FundSvcs Community

I have one of those "Is this a gift?" questions. We have a vendor that each year, for fun, has a NCAA basketball bracket challenge. Only those schools that use their software are allowed to have faculty and staff play for free. They provide the top 5 winners with a $500 scholarship for their students. One of our faculty members won this year and I'm questioning whether this $500 scholarship is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. 

There is no issue with how the scholarship money will be used as this is solely at the discretion of the school. However, the contest element is triggering an alarm in my head, right or wrong. The other side of my brain though thinks this is no different than applying for a grant; it's just the criteria for how they select grant recipients is based on NCAA bracket luck!

My thanks to the hive mind!

Leah

I have one of those "Is this a gift?" questions. We have a vendor that each year, for fun, has a NCAA basketball bracket challenge. Only those schools that use their software are allowed to have faculty and staff play for free. They provide the top 5 winners with a $500 scholarship for their students. One of our faculty members won this year and I'm questioning whether this $500 scholarship is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. 

There is no issue with how the scholarship money will be used as this is solely at the discretion of the school. However, the contest element is triggering an alarm in my head, right or wrong. The other side of my brain though thinks this is no different than applying for a grant; it's just the criteria for how they select grant recipients is based on NCAA bracket luck!

My thanks to the hive mind!

Leah

I have one of those "Is this a gift?" questions. We have a vendor that each year, for fun, has a NCAA basketball bracket challenge. Only those schools that use their software are allowed to have faculty and staff play for free. They provide the top 5 winners with a $500 scholarship for their students. One of our faculty members won this year and I'm questioning whether this $500 scholarship is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. 

There is no issue with how the scholarship money will be used as this is solely at the discretion of the school. However, the contest element is triggering an alarm in my head, right or wrong. The other side of my brain though thinks this is no different than applying for a grant; it's just the criteria for how they select grant recipients is based on NCAA bracket luck!

My thanks to the hive mind!

Leah

Thank you, John and Alan. I appreciate the advice, and the humor! Alan, I'm now trying to think of when I can try out that "which flies the farthest down the stairs" method. :)

We'll see where my Finance colleagues land on this one.

Best regards,
Leah

I have one of those "Is this a gift?" questions. We have a vendor that each year, for fun, has a NCAA basketball bracket challenge. Only those schools that use their software are allowed to have faculty and staff play for free. They provide the top 5 winners with a $500 scholarship for their students. One of our faculty members won this year and I'm questioning whether this $500 scholarship is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. 

There is no issue with how the scholarship money will be used as this is solely at the discretion of the school. However, the contest element is triggering an alarm in my head, right or wrong. The other side of my brain though thinks this is no different than applying for a grant; it's just the criteria for how they select grant recipients is based on NCAA bracket luck!

My thanks to the hive mind!

Leah

Thank you, John and Alan. I appreciate the advice, and the humor! Alan, I'm now trying to think of when I can try out that "which flies the farthest down the stairs" method. :)

We'll see where my Finance colleagues land on this one.

Best regards,
Leah

I have one of those "Is this a gift?" questions. We have a vendor that each year, for fun, has a NCAA basketball bracket challenge. Only those schools that use their software are allowed to have faculty and staff play for free. They provide the top 5 winners with a $500 scholarship for their students. One of our faculty members won this year and I'm questioning whether this $500 scholarship is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. 

There is no issue with how the scholarship money will be used as this is solely at the discretion of the school. However, the contest element is triggering an alarm in my head, right or wrong. The other side of my brain though thinks this is no different than applying for a grant; it's just the criteria for how they select grant recipients is based on NCAA bracket luck!

My thanks to the hive mind!

Leah