Effective Date: January 1, 2003
Last Reviewed: March 9, 2021
Purpose and Scope
The following statement of policy, approved by the President in consultation with his senior staff and the Board of Trustees of Stonehill College, has been prepared for the use and convenience of members of the Stonehill community concerned with fundraising, for our donors and potential donors, and for facilitating the proper acceptance of gifts and grants.
All gifts and grants are to be accepted in accordance with the policies set forth herein. These policies must be adhered to institution-wide: by the faculty, administration, staff, students and volunteers, all serving in the name of Stonehill College. Any exceptions to these policies must receive the approval of the Vice President for Advancement and, when necessary, the approval of the President.
A. TYPES OF FUNDRAISING
It is the policy of Stonehill College to offer and to encourage its constituencies to provide the Institution with gifts and grants to respond to its ongoing financial needs. Gifts can be made:
1. Annually – to support the College through the regular annual fund program for unrestricted or restricted purposes. Stonehill encourages annual giving to the College through the following solicitation processes:
a. Personal solicitations/visits,
b. Phonations,
c. Direct mail solicitations/contacts, and
d. Written proposals to corporations, foundations, and benefactors
2. Periodically – to provide special capital campaign needs in addition to including support of the annual fund.
3. Regularly – to provide a planned gift objective using one or more deferred gift devices in addition to recurring support of the annual fund program.
B. DONOR CONSTITUENCIES
The College needs to review present and past associates of Stonehill. Appropriate transmission of information should maintain their interest in Stonehill and dispose them to financial support. The normal constituencies of Stonehill College’s fundraising efforts are:
1. Present and past members of the Stonehill Board of Trustees and their spouses as well as the President’s Council and the Executive Committee for Development.
2. Alumni
3. Parents of current students and of alumni.
4. Students.
5. Friends.
6. Local business.
7. Foundations, corporations, and other organizations and associations. It is customary for Stonehill College to seek gifts from individuals, organizations, associations, and businesses, as well as grants from federal, state and local government, foundations and businesses. It is also customary to seek planned gifts according to individual donor’s circumstances and personal estate planning objectives. All trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers should urge any perspective donor to contact his or her personal financial and tax advisors before proceeding with a planned gift arrangement.
C. SOLICITING GIFTS (GENERAL SOLICITATION, INSTITUTIONAL APPROVAL)
To avoid institutional or donor embarrassment caused by multiple appeals, the solicitation of gifts from individuals, businesses, organizations, or foundation must be approved by the Vice President for Advancement. Solicitations of gifts may be initiated by a department of the College only with the approval of the Vice President for Advancement. In certain institutions, the Vice President for Advancement may require prior approval of the President in consultation with the Board of Trustees before a solicitation can take place. This solicitation process does not include grants sought by the Office of Academic Development and its Director. The Director of Academic Development routinely consists with the Vice President for Advancement on any grant proposal that is not normally considered in the purview of the Office of Academic Development.
All gifts and grants to the College are to be given and received within allowable federal, state, and institutional guidelines and according to law. Perspective donors are urged to contact personal financial counselors to facilitate the disposition of their resources as gifts. In order to comply with IRS regulations, Stonehill College will inform donors of the allowable charitable incoming tax deduction for gifts which may provide a “premium” or other tangible item of value in return.
D. DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Gift – the transfer of cash or a cash equivalent to Stonehill College to assist in the realization of the purpose of the College.
2. Gift-in-kind – the transfer of property, either real or personal, or serviced to Stonehill College for use in furtherance of the purposes of the College. This type of gift might take from the building materials, or the provision of furnishings which will meet specific needs. Transfer of real or personal property, including securities to be liquidated by the College and the proceeds of said sale, will be applied to the needs of the College and the furtherance of its purposes.
3. Letter of Commitment – a statement of the intention to provide a specific amount of support to Stonehill College by a definite point in time, but subject to some contingency.
4. Deferred Gift or Planned Gift – a gift to the College that is not outright, but subject to a continued interest by the donor.
5. Document of Bequest – a testamentary gift to Stonehill College.
6. Restricted and Unrestricted Gifts – these gifts can be either unrestricted or restricted/designated. Unrestricted gifts are those gifts that the donor allows the College to use for those needs deemed important by the College. It is normal policy of the College to encourage the donation of unrestricted gifts. In those cases where the donor has expressed an interest in providing funds for specific purposes, when those purposes are in agreement with the goal of the College, such gifts will be accepted for a restricted/designated purposes.
E. CREDITING GIFTS
Pledges and gifts of cash will be credited at face value, while securities will be credited at the market value on the date of the gift is transferred to the College. With regard to the gift of securities, neither losses nor gains realized at the time of the sale of securities by the College, nor brokerage fees or other expenses associated with the transaction, are to affect the gift value.
