FundSvcs Community

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?

This is great, thank you John and Isaac for the sanity check!

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?

One follow up question. What are the repercussions to my institution if we accept grants from a DAF sponsor who doesn't adhere to the proposed IRS regulation? I'm sure the CSU benefitting from these grants will be taking issue with my "no bifurcation" stance when there's a DAF who is okay with bifurcation.

This is great, thank you John and Isaac for the sanity check!

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?

One follow up question. What are the repercussions to my institution if we accept grants from a DAF sponsor who doesn't adhere to the proposed IRS regulation? I'm sure the CSU benefitting from these grants will be taking issue with my "no bifurcation" stance when there's a DAF who is okay with bifurcation.

This is great, thank you John and Isaac for the sanity check!

Hi All,

We work with a reputable community DAF who contacted us with a grant verification for a membership fee. The verification question from grant administrators is usually worded as "are there any more than incidental benefits associated with this membership?" then they have the donor waive the benefits or use a personal payment for the membership. In this case, the the grant administrator asked us for the FMV of a membership, which I thought was odd. I responded with the FMV of the membership ($90), but added "Doesn't the donor need to waive all 'more than incidental benefits' to use their DAF for membership fees?"

Here's their response: 

"Our policy is to continue to offer the option to pay the charitable portion of a grant, and for the donor to separately cover the costs of any benefits they may receive until an official regulation is issued from the IRS. We contact the donor to confirm whether they are, or plan to, accept the benefits and if so, we deduct the non-charitable portion from the grant amount."

We looked at their website and they don't have any forward-facing mention of their policies regarding the use of DAFs, like most other DAF companies do. Is IRS Notice 2017-73 optional? Has anyone else encountered this? Does anyone have any advice?