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  • 1.  Donor control/influence question

    Posted 16 days ago
    Hi All,

    We have a donor who is looking to set up a holding account, where he and other alumni can direct their gifts. Then this alumni can work in coordination with the department and students to release the funds where they all agree they should be used. 

    To me it seems to be walking a line of donor control as an alumni is working with campus partners after he and others have committed the funds to us. At this time, I think the donations are valid, as they are not being used for a specific individual and the donor is not receiving any other benefits.

    What are some things we should be aware of that would make these gifts no longer a charitable contribution?

    Thanks,
    Danielle 



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    Danielle Muller (she/her/hers)
    Sr. Associate Director | Advancement Information Services
    Union College
    office: 518.388.6646



  • 2.  RE: Donor control/influence question

    Posted 16 days ago
    It sounds like this donor want you to operate like a DAF without the associated regulatory oversight. I am not sure I would go there and I suspect your CFO might not like the idea.

    If anything, I do not think a deductible gift would exist until funds were moved from the holding account to an internal fund that is defined by the IRS as charitable and deductible. This approach follows the CASE standards on how and when to count gifts when a donor contributes to an institutionally-managed DAF.

    John

    John Taylor Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC 919.816.5903 Big ideas; small keyboard



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Donor control/influence question

    Posted 16 days ago
    Depending on advice from Counsel and your CFO, I imagine that if it were necessary for you to offer this arrangement, they could draft a gift agreement that required the funds to be used exclusively for charitable Union College purposes, and that at no time in the future would the donor receive any tangible benefits. With that sort of languag,e you probably could issue a gift receipt for the entire amount. But, as noted by CASE for DAF gifts that are not distributed, I would lean toward not counting any of those funds until they were actually put to use in some capacity.

    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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