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Advancement Services/Development Orientation FundraisingFundraising is frequently viewed as simply asking for money. In fact, the "ask" is only one step in the fundraising process that proceeds from the identification of the prospective donor to stewardship following the gift.
The phonathon "ask" requires little direct preparation and is known as transactional fundraising. Minimal interpersonal involvement and generally small gifts characterize transactional fundraising. At the other end of the scale is relationship fundraising that is characterized by a lot of personal interaction and a sometimes lengthy preparation process. We want to create an environment that makes an individual want to voluntarily support TTU whether it be with a $5 phonathon pledge or a $100,000 endowment. While the university development staff has fundraising as its single purpose, the entire university community is involved in the degree to which we are successful. Fundraising is a process that is affected by many things such as the student educational experience, departmental and college/school relationships, communications, the alumni experience, and the stewardship that follows giving. Stewardship is as important as any other element of the fundraising process. The best prospect for a future gift is someone that has already given. Thus, it is very important that we treat each gift and each donor with utmost care. Proper recording of gifts, thank you letters, adherence to letter of agreement guidelines, and timely communication with donors are things that each of us may be involved with. We hope to provide the education and assistance that each of us needs to do the best possible job of serving our donors and donors-to-be. We want to foster an attitude of cooperation and an understanding that each of us plays an important role in the university’s fundraising success. Communication among all parties is critical to success, even though that communication is sometimes hampered because of the rules we are required to operate within. We are committed to the highest standards of gift reporting and processing and seldom have the latitude to deviate. We are here to support you and help to bring gifts to your school, college, department, or program. University Development Staff:
Alumni Relations Staff:
Advancement Services strives to facilitate and enhance fundraising for the University, and to insure financial accountability/credibility through systems development; data development, maintenance, manipulation, and generation; gifts and pledge income accounting and acknowledgments. Questions about our procedures and processes, and suggestions for improvement are welcome. Advancement Services Staff:
In order to support fundraising for the benefit of our students, faculty, and facilities, Advancement Services has designed numerous web sites—to facilitate gifts processing, acknowledgments, and tracking—and forms to facilitate compliance with federal (IRS) and state requirements. Detailed policies and procedures are located at the Advancement Services web site. You can also access most of the forms necessary for processing gifts at the Advancement Services web site.
Gifts are received in various forms:
Gifts may be Restricted — either Temporarily Restricted or Permanently Restricted; or they may be UnrestrictedFunds permanently restricted—Endowments—must always have guidelines, a Letter of Agreement (LOA) (See Sample Annual, Fully Funded, and Pledged Letters of Agreement), for use of the funds. The Letter of Agreement documents the understanding between the donor(s) and the University of the restrictions/appropriate use(s) of the fund. It is also often useful to have LOAs for other funds, such as annual scholarships, to assure understanding between the donor(s) and the university. A University Development Officer should always be involved early in the process with a potential donor and before any document is presented to a donor. Letters of Agreement should be signed by the appropriate donor(s), the administering unit head, and the Vice President for University Advancement. After all signatures are obtained, accounting numbers are assigned through the Advancement Services office, originals are filed with the Gifts/Records center, and copies are sent to all relevant parties. The administering unit is defined in the Letter of Agreement. The administering unit is responsible for making awards and notifying recipients, expenditures, and accounts reconciliation, notification of persons requiring annual reports, and all other administrative functions relevant to the fund. Upon receipt of a copy of a completed Letter of Agreement, the Administering Office office should immediately establish appropriate file(s) and begin accounts reconciliation, etc. At a minimum, the administering unit must report to the donor(s) information relevant to expenditures/awards from the accounts annually.The University's computer systems—SCT software: SIS (student information system), FRS (Financial Resources System), FAM (Financial Aid Management system), and ADS (Alumni/Development System)—have different number structures and serve to process and accumulate much relevant information for coordination/facilitation/management of data which can be used for fundraising. It is very important that the appropriate number be used when depositing gifts, awarding scholarships, or paying other expenses. When gifts are received on campus it is extremely important to be aware of and comply with federal laws for an appropriate tax receipt. As of December 1996, the IRS placed the burden for tax documentation on the beneficiaries of gifts—TTU in this case. We must in all cases document whether goods or services were provided in consideration of the gift—therefore the need to verify on the Deposit Form by initialing the appropriate space--so the receipts can be generated appropriately for IRS requirements. Failure of a university employee to appropriately record any benefit (goods or services or privileges) granted to a donor for a gift could result in very serious penalties for the University. Alumni Development System (ADS)/Forms: Prior to any solicitation of gifts or contributions, a Fundraising
Project Request Form must be approved. This form is to be
reviewed and signed by all appropriate administrators before submission
to University Advancement. No fundraising activity should
begin until this form has been signed by the Vice President for
University Advancement. Depositing Money - Completing Transmittals (Cash Deposit Forms) Advancement Services has created a website to allow you to complete transmittals/cash deposit forms over the web. The Gifts/Records Center cannot receive money after 2:30 p.m. Following are instructions to help you when completing a transmittal/cash deposit form: ALL money must be on a transmittal/cash deposit form to be accepted for deposit. A correct CID for each person must be provided. Personnel who do not have access to ADS must call the Gifts/Records Center at 6453, to get the correct CID or get a number assigned—before a deposit is brought to the Gifts/Records Center. To get a CID assigned, we must have the name of the donor, current address as it appears on the check and phone number. A correct address for each constituent is required. (This is also a good way to verify that you have the correct person.) Please check the address on screen 4 of ADS to the address on the check. If the addresses differ, you need to enter the address from the check on the transmittal/cash deposit form and attach a note that there is a possible address change. If the return envelope has yet another address, please put the address of the return envelope and attach it to the transmittal/cash deposit form also letting us know that there is an address change. Pledge payments - Y or N - If you know, or can check, that a donor has a pledge to this fund/acct number, please indicate so on the transmittal/cash deposit form. If you do not know, this will be a field that will be filled out when you bring the deposit to the GRC. It must be filled out before the money can be processed. If you have any questions, please call the GRC at 6453. To be matched - If the donor sends in a matching gift form with the donation, you must answer yes on the transmittal/cash deposit form and enter the name of the company that is matching the gift. Fund Code - It is very important that the correct fund code for the gift is entered on the transmittal/cash deposit form. The Gifts/Records Center uses the fund code to enter the money into ADS. The account number will be completed for you after you click View form for printing. After you click the View form for printing button, be sure to check to see if the account number is correct. If you see INACTIVE, then call the Gifts/Records Center for more details. The campaign code, motivation code, and campaign category will be determined by your department or college. These are gift specific and are required with each transmittal/cash deposit form. Please refer to the Campaign Tracking Chart web page. The amount of the gift should be placed in the appropriate category. (Cash, check, or charge) If there are any special circumstances in which you wish the description of the account to be changed, the account description section is where a brief description can be entered. For example, projects within certain colleges for which money is being raised but deposited in a general account for this purpose. This is just a way to keep up with the money so that it can be recognized easier. The subtotal and grand total must equal the amount of money attached to the transmittal/cash deposit form when brought to the GRC. Were goods or services provided? - This question must be answered. It simply means, were any goods and services provided to the donor for the donation. If goods or services were provided, you would need to attach an explanatory document including the value of the goods or services. Foundation or Department Name - you may enter the name of the foundation or department reporting the gift The signature of the person that prepared this information must be on the transmittal/cash deposit form before it can be accepted. If the name is typed, initials are required next to the name. In cases of gifts that are In Memory or In Honor of someone, please provide that information on the transmittal/cash deposit form where it can be seen easily and make sure it is clear which gifts are in memory of this person. Also state the name(s) and address(es) of the person(s) that should receive a letter acknowledging the gift. You can provide this data on the next row on the form. State Policy requires that only Tennessee Technological University faculty, administrative, or clerical/support employees be allowed to transport money. Students (even student employees) may not transport money; however graduate assistants may be allowed to transport deposits. All deposits should be made to the Gifts/Records Center within 24 hours from receiving the donation. Gifts-in-Kind Advancement Services has also created a website to allow you to complete gifts-in-kind over the web. Following are instructions to help you. We need the name of the individual reporting the gift. This can be the donor or someone in the department who is filling out the form in the donor’s behalf. This person will be called if there are any questions. We need the name of the department reporting the gift. A brief description of the gift is also needed. Some gifts have to be tagged by physical plant as university property, so accurate description is important. Account name and account number must be given. Account listed must be an account into which gifts-in-kind may be placed. No agency accounts - consult the business office if unsure whether proper account is being used. The fund code number must be given. If you are unsure, please call the Gifts/Records Center at 6453. The campaign code, motivation code and campaign category are required if the gift-in-kind is to be counted for campaign purposes. Please refer to the Campaign Tracking Chart web page. The question concerning goods and services provided relates to the IRS requirements and must be answered by the recipient department of the gift. Donor name and address must be completed. If CID number is unavailable, please call the GRC prior to completion of the form for assistance. The constituent type of the donor must be completed (corporation, foundation, alumnus, etc.) The GRC can assist on this if necessary. Gift value must be determined before the form is sent to University Advancement. Back-up for the value allowed, for example receipts if an item has been purchased or appraisals provided by the donor, for the gift-in-kind must be attached. If the gift is computer-related, the form must be routed through the Associate Vice President of Information Technology Services for approval. If the gift is a book or periodical, the form must be routed through the Director of the Library. The form must have all the signatures. After the Vice President of University Advancement has signed the form, a copy will be returned to the department. No gift can be officially accepted until this process is complete. To request data from ADS, the Workfile Request Form must be completed. Donor SESS In September 1990, University Advancement decided to develop a database of all donor funded scholarships and endowments. Each department was asked to provide information on scholarships and endowment accounts established as a result of contributions to the University. After all the data was compiled, the first version of the Scholarship and Endowments Database was formed. The single file database was designed to provide information to development officers and donors. This database has evolved into a well structured relational database system. Its emphasis is still stewardship of donors. There are over 550 records in the system, some current and some for historical purposes. The name was changed from the Scholarship and Endowments Database to the Donor Scholarships/Endowments Stewardship System (Donor SESS). The main goal of Donor SESS is to provide information for development officers and donors in a timely fashion about any aspect of a scholarship or endowment. All the imperative data about the scholarship should be present in the system. However, a