[Tom Mills]

We have agencies on campus that want to donate items as Gift-In-Kinds, or have bought tickets to an event that has a gift portion and a fair market portion.

My position is that agencies of the school can't donate "gifts", all they can do is transfer money. But I can't find anything in CASE to back me up.

Tom Mills

[cseebald]

If these "agencies" are a part of your org and operating under your org's tax-exempt status, you are correct.*

A non-profit cannot make a gift to itself, so they are really only making a budget transfer (cash) when they "purchase" tickets, or they are making the transfer of an asset when they "give" a GIK. Your accounting dept. should understand this and back you up.

However, if you really need documentation, I don't have it at my fingertips and also won't have the time to research it for a while. I did do a quick check of my CASE M&RS manual and didn't see it addressed, but I believe that's because it's understood that a non-profit can't make a gift to itself.

You might be able to quickly settle this by first talking to your accounting dept. If not, you could also check the archives at the Fundsvcs.org website and/or post your question on the Fundsvcs listserv, where others might be able to direct you to the info you need.


* Disclaimer: I am not a tax attorney! This is just my $.02 worth - at least, I hope it's worth that much.

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[cseebald]

John Taylor of Advancement Solutions and Fundsvcs listserv "guru" answered this regarding the CASE Management & Reporting Standards manual:

"It's not so precisely referenced. But see page 26 and the reference to internal transfers from programs or businesses affiliated with your institution. You simply cannot make a gift to yourself!

"But if truly representative of cash given by employees, that is a gift."

If you have a copy of the newest CASE M&RS, go to page 26 (a continuation of Gift Exclusions) and look at the bulleted item beginning "earned income."

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