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  • 1.  Managing electronic fund transfers

    Posted 07-14-2022 08:50 AM

    Good day,

     

    Our institution is receiving a growing number of electronic transfers, a portion of which are donations.  We work with our Finance office, which receives and screens them all, to determine source and proper accounting.  This is often frustrating, as transfer documentation can be limited and therefore time-consuming.  We might even fail to code some revenue as donations if the transfer information is vague.

     

    For others in the same boat, I am wondering what they view as some of the best practices for addressing these issues with transfers.  Thank you in advance for any feedback.

     

    Mr. Roch Kelly '91, Director of Alumni and Donor Systems
    Pace University, Development and Alumni Relations

    110 William St, 11th Floor, New York, NY  10038
    212.346.1920;  http://www.pace.edu/alumni

     

     



  • 2.  RE: Managing electronic fund transfers

    Posted 07-14-2022 08:55 AM
    Can your current donation processing form accept ACH/eCheck transactions? This way the transactions would go through your normal processing flow instead of having Finance receive them. 

    I would begin my assessment of the challenge that you're having by understanding how the transactions initiate - where are donors getting your transfer information from? That's the point at which you would want to ensure you're able to capture all the data you need. 


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

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Managing electronic fund transfers

    Posted 07-14-2022 08:57 AM
    Well, one way to avoid this situation is to not publicly provide electronic transfer instructions.  Far too often I see organizations playing EFT and wire instructions on their website.  No wonder they cannot match donors to gifts!

    Much like with security donations, we should require donors to communicate directly with the Advancement Office to obtain current transfer instructions.  It also helps to establish a separate gift account at your financial institution for these which you oversee (not the Business Office).

    Should any funds hit your account you are not anticipating, instruct your bank to send a feedback request to the originating institution (almost like a stock DK) asking for further contact information.

    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


  • 4.  RE: Managing electronic fund transfers

    Posted 07-14-2022 12:33 PM

    We also experience limited transfer information, and have to spend time researching the purpose (fund designation) of the revenue.  More and more of our corporate donors want to provide funding via an ACH, as that is most efficient for them.  Our instructions are not publicly available; however, once instructions have been provided we are now in their payables system and used for future contributions.  We have documentation for the first donation, but not for the ones following.  Depending on the company, the initiator can be from various units so we don't know who to contact.  I'd welcome learning about additional best practices to those that have already been shared.

     

    Thank you.

     

    Shawnna Murphy 
    Senior Director, Gift Administration

     

    Iowa State University Foundation 

    2505 University Boulevard  |  P.O. Box 2230 

    Ames, Iowa 50010-2230 

    DIRECT 515.294.6557 

    TOLL FREE 866.419.6768 

    MOBILE 515.520.9209 

    FAX 515.294.4648 

     

    slmurphy@foundation.iastate.edu

    www.foundation.iastate.edu  

     




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Managing electronic fund transfers

    Posted 07-14-2022 08:58 AM
    We have a different account and ACH/Wire instructions for donations, separate from the university's other ACH/wire activity.

    ------------------------------
    Jeff Baynham
    Associate Vice Chancellor, Advancement Services
    NC State University
    jtbaynha@ncsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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