Gift Administration & Processing


Gift Acceptance & Recording

Gift Acceptance & Recording

Accepting & Acknowledging Gifts

It shall be the responsibility of Advancement Services and the ASU System Foundation to record officially and acknowledge receipt of all gifts to the foundation or university. Gifts and donations must be processed through Advancement Services before being deposited in any account. A complete and accurate record of every donor to the university shall be maintained by the Advancement Services Office. (Donor anonymity shall be protected when requested.)  

Gifts of $25,000 or more will be acknowledged by the Chancellor; gifts between $100 and $24,999 will be acknowledged by the Vice Chancellor of University Advancement. All gifts will receive an official receipt.  

Gifts made to the ASU Red Wolves Foundation for the benefit of athletics are recorded by the Advancement Services Office for record keeping purposes. All gifts for athletics are receipted and acknowledged by the Athletic Department staff. 

DEFINITIONS  

  1. A gift is defined as any gratuitous transfer of any property, whether real, personal or mixed, which may be given to the university or to any of its departments for any purpose, by any individual, corporation, partnership, philanthropic foundation, trust or estate. 

  1. The term "gift" shall apply to any of the following:  

    1. Cash (currency, coin, checks, money order, bank drafts, etc.) 

    2. Securities (stocks, bonds, etc.)  

    3. Gifts in kind (books, equipment, art treasures, coin collections, etc.)  

    4. Real property (homes, farms, etc.)  

    5. Inventions, patents and copyrights 

    6. Mineral rights (oil wells, etc.) 

    7. Fractional or remainder interests 

    8. Deferred giving arrangements (life income, contracts, unitrusts, etc.)  

    9. Bequests and devises. 


  1. The following are not considered gifts and therefore are not processed through the Advancement Services Office. (Until such time as the organization transmits the gift to the university or foundation, no gift has been received.)  

    1. Grants from state and federal agencies 

    2. Endowment earnings  

    3. Student activity fees or other monies from sales and services even though such money may be intended for a development project  

    4. Gifts to agency funds administered by the university  

    5. Monies generated from commercial operations  

    6. Monies from sale of any "gift". 

  1. EXPECTANCIES: In the event that it becomes known that annuities, life insurance policies, wills, bequests or other deferred gifts are made in favor of the university, such information in detail should be forwarded to the Advancement Services Office. When appropriate, the Advancement Services Office will initiate a letter of appreciation to the attorney, trust officer or other persons who handled or had some part in the expectancy. All known expectancies will be recorded in the Advancement Services Office as an "expectancy" and pertinent files will be maintained.  


Revised: 04/08/2026 


Effective Date: 07/01/96  
Number: 06-06  
Section: University Advancement  
Subject: Accepting & Acknowledging Gifts

Gift Acceptance & Recording

Coordination of Appeals for Private Funds

The Office of Development, under the direction of University Advancement, is responsible for coordinating all University faculty and staff activities to secure gifts and grants from the private sector. The private sector is defined as all individuals (including alumni, faculty and staff and friends), all corporations, corporate foundations and private foundations. Solicitation of the above funding sources must be coordinated in advance with the Development Office.  

Activities to be coordinated through the Office of Development include:  

  1. Annual alumni fund-raising campaigns. 

  1. Establishment of an "associates," "friends," "advisory council" and similar programs designed to solicit financial support. 

  1. Special fund-raising efforts appealing to various university constituencies regarding scholarships, memorial funds, fellowships, professorships, endowed chairs, etc. 

  1. Requests to private sources for the funding of new or existing academic programs. 

  1. All other similar programs to raise funds in the private sector. 

Exceptions to this policy include fellowships from private foundations and contracts with corporations whereby a proprietary product results. The Office of Research and Technology Transfer is responsible for clearance/processing of all proposals to governmental (or quasi-governmental) funding sources.  

 

Revised: 04/08/2026

 

Effective Date: 07/01/91  
Number: 06-05  
Section: University Advancement  
Subject: Coordination of Appeals for Private Funds

Gift Types & Handling

Gift Types & Handling

Gifts in Kind

All gifts in kind for the benefit of Arkansas State University shall be reviewed by University Advancement in conjunction with the ASU System Foundation Inc. and the unit designated to receive the gift. Gifts in kind (art objects, equipment, real estate, books, supplies and materials, etc.) should be reviewed with special care to ensure that acceptance will not involve financial commitments in excess of budgeted items or other obligations disproportionate to the usefulness of the gift. Consideration should be given to the cost of maintenance, cataloging, delivery, insurance, display, and any space requirements for exhibiting or storage.

Property valued at $100,000 or more, and all gifts of real estate, must be approved by the vice chancellor for University Advancement and the vice chancellor for Finance and Administration prior to acceptance, unless the gift is going to the ASU System Foundation Inc. which will require approval by the President of the ASU System Foundation Inc.

