Developing Gift Acceptance Guidelines for your Website

One component of your Gift Acceptance Policy that you may choose to make publicly available via your website, for example, are your Gift Acceptance Guidelines. This helps potential donors know the types of gifts that are or are not acceptable and how the school or college will use the gifts to benefit its activities. Not only does this help donors make decisions about their gifts, it also helps your school's staff by removing ambiguity so they can treat donors with respect and fairness.

Guidelines also informs donors of the potential IRS rules, tax implications, and appropriate forms to file when making a gift. For example, IRS form 990 asks nonprofits to confirm they have a policy when reporting non-cash contributions or in-kind gifts. IRS publication 590-B discusses distributions from individual retirement arrangements (IRAs). IRS form 8283 is required for a noncash gift with a value in excess of $5,000, and it must be signed by someone from your school.

To create guidelines for public use, refer to the example below.

Sample Wording
GIFT ACCEPTANCE GUIDELINES FOR POTENTIAL DONORS

Our school is dedicated to the highest ethical standards when soliciting and accepting gifts. In keeping with this commitment, our school will adhere to the following specific principles:

1. [Name of School or College] will accept gifts only for programs and purposes that support the mission, priorities, or interests of the school.

2. [Name of School] will not accept gifts:      

• That violate the law

• [Name of School or College] does not accept the following types of gifts
  • Example 1
  • Example 2
  • Example 3

3. [Name of School School or College] requires Board approval before accepting the following types of gifts:

• That are subject to indebtedness, where our school would have to fulfill the financial obligation                           
• That pass or could pass pre-existing liabilities to the school
• That generate Unrelated Business Income Tax
• That are owned in divided ownership interests without a clear partition agreement
• That are controversial
• That place undue burden on the school

“Controversial gift” means a gift that includes or could be construed to include assets generated by a business enterprise this is not missionally aligned or could create reputational harm to the school.

4. We don’t provide legal, financial, or other counsel for donors or prospective donors, but we do encourage prospective donors to have the terms of all proposed agreements reviewed by their own legal and/or financial advisors.

5. Donors should obtain any necessary appraisals, file appropriate tax returns, and discuss any issues surrounding tax benefits with a licensed CPA or attorney.

6. We do not pay fees for preparation of legal documents, appraisals, tax returns, etc., but we will generally pay normal fees associated with brokerage services appropriate to the service provided. 

7. We are prohibited from paying fees that include:

• Finder’s fees for current or planned gifts
• Investment or administrative fees that in any way could be construed as compensation for a gift being made to [Name of School] or for its benefit

8. We will not knowingly inflate the value of a gift above the true fair market value in order to provide a tax advantage to the donor.

Related Resources

• Sample Gift Acceptance Policy - Schools and Colleges

Posted August 31, 2022.

Your organization is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. Accordingly, this sample guideline wording should not be used or adopted by your organization without first being reviewed and approved by a licensed attorney in your area. Brotherhood Mutual assumes no liability in preparation and distribution of this sample guideline.