The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) appreciates the generosity of those in the community who convey gifts to the university to further its mission as an academic health center. To achieve and maintain appropriate relationships with potential and actual donors, the UTHSC-H has established guidelines for receiving, accepting, and processing gifts. All faculty and staff who represent the UTHSC-H to a potential or actual donor must abide by these guidelines. Gifts to the UTHSC-H are gifts to The University of Texas (UT) System. The donor may, however, restrict the gift for use by the UTHSC-H and may further restrict the uses of the gift funds by the UTHSC-H.a
Gifts may be received by any employee of the UTHSC-H; however, there are stipulations that apply to receiving gifts that relate to the type of gift, the amount of the gift, and the entity that should formally respond to the gift. In any case, the gift will be acknowledged in some manner by the UTHSC-H through the Development Office (refer to 10.11 Acknowledgment and Stewardship of Gifts).
Receiving a gift is the handling of the gift instrument, whether that is a check, cash, stock certificate, letter, or other item. Accepting a gift is the approval of a gift as an appropriate donation to the institution. Processing the gift is the moving of the gift through the administrative and financial branches of the institution.
All gifts and the original correspondence associated with the gift must be transmitted to the UTHSC-H Development Office within 24 hours of receipt. If a UTHSC-H representative receives a gift from a donor without accompanying documentation, the representative should both notify the Development Office and initiate contact with the donor to secure appropriate support documentation.
The Development Office will review the gift documentation for the donor's intent in making the determination as to whether the funds will be restricted or unrestricted and will set up the account accordingly. The administrative services officer in the Office of Development all information that is needed to properly acknowledge and record the gift. The form should be completely filled out. If there are questions, the individual should contact the administrative services officer in the Office of Development.
The UTHSC-H president will accept gifts in the name of UT System that are valued less than $500,000. Gifts $500,000 or more must be accepted by the Board of Regents. The individual who has accepted the gift must attach a Cash Receipt Deposit Form, which will convey to the Development Office all information that is needed to properly acknowledge and record the gift. The form should be completely filled out. If there are questions, the individual should contact the administrative services officer in the Development Office.
Only those gifts that exceed $1,000 can be established as an individually budgeted account. To establish such an account, the appropriate chair and dean should endorse a request to the Office of Development to establish the account. The request should indicate a proposed account title and the name of the designated account manager. Gifts that are less than $1,000 must be deposited into an existing account. The Office of Development should be consulted for more information.
The procedures for handling gifts of $500,000 or more are similar to those for gifts of less than $500,000, but the time required for processing is greater because they must be accepted by the Board of Regents. Gifts of $500,000 or more can be received by a number of university representatives: the president, the vice president for development, deans, and development officers. The president or agent must explain to the donor that the gift will be cashed, deposited, and credited to the appropriate gift account pending final acceptance by the Board of Regents at their next meeting.
Upon receipt of a gift, the UTHSC-H recipient must send to the Office of Development the gift instrument and all original correspondence regarding the solicitation, the contingent acceptance, or the eventual use of the funds. Once approved by the vice chancellor for health affairs, the gift is reported as gift income and entered on the Office of Development's gift accounting system. Any public announcement of a gift of $500,000 or more can be made only after the gift is formally accepted by the Board of Regents and after publicity is approved by the donor.
The Development Office must be contacted immediately upon identification of a potential gift of real estate to determine if the property is acceptable. The Development Office will work with the UT System Office of Asset Management to obtain a title report on each potential gift to ensure that there are no liens, encumbrances, or environmental disqualifications on the proposed gift.
Upon determination that ownership of a proposed gift is in the best interest of the UT System, the UTHSC-H will initiate a request to the executive vice chancellor for health affairs asking that the gift be submitted as an agenda item for acceptance by the Board of Regents at its next regular meeting. Additional information can be provided by the vice president of development at 500-3200.
Donors may contribute to the UTHSC-H through the transfer or sale of stock. Donors or their brokers should contact the vice president of development at 500-3200; the Development Office will coordinate the contribution through the trust officer of investments and trusts at UT System.
The federal government encourages philanthropy by allowing deductions for gifts on itemized income tax returns. It is important that charitable deductions follow the Internal Revenue Service reporting rules. Appraisal rules apply to donations of property (other than money and publicly traded securities) that are valued at more than $5,000.
Donors or their agents should contact the administrative services officer in the Development Office at 500-3200 for more information on gifts-in-kind.
The donor should deliver the item to the Development Office with a letter stating that it is a donation to the UTHSC-H or a unit of the UTHSC-H. The donor should state the value of the gift in the letter or through accompanying documentation (e.g., an Independent Qualified Appraisal, a sales receipt, a UTHSC-H Gift-In-Kind Donation Form [refer to sample form at the conclusion of Chapter 10] or IRS form 8283, or a catalog sales list for the same model instrument). If necessary, Capital Assets Management will determine if the documentation supporting the value of the gift is sufficient or if an appraisal needs to be done by the receiving UTHSC-H department. The Development Office does not evaluate gifts.
Any UTHSC-H employee in receipt of a gift of capital equipment must forward copies of the original documentation within 24 hours of receipt to the UTHSC-H Development Office and to Capital Assets Management. Upon receipt of the supporting documentation, Capital Assets Management will tag gifts of equipment in conformity with the capitalization policy and record the information in the institution's records.
Planned giving programs encourage gifts by wills, annuities, trusts, memorial gifts, and insurance as well as transferal, during the lifetime of the donor, of money and property in exchange for some form of retained life income. The methods vary for setting up the instruments for these gifts.
Potential planned giving donors should contact the director of planned giving at 500-3200, who will coordinate the wishes of the donor with the UT System Development Office.
The UTHSC-H accepts corporate matching gifts. Corporate matching gift programs are designed by employers to encourage employee charitable contributions and to act as an employee benefit, giving the employee, retiree, and board member a voice in the corporate philanthropic program. Typically, matching gift programs operate on a fixed ratio of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1.
The corporate employee-donor is the only person who can initiate the matching gift process; neither the company nor the UTHSC-H can start the process. Donors can locate the forms and procedures through their corporate employment or benefits office, and submit the completed matching gift form to the UTHSC-H Development Office's administrative services officer. The vice president for development and the administrative services officer in the Development Office are the only two persons who should sign a corporate matching gift form on behalf of the university.
aBoard of Regents, UT System, Rules and Regulations, Series 60101, Acceptance and Administration of Gifts.
Updated 08/05; 08/07