The Foundation would like to make receiving gifts as easy as possible for its campus partners. This toolkit is a guide to receiving gifts in your department and sending them to the Foundation.
The University also has developed a list of guidelines for depositing gifts.
The Chancellor’s Memo
The University has issued the “Chancellor’s Memo” to outline gift policies for the UW-Madison and the UW Foundation. It establishes guidelines for which gifts and grants should be deposited at the Foundation and also outlines procedures for making those deposits.
Gift forms
All deposits must to be sent to the Foundation with a gift deposit form. Gift deposit forms are available on Campus Access and at http://www.supportuw.org/giftdeposit. Print and route the form for signature through the appropriate dean’s office or administrative director’s office before it is sent to the Foundation.
Use separate forms for
- checks
- cash
- credit card information
Receiving cash, checks & credit cards
If your department receives gift checks or credit card transactions, please send them with your gift deposit form to the lock box.
Lock Box Address
University of Wisconsin Foundation
US Bank Lockbox
Box 78807
Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807
- Deposits usually need dean/director approval.
- All deposits must be accompanied by a gift deposit form.
- Only the designated approver should mail deposits to the lock box.
- Bundle gifts if they are going to a single fund and if they are the same kind of currency, either all checks or all credit card transactions.
- Do not include more than 50 checks or credit card transaction documents with each gift deposit form.
- Quid pro quo documents also go to the lock box.
If your department sends out a fundraising letter or includes a solicitation in your newsletter, include the lock box address.
Depositing cash gifts
Depositing non-gift items
1848 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53726-4090
Do not send non-gift items to the lock box. Non-gift items include registration fees for special events and Badger football tickets. Any checks or credit card transactions designated as special deposits (or non-gift items) should be sent directly to the Foundation.
Mark the envelope as special deposit to the attention of Julie Kalsbeek and send to the UW Foundation.
Credit card donations
Department URLs for online giving
The Foundation can easily set up a URL that allows donors to make a gift online directly to your department, program, school or college. Find out more about leveraging online giving.
Wire gifts
If you need to make a wire transfer, contact Bridget Bush in the Foundation’s finance department.
Tips for receiving gifts
- Do not hand deliver gifts to the Foundation office. Foundation auditors recommended and the Board approved setting up the lock box to provide the greatest security for gift deposits. We prefer you send all gifts to the lock box.
- Submit checks as soon as possible for deposit. If they are submitted more than six months after the date on the check, they will not be processed.
- End-of-year checks, especially, must be submitted quickly, so the receipt is dated in the calendar year for which the donor intends to make the gift.
- Endorse checks “for deposit only” immediately upon receipt
- Deposit checks within five days of receipt
- Store undeposited funds in a locked desk or safe overnight
- Reconcile deposits you send to the Foundation or the University to your ledger records, double checking that they are credited to the proper account.
For more information about receiving and depositing gifts, contact Wendy Richards.
Pledges
Pledges can take several forms:
- Payroll deductions
- Perma pledges for gifts made each year
- Matching corporate pledges
- Fixed term pledges, with a beginning and end date, total and reminder schedule.
- Telefund pledges
What if a donor makes a gift pledge through a campus office?
We will need signed documentation from the donor that shows the total amount, the payment schedule and the end date. We generate pledge reminders.
Generating receipts
A thank you isn’t enough to meet IRS guidelines. All donors receive gift receipts from the Foundation that include language to meet IRS guidelines for those who itemize deductions.
If you receive a gift on campus that will be deposited at the Foundation, we need the following information to provide a receipt:
- Donor name
- Donor address
- Amount of gift
- Designation of gift (fund number or fund name)
Memorial gifts
- Provide name and address of the next of kin.
Quid pro quo
quid pro quo: something given or received for something else.
Mirriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Quid pro quo comes into play whenever someone makes a gift and receives something of value in return.
Receipts showing quid pro quo are essential information for donors who itemize deductions on their tax returns.
Quid pro quo gifts are subject to IRS rules and regulations concerning such gifts.
Quid pro quo gift deposit forms are available on Campus Access and at http://www.supportuw.org/giftdeposit.
Following are general quid pro quo guidelines. Please contact the Foundation before you engage in any form of fundraising.
What does quid pro quo mean for my department?
- If you sell a CD or books or baked goods, the value of the item must be deducted from the total received to determine the tax deductible gift.
- If donors pay for preferential seating at athletic events, 80 percent of the cost is deductible.
- If you host an event, you must estimate the full fair market value of everything the donor receives, including food, drink and entertainment.
- In a charity golf outing, for example, the cost of the round of golf is not considered a gift.
- If you host an auction of merchandise, only the amount paid over the retail value of an item is counted as a tax deductible gift. The donor of the merchandize, however, can deduct the value of the gift from his/her taxes.
- If a donor spends $25 at an auction to buy a bottle of wine with a retail value of $15, the goods or services amount is $15; only $10 is counted as a charitable gift.
- Raffle tickets are never deductible.