Chapter 9-600: Administration of Gifts

9-610 Acceptance of Gifts

Private grants are accepted under the delegation of contract and grant authority and are solicited and accepted according to the procedures outlined in Chapter 2 and Chapter 13 of this Manual. Acceptance of gifts falls under the delegation of gift authority and follows procedures outlined in the Development Policy and Administration Manual.

A gift to the University becomes legally complete upon notification to the donor of the University's acceptance of the gift. Such notification should include the date of receipt of the gift and the amount or a description of the gift sufficient to link it to the donor's records. An acknowledgment provides timely confirmation to a donor that a gift has been received and may or may not also constitute an acceptance of a gift. If an acknowledgment letter is signed by a person authorized to accept gifts on behalf of the University, indicates acceptance, and includes a description of the gift and the date of receipt, it constitutes legal acceptance of the gift. Letters of acknowledgment from persons other than those with delegated acceptance authority do not constitute legally recognized acceptance and should not state or imply that a gift has been accepted. Chancellors are responsible for establishing appropriate acceptance procedures for their campuses.

9-620 Reporting

All gifts and private grants are reported to their respective campus Development Offices. Within the Office of the President, gifts are processed by Development Policy and Administration unit of the Senior Vice President – University Affairs. Private grants are accepted and administered by the OP Research Administration Office and reported to the OP Development Policy and Administration unit. At the campuses, the campus Development Office processes gifts and the campus Research Administration or Sponsored Project Office accepts and administers private grants which it reports to the campus Development Office.

Campus Development Offices report the aggregate totals of all campus private gifts and grants to the OP Development Policy and Administration unit quarterly and annually so that the Development Policy and Administration Office can compile Quarterly and Annual Reports to The Regents on Private Support to the University. In addition, campuses report private gift and grant totals annually to the Council for Financial Aid to Education (CFAE) Survey of Voluntary Support of Education.

The Gift/Private Grant Acceptance Report (UDEV 100) is the University's official internal record of acceptance of a donation by an authorized official. This form should be used to report each gift, pledge, or grant from a non-government source. Some campuses may use a modified electronic contract and grant award form for reporting private grants, in accordance with guidelines produced by the OP Development Policy and Administration Office. Reporting instructions are included on the cover sheet that accompanies the hard copy of the UDEV 100.

Since July 1983, acceptance reports have been initiated in the Office of the President only for gifts requiring Presidential or Regents’ approval, after which they are sent to the campus for completion. Forms for all other gifts are initiated by the campus either in the department that received the gift or in the central gift processing office, depending on campus procedures.

9-630 Coordinating Gift and Grant Activities

It is important to the success of contracts and grants and development activities that close cooperation be maintained between Research Administration or Sponsored Projects and Development Offices. Because the Research Administration and the Development Offices on a campus may be working with the same private sponsors, because procedures must be developed for making the gift/grant distinction, and because private grants must be reported to both the Office of the President Research Administration Office and the Development Policy and Administration Office, each campus has developed procedures to coordinate contract and grant and gift award processing activities. In addition, Research Administration Offices may be called upon to play a special role in major fund-raising campaigns and Development Offices may be called upon to develop matching funds for contract and grant awards.