When gifts in kind are given to the university or the foundation with the donor intent of receiving a tax deduction, it shall be the responsibility of the donor to obtain an appraisal of the gift. The university and/or the foundation shall not become involved in the appraisal process. (Direct involvement could result in the appraisal's accuracy and objectivity being challenged by the Internal Revenue Service.)

All gifts in kind to the university shall be inventoried and become the property of the foundation or university.

Revised: 04/08/2026

 

Effective Date: 07/01/91 
Number: 06-12
Section: University Advancement 
Subject: Gifts in Kind

Gift Types & Handling

Gifts of Securities

When securities are transferred to the foundation or university, the donor shall inform the foundation or university personnel their intent to transfer securities as of a specific date. The foundation’s stock broker will notify their office of the actual date of transfer. The donor's tax deduction and the foundation or university valuation should be calculated in accordance with ASU System Foundation Inc. policies.

Revised: 02/05/2020

 

Effective Date: 07/01/91  
Number: 06-11  
Section: University Advancement  
Subject: Gifts of Securities 

Gift Types & Handling

Matching Gifts

Corporation matching gifts forms are to be sent to the Advancement Services Office for execution according to rules set by the corporation or foundation for the employee match.  

Institutional administrators should satisfy themselves on the following points:  

  1. That the gift was made. 

  1. That the gift was made in accordance with guidelines of the corporation requested to match the gift. 

  1. That the donor is eligible for a matching gift according to the corporation's policies (for example, a spouse's gift, gifts from other members of the family, gifts in kind, etc.). 

  1. That the use for which the match is intended is legitimate under the corporation's guidelines. 

Matching gifts made by a donor's employer according to the above guidelines will be credited toward the donor's gift club level.  

 

Revised: 06/30/13 

 

Effective Date: 07/01/93  
Number: 06-10  
Section: University Advancement  
Subject: Matching Gifts

Gift Allocation & Use

Gift Allocation & Use

Disposition of Gifts

The Arkansas State University System Foundation, Inc. serves as the vehicle for receiving all private donations for the benefit of Arkansas State University. Exceptions include contributions to athletics through the Red Wolves Foundation and gifts in which the donor specifically requests or requires that the gift go directly to the university. Upon receipt of gifts by the ASU System Foundation, Inc., the following disposition shall be made:  

  1. Unrestricted gifts will be placed in the university unrestricted account to be used according to foundation policies. 

  1. Designated gifts, meaning those gifts which may be used for unrestricted purposes within a college, department, or program designated by the donor, will be established in separate accounts, invested according to foundation policies, and dispersed upon approval of the designated fund controller. 

  1. Restricted cash gifts for specific purposes such as scholarships are used as designated. 

  1. Individual endowment and quasi-endowment funds are held in the foundation and invested.  

  1. Non-cash gifts that may eventually be converted to cash generally are held by the foundation. Disposition of such gifts, however, will vary on a case-by-case basis. 

Revised: 04/08/2026 

Effective Date: 07/01/91  
Number: 06-07  
Section: University Advancement
Subject: Disposition of Gifts 

Gift Allocation & Use

Restricted Gifts

All restricted gifts for the benefit of Arkansas State University shall be reviewed by the vice chancellor of University Advancement, in conjunction with the unit designated to receive the gift, as well as the ASU System Foundation. 

Acceptance of a gift imposes a legal obligation to comply with the terms established by the donor. Therefore, the nature and extent of this obligation must be clearly understood. Accordingly, the terms of each restricted gift will be reviewed carefully to ensure that they do not hamper the usefulness and desirability of the gift for the benefit of the university. If a gift is deemed unacceptable because of restrictions the donor has placed on its use, the donor shall be counseled to remove or modify the restrictions.  

Gifts shall be refused or returned when the purpose:  

  1. Is inappropriate or not conducive to the best interest of the university, 

  1. Is clearly commercial, or 

  1. Would obligate the university to undertake responsibilities, financial or otherwise, that it may not be capable of meeting during the period required by the terms of the gift. 

Restricted gifts which are unacceptable are those:  

  1. Restricted in use based on race, color, religion, creed, nationality, or sex. 

  1. Restricted in beneficiary to relatives or descendants. 

  1. Reserving the designation of beneficiary of gift to the donor or his or her assigns: i.e., scholarships, fellowships, professorship. (Such "gifts" restrict donor tax consequences.) 

  1. Restricted to the future employment of the recipient of any gift. 

  1. Restricted by interest rates and conditions for repayment of loans. 

All gifts received for restricted endowment purposes, when accepted, shall be accepted only on the condition that should the purpose for which the funds are provided cease to exist, the Foundation Board shall reallocate the income from those funds to purposes relating as closely as possible to the original intent of the donor. Such provisions should be provided in all wills and other planned giving instruments and devises as far as possible.  

Revised: 04/08/2026 

Effective Date: 07/01/91  
Number: 06-09  
Section: University Advancement  
Subject: Restricted Gifts

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