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  • 1.  Business within or for the benefit of Sovereign Nation

    Posted 08-12-2025 03:46 PM

    Hello, 

    We received two gifts in support of a program at our campus that focuses on building collaborations that improve outcomes for Native American children in the juvenile dependency system.

    Both checks have the same address, which corresponds to a reservation address and casino access road. They both appear to be private businesses - a gas station and a professional management organization. Online I see that the professional management organization states they are a "Tribally Owned Firm and an SBA certified Native American Indian 8(a) and Total Small Business. Our experience and partnering enables us to serve industries from all spectrums & locations."

    My questions are: Should we classify these as corporation gifts and count them into VSE, or is there clarification I need to seek from the companies regarding their business affiliation with the Sovereign Nation? If so, what should I ask them? Are just gifts from the Sovereign Nation not counted from VSE? If this is the case, should gifts from a Soverign Nation-owned Casino be included in VSE (we have previously excluded those).



    ------------------------------
    Jayme Fancher
    San Diego State University
    jfancher@sdsu.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Business within or for the benefit of Sovereign Nation

    Posted 08-12-2025 04:18 PM
    I suspect these are Nation- (government) owned entities, which is common based on substantial research I conducted back in the 1990s as we rewrote the CASE Standard.

    I typically advise my clients not to count anything that implies the Tribe or Tribal Nation owns the entity. Most follow that advice. However, when the donations are solicited by Advancement staff as documented in your prospect management system, some organizations will count these and report them as a separate line item in their fundraising totals. However, I still would not include them in VSE totals.

    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




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Business within or for the benefit of Sovereign Nation

    Posted 08-12-2025 06:43 PM

    Thanks, John! We were leaning that direction. Should we clarify with the company? If so, would we ask if they are nation-owned?



    ------------------------------
    Jayme Fancher
    San Diego State University
    jfancher@sdsu.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Business within or for the benefit of Sovereign Nation

    Posted 08-12-2025 07:54 PM
    As suggested, the protocols we develop say that any payments with that language are automatically excluded.

    I have found that finding someone who understands what we are trying to figure out is difficult and time-consuming.

    But if you feel you need to confirm with someone, you must begin by contacting the check issuer. Your questions should focus on whether the funds received came from the Tribal Nation, Tribe, or, more specifically, Tribal Council. Other terms used are Tribal Business Committee or Village Council. See? It gets tricky to find the correct entity!

    Anyway, you then need to ask whether the payment came directly from the casino or whether the funds were from the Council.

    The giveaway in your case is "Tribally owned firm." You can stop right there. These gifts don't count.

    The 4th edition of the CASE Standards spelled this out. On page 8, where the Standards list Exclusions "Not reportable to CASE [campaign reports] or CAE [VSE] for Either Survey," 
    it states under the Government Funds" section: "This includes distributions from Tribal Governments, including payments from Indian Tribal Enterprises acting as conduits for those governments; distributions from these entities should be treated similarly to transactions from state governments."

    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





    Original Message


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