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  • 1.  Informal Survey: Gift Fee/Tax

    Posted 30 days ago
    Happy Friday Hive-mind,

    We are doing some informal research regarding how many other institutions and organizations have a gift fee/gift tax and how it might be used, and I offered to share the questions with this great group.

    Hollins is exploring the possibility of implementing a gift fee to help support the advancement enterprise. This is an area where peer insight would be incredibly valuable.

    If you're willing, could you share the following:
    • Do you have a gift fee/gift tax? (Yes/No)
    • If yes, what is the percentage?
    • Are there any exclusions? (e.g., only on gifts over a certain amount)
    • How long has it been in place? (e.g., "as long as I can remember" is perfectly fine)
    • How are donors notified? 
    I've created a shared spreadsheet  (for anyone with the link) where the answers above can be added for all to see. I've entered some fake, sample information in the first row in red. I'll keep the access open until the end of February 2026 for anyone interested in seeing the responses. None of the questions are required, but the name of your organization and your name/email with your response would be incredibly helpful. If you don't feel comfortable using a shared document or have any issues accessing it, please feel free to reach out to me directly.
     
    Sincerely,
    Sarah


    Sarah E. Lewis

    Director of Advancement Services  ǀ  Institutional Advancement

     

    7916 Williamson Road, Box 9629, Roanoke, VA  24020

    540-362-6228  |  lewisse@hollins.edu

     

    image001.png@01D99AD9.92FD12E0

     

    Make your gift to the Hollins Fund online hollins.edu/giveonline



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  • 2.  RE: Informal Survey: Gift Fee/Tax

    Posted 29 days ago

    Neither of the two higher ed institutions where I headed up advancement services charged a gift fee. Now that I am in a different role working with multiple nonprofit fundraising teams, I see some organizations asking donors if they are willing to cover the gift processing costs.  This approach is donor-centric while automatically charging a gift fee is not.

    How do you think charging a donor to give you a gift sits with that donor? From this donor's perspective, I would reconsider supporting an organization that charges me to give them a gift. 



    ------------------------------
    Kenna Wood
    R&B Consulting
    kenna.s.wood@gmail.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Informal Survey: Gift Fee/Tax

    Posted 29 days ago
    Same. 

    As for "how it might be used," consider it a donation, and typically it goes to the fund the donor is supporting. Be watchful when there are multiple funds and have a policy in place - maybe it always goes to the most generic/general/annual fund option following their gift (example, $1000 donation split between general athletics, annual fund, college of business, and college of education - all of which are annual support types, but the main Annual Support is the most generic). Also include how you might not use that gift fee/extra for pledge fulfillment. 

    It's early, I can think forever on this.

    Best,
    Heidi Findlay





    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Informal Survey: Gift Fee/Tax

    Posted 29 days ago
    Kenna, the use of gift assessment fees to help offset operating costs has been in place since at least 1989, when I first studied the concept. It has grown in popularity ever since. I speak on the topic often.

    Going even further back, there are examples of organizations adding a "management fee" to endowment earnings, much like the fees you pay an investment firm for your retirement savings. It is a common practice.

    But the gift assessment is common and widely accepted by donors. The key is proper internal and external communication well in advance. We implemented our fee at NC State in 2010, but not before we sent letters and emails to our donors. It is now mentioned in gift agreements, pledge reminders, and receipts. The program has been updated since I left in 2013, and details are available on the NC State website: https://web.ncsu.edu/advancement-docs/gift_assessment_qa.pdf

    We had almost no pushback.

    CASE published an article in 2011 highlighting this practice. It is attached. It mentions our NC State program and is useful in explaining some of the issues and examples. In 2009, The Chronicle of Higher Education also published an article on the growing use of these fees (attached).

    One thing I have learned in thirty+ years of research is that this practice is far more prevalent than you might hear. Sadly, a large percentage of organizations do not tell donors that they charge a fee. When I've conducted surveys, I have had to promise anonymity, or they won't share their fee details. In 2022, I conducted one of these surveys and contacted fifty institutions. Thirty-eight acknowledged some sort of fee program.

    John

    John H. Taylor, Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier Street
    Durham, NC     27705

    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    CASE - Seeding Growth.pdf   146 KB 1 version
    pdf
    More Colleges Consider Addi...pdf   26 KB 1 version
    Original Message


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