate temp restricted fund and have the spending authority be the Dean of the College vs. the program director (our spending authorities are normally the program director in consultation with the Dean). This fund would not benefit the director directly; however, it does benefit the person's program. I feel like this is pretty close to crossing the line but wanted opinions.
    2. Related: if faculty donate to their specific departments' general operating funds and the funds are used for general program and operational support, is that problematic? 
    3. Also related: if a Dean of a College wants to donate to a department fund within their specific College (spending authority is department chair), is that problematic? The Dean ultimately is in charge of the College. 

    Thanks for the feedback,

    Rhonda Miller



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    Rhonda Miller
    The George Washington University
    rkmiller@gwu.edu
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  • 2.  RE: faculty donation questions

    Posted 07-15-2025 07:43 AM
    The donations are tax-deductible, provided that the faculty/staff members do not personally (privately) benefit.

    It's a better practice for the donor not to have sole signature authority over the donated funds. And obviously, the funds must be used for departmental/institutional mission-related purposes.

    Earlier editions of the CASE Standards provided further elaboration on this. The newer editions focus more on the general definition of philanthropy, meaning gifts cannot directly benefit specific individuals, be they faculty, staff, or students.

    Here's the foundational statement from page xxxiv of the current Standards:

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