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Good afternoon,

I'm working with a new development officer who shared that, at some of their previous institutions, their gift agreements included very specific language around permitted and prohibited uses. I wanted to reach out to benchmark whether other institutions follow similar practices. We generally try to avoid this type of language, as it can become difficult to administer over time. However, I did commit to asking peers at other institutions to better understand their practices.

Specifically, I'm curious whether you include provisions such as:

1. Explicit exclusions in the agreement
   For example, language stating not only what the fund will support, but also what it will not be used for, and it is restricted in its use. An example might be:
   "The distribution of the fund will support the English program but will not be used for travel, food, or book purchases."

2. Highly detailed or narrowly restricted use of language 
   For example, restrictions written at a very granular level, such as:
   "Distributions from this fund will support Tolkien research, limited exclusively to research focused on The Hobbit and Beren and Lúthien. The fund may only be used for scanning text from hardcover books, purchasing materials developed before 1980, research-related expenses, and the purchase of a laptop."

Does anyone include this level of specificity or exclusionary language in your gift agreements? If so, what has your experience been? Has it been helpful, challenging, or a mix of both?

Thank you in advance.