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  • 1.  Is the gift of the papers of a former US Senator & Governor a gift-in-kind

    Posted 24 days ago

    Hello,

     

    Our university's library will be receiving the public (and some personal papers) of a retiring U.S. Senator who also served as Governor of NH for several years. We have been asked by someone in leadership if we should be counting this as a gift-in-kind. Our first thought was that no, it's not a gift-in-kind because of the unlikelihood that the papers currently have a monetary value. (Of course, that assumption may be easily challenged because it's hard to know if someone would pay for the papers at this point.) I was also thinking that a former Senator or Governor would not be allowed to sell the papers generated during their period of public service, but from a bit of Googling, that appears to be another mistaken assumption. Has anyone else run into this situation and, if so, did you treat it as a gift-in-kind?

     

    If it can or should be treated as a gift-in-kind, I assume that the donor would look for an appropriate appraiser for a valuation.

     

    To be clear, this is an internal question; the retiring public servant has not asked about it.

     

    Thank you, in advance, for assistance.

     

    Laura

     

    Laura Martin '98G

    (she/her)

    Director of Stewardship and Gift Compliance

    Advancement

     

    +1 603 862 0193 (office)

     

    University of New Hampshire

    9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824

    unh.edu



  • 2.  RE: Is the gift of the papers of a former US Senator & Governor a gift-in-kind

    Posted 24 days ago
    A very good question! Indeed, some of these "paper" donations have a value depending on the source. We developed a policy at Duke that weighed the possible value of such a proposed donation to the organization. For the most part, we declined to accept "faculty papers," at least from a charitable-donation perspective.

    However, some papers from prominent individuals do have value. And, to your point, the donor should seek an independent, qualified appraisal and complete an 8283 if you determine you want to accept them. But, just because they have an appraised value doesn't mean they have value to you!

    So, our policy (and one I include in gift acceptance policies) closely follows the CASE Standards regarding intellectual property. If we want to accept the donation for whatever reason, but are uncertain about the "counting" value, we'll record the GIK at $1 to generate a descriptive receipt for tax purposes, but will only change that $1 to something else when the donation generates revenue. Here's what the CASE Standards say:

    "While permanent donations of intellectual property and patents can be tax-deductible, their value to the qualified recipient organization might be impossible to predict and will rarely equal the deduction a donor might be able to claim. Neither, in fact, may result in any actual or realized value to the organization. A donor's appraised value should never be used when determining the value an institution uses for counting purposes."

    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






  • 3.  RE: Is the gift of the papers of a former US Senator & Governor a gift-in-kind

    Posted 23 days ago

    Thank you very much, John! This is incredibly helpful!

     

    We are confident that the papers of this individual will have value to us-and the public at large-but I appreciate your point that monetary value does not guarantee value to the university. We certainly take that into consideration with other gifts of property, so it is worth bearing in mind with gifts of papers and other intellectual property.

     

    Once again, I appreciate you sharing your expertise.

     

    Best,

    Laura

     




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Is the gift of the papers of a former US Senator & Governor a gift-in-kind

    Posted 23 days ago
    These are GIKs, usually transferred with a deed of gift. You could consider reaching out to universities that have recently handled these donations to learn directly from them. University of Vermont accepted Sen Leahy's papers a couple of years ago. I asked AI to make a list of these instances from the last several years:

    Congressional Archive Donations (2023–2026)
    Member of Congress [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Chamber / StateUniversityCenter or LibrarySource URL
    Grace F. NapolitanoHouse / CaliforniaUniversity of La VerneHarris Gallery / University ArchivesUniversity of La Verne News
    Newt GingrichHouse / GeorgiaTulane UniversityLouisiana Research Collection (LaRC)Tulane University Libraries
    Chuck GrassleySenate / IowaUniversity of Northern IowaUNI Rod LibraryInsideUNI Portal
    Richard ShelbySenate / Alabamahttps://theconversation.com/universities-in-every-state-care-for-congressional-papers-that-document-us-political-history-federal-cuts-put-their-work-at-risk-256053." style="margin: 0; border-bottom: 0 #1558D6">University of AlabamaUniversity Libraries / Special CollectionsThe Conversation
    Patrick LeahySenate / VermontUniversity of VermontSilver Special Collections Library

    Hopefully that can help you identify whom to contact if you want to get some direct guidance. 

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

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:





    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Is the gift of the papers of a former US Senator & Governor a gift-in-kind

    Posted 23 days ago

    Thank you very much, Isaac! That's certainly going above and beyond, and is greatly appreciated! I think we'll be reaching out to UVM.

     

    Best,

    Laura

     




    Original Message


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