F. GROUP FUNDS
The solicitation of funds which are to be used or administrated by groups or individuals shall require prior written approval by the Vice President for Advancement. Special funds to be held by Department Chairpersons, Program Directors, Administrators, etc. outside the normal accounting and acknowledgement procedure are prohibited.
G. UNACCEPTABLE GIFTS
The College reserves the right to refuse any gift that is not consistent with its Mission. In addition and without limiting of the generality of the foregoing, these gifts will not be accepted by the College which:
1. Violate any federal, state, or local statute or ordinance.
2. Create a fund to provide for scholarships, fellowships, professorships or lecture series with restrictive clauses that could cause embarrassment to the College or reserve to the donor or his/her representative the right to designate the recipient.
3. As a condition thereof, require any action on the part of Stonehill College, which is unacceptable to the Board of Trustees.
4. Commit the College to name a facility, program, or endowment fund and is revocable in any way.
5. Require/stipulate to the College and its Board of Trustees the future employment of any specified person.
6. Contain unreasonable conditions on gifts of partial interest and property.
7. Is intended to be a tuition payment for a family member of a donor.
H. STEWARDSHIP
The College will be responsible for good stewardship towards its donors. All gifts will be acknowledged within a reasonable period of time. An annual donors’ report will be prepared in which the appreciation and gratitude of the College will be expressed to its many categories of donors. The College will provide the donors of endowed scholarships with appropriate information on the recipients of the scholarship assistance. Gifts to the College and accompanying correspondence will be considered confidential information, with the exception of the publication of donor rolls. Names of Donors cannot be sold by the college to other organizations for marketing or fundraising purposes.
I. NAMED GIFTS
Stonehill College welcomes gifts, which memorialize or otherwise recognize individuals.
1. Scholarships: It should be noted that the named and partially endowed scholarship requires a minimum contribution of $25,000. No scholarship will be established for a lesser amount unless it can be established in writing that the donor agrees to make future regular payments equaling or exceeding $25,000.
2. Facilities: The naming of new facilities on the Stonehill College campus shall not normally be acceptable unless a significant portion of the total construction costs and appropriate endowment are irrevocably committed. The naming of the facilities is subject to the approval of the President in consultation with the Board of Trustees. The naming of the buildings having major renovations is subject to the same policy as new construction. Internal units of buildings will also be available for naming. Retained life income funds shall not be considered fulfilled commitments for naming purposes until the full amount of the donor’s obligation is assured under an instrument which, in the opinion of counsel to the College, is irrevocable.
J. GIFTS OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY
Laboratory and office equipment, furniture, art objects, supplies, transportation vehicles, and other useful equipment maybe offered to the College as gifts-in-kind, with the determination of the appraised value being the responsibility of the donor. Gifts of items of limited value or lacking historic, literary, or scientific significance shall be discouraged. Gifts of tangible personal property (books, paintings, etc.) will not be acceptable if made on the condition or understanding or expectation that the items will be loaned back to the donor or to the donor’s designee for life or for extended periods of time to be determined by the donor. Subject to the foregoing, an offer of a gift of tangible personal property will be accepted provided that:
1. No burdensome financial, academic, technical, or service obligation or expense is or will be directly or indirectly incurred by the College as a result thereof.
2. Faculty, administrators, staff or other in association with the College should not furnish evaluations or appraisals in connection with gifts made to College. In normal circumstances, the evaluation of objects in excess of $5,000 should be made by an appropriate appraiser. It is the opinion of this appraiser that should be used by the donor for tax purposes.
3. Whenever possible, the terms of gift of any object or collection shall expressly authorize the sale and/or exchange as appropriate with income from such sale to be for unrestricted purposes or such purposes as the donor may wish.
K. PRIZES
The College will not automatically accept modest monetary gifts for departmental awards and prizes. Each proffered purpose and amount must be reviewed as to its merit. In many cases, graduation awards, names on trophies, plaques, or books rather than a cash award will be deemed to be more appropriate and recommended to interested donors for acceptance by the College.
L. RESTRICTED GIFTS
All gifts received for restricted endowment purposes will be accepted only on the condition that, should the purpose for which the funds are provided cease to exist, the College shall allocate the income from those funds.
M. MATCHING GIFTS
Donors are asked to investigate whether their or their spouse’s places of employment have a matching gift program. In cases where such programs exist, the donors will be encouraged to use the matching gift program. Matching gifts will be credited to the unrestricted fund unless the individual donor has intended a specific purpose.
N. DONOR CLUBS
The various Donor Clubs at Stonehill College allow the College to express its appreciation to its many donors who continue to make significant contributions to the life of the College. This annual support is essential to the College’s efforts of providing a quality education to the men and women of Stonehill College. In order to properly acknowledge donors, the College has established the following donor recognition clubs:
- Century Club ($100-$249)
- Associate’s Club ($250-$599)
- Dean’s Club ($500-$999)
- President’s Council ($1,000 or more)
- Member $1,000
- Benefactor $2,500
- Patron $5,000
- Founder $10,000 +