Hello. At one of my previous institutions, we labeled these types of transactions as "bill paid on behalf of" and treated them as gifts-in-kind with no value listed on the receipt. Karen, my interpretation of unreimbursed expenses aligns with yours. I hope that is helpful.
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Johnyelle Lee
Senior Director of Advancement Services
Elizabeth City State University
jylee@ecsu.edu------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2026 01:01 PM
From: Karen Sims-Harrell
Subject: Receipts for GIK vs, Unreimbursed Expenses
Hello AASP colleagues.
I am looking for guidance to confirm our internal practices regarding adding gift amounts on GIK receipts.
We have a donor who paid expenses for a Board Dinner event. Some internal colleagues recommend treating the donor paying the caterer directly for the organizational event as unreimbursed expenses rather than a more traditional GIK donation.
In the past I have been accustomed to treating this as an in kind donation including a description of what was paid for with no amounts on our receipts.
- Do others treat these instances as regular GIK or as unreimbursed expenses for services?
- Do you treat unreimbursed expenses like cash and include the amount on the receipts?
I have interpreted unreimbursed expenses as costs associated with individual expenses rather than being associated with hosting an organizational event.
I appreciate your feedback.
Thanks,
Karen
Karen A. Sims-Harrell, M.Ed.
Director, Advancement Gift Processing
National Geographic Society
Advancement Operations