Donation Acceptance Policy

Can I give you my dog?

A gift acceptance policy is a very important aspect of Best Practices. It is even considered so by the IRS who will want to know if such a policy is in place at the organization. The IRS will also want to know about things like non-cash, non-standard, and in-kind gifts. All of this is reported on the Schedule M (form 990). Therefore, it is important to decide, as an organization, what will be worth the time and effort to receive, manage, allocate and subsequently report.

Basics to consider

1. Who is the audience for this policy? Is this policy written for the personnel working with donations or will this also be used to communicate expectations to donors and potential donors?
2. What sort of donations will benefit the apostolate? In kind donations are only good if the apostolate can actually use them in a manner which supports the mission. It is also a good idea to have a system in place for determining if property can be converted to cash for the apostolate with a minimum amount of hassle and expense.
3. Who is accountable? Particular person(s) among the personnel will need to decide on the particulars of this policy, review it regularly, and make adjustments when necessary.
4. How will anonymous donations be handled and what staff members will be privy to the information? A need-to-know criterion should probably be in place at the apostolate for these cases.
5. What is the real value of the donation as valuated by the IRS? This is important to know because over-valuing a donation can have some unpleasant consequences for the donor. Be sure someone in your organization is prepared to keep up with this information.

Resources

A useful resource that some of the Catholic Radio apostolates are using is a vehicle donation program. This is a relatively simple way to convert potentially unwieldy donations into cash for the apostolate.

For more information about valuation of in kind donations, this article provides several good examples.