1. Substantiation Requirements for Gifts
Written Acknowledgement and Receipt for Contributions
The Office of Gift Accounting will send a printed acknowledgement and Arch Foundation gift receipt via mail upon the entry of each gift into our system. This policy is to ensure donors receive prompt receipting of their gift for tax purpose, to verify we have correctly placed their gift, and to ensure the proper name is used on any honor roll which may follow the gift.
All Arch Foundation payroll gifts will be receipted via the Office of Donor Relations reflecting a cumulative summary for the entire calendar year by the proceeding January 31st.
The acknowledgement will include the following:
- name of the organization donated to
- amount of cash contribution (applies to cash, check, or credit card)
- description (but not the value) of non-cash contribution (applies to stock and in-kind gifts); gifts of tangible property and real property, the gift receipt will not state the value of the gift; gifts of stock will include a description of the stock received, date received, high and the low value on the day we received them, and a value we use for internal purposes only.
- statement that no goods or services were provided by UGA in return for the contribution, if that was the case
- description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that the Arch Foundation provided in return for the contribution (see Disclosure Requirements for Quid Pro Quo Contributions)
For gifts of tangible property and real property, the gift receipt will not state the value of the gift.
2. Disclosure Requirements For Quid Pro Quo Contributions
A “quid pro quo” contribution is one made partly as a contribution and partly in consideration for goods and services provided to the donor by the donee organization. A donor may only take a charitable contribution deduction to the extent that his/her contribution exceeds the fair market value of the goods or services received in return for the contribution; therefore, donors need to know the value of the goods or services.
Duties of the Office of Gift Accounting
When a donor reaches $1,000 in fiscal year-to-date taxable credit, the donor’s gift receipt will contain the following verbiage to disclose the fair market value for the Celebration of Support dinner and the annual Presidents Club reception.
As a result of your contribution, you may be invited to the Celebration of Support dinner event and/or the annual Presidents Club reception, which have estimated values of {estimated fair market values for each event will be provided} per person respectively in goods or services. Please know that you will have the opportunity to decline these benefits, or to provide personal payment for the benefit received if you prefer. If any other benefit follows as a result of your contribution, you will be notified of its fair market value. We are providing this information to you in accordance with IRS guidelines.
Unit Responsibilities for Hosting Events
This applies only to those events where a donor’s annual giving has qualified him or her to attend free of charge. It does not apply to invitations for events that charge for attendance. It also does not apply to donors invited on the basis of cumulative giving over multiple years (historical giving) or planned gifts that have not been received.
The following language should be included on all invitations to events based on giving, with the value and contact information to be completed by the school or college:
In accordance with IRS guidelines, we are notifying you that the estimated value of attendance at this event is $XX.XX per person, and is a benefit resulting from your annual charitable contribution. You may decline this benefit if you choose by calling (706) 542-XXXX or by emailing xxxxx@uga.edu, or you may make a non-tax deductible payment in that amount.
Per IRS Publication 526, the tax-deductible amount of a donor’s gift is reduced by the fair market value of any resulting benefits, and the charitable organization is responsible for disclosing these values to the donor. The donor should be given the opportunity to decline the benefit to maintain the full tax-deductibility of their gift, or alternatively, the donor may make payment for the benefit and thus take full tax-deductible credit for the original gift. By including the above language, we have met all of those requirements.
Please forward to the Office of Gift Accounting a sample invitation and the final list of invitees prior to each recognition event.
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