Santa Clara University

Gifts and Donations

The Development Office encourages students to work closely with the CSL staff when event planning involves sponsorships, gifts, and/or donations. Initiating individual and corporate sponsorships takes advance planning - be sure to allow adequate time and resources for this process. The Development Office has provided a set of guidelines for student-initiated fundraising. See your advisor in the CSL for more information.

Outright Gifts

When accepting gifts of cash, check (made payable to Santa Clara University), or credit cards (Visa and Mastercard only), please complete one donation form (pdf)for each gift. The following information is required:

• Name and address of donor
• Fund number for the gift to be deposited
• For credit card gifts, the expiration date, billing address, zip code, and name as printed on the statement
• Market value of any benefit received (if none, state "no benefit received")

In-Kind Gifts

When accepting an in-kind gift (computer equipment, books, door prizes, food/drink) you must be certain that the in-kind gift is related to the purpose of your organization/department or to the University as a whole.

The following information is required in writing:

• Name and address
• Description of gift noting that it is donated "as is"
• Invoice or appraisal
• Date in-kind gift was accepted/received on campus
• Market value of the benefit received
• If the item is worth $500 or more, the donor's Social Security number

Sponsorships

A Sponsorship is an outright gift for which there is an exchange of a token item (i.e., logo on T-shirt, company name in list of thank-you's) that is not considered benefit to the donor.

Prizes

Prize awards can be issued in cash or by check. In either case, complete a Payment Request form indicating Cash or Check and substantiate the award with a letter that includes the name, address, and phone number of the recipient. Awards over $600 must be paid by check.

Market Value of Gifts

The market value of an item or event is not determined by the cost of the item or event to your organization. The market value of an item is the amount that an item or event is worth if sold to the general public.

Acknowledgement Letters

The Development Office will send your donor(s) an acknowledgement of the gift and a receipt for tax purposes. If your organization decides to also send a thank you note, please note the following:

• For Outright Gifts, omit the dollar amount or state "for tax purposes a receipt will be mailed separately"
• For In-Kind Gifts, do not disclose the dollar amount of the in-kind gift, and you must either omit a description of the items received or state "for tax purposes a receipt will be mailed separately"

Failure to comply with these acknowledgement guidelines may result in IRS fines for duplicate receipting and/or may result in confusion to the donor at tax preparation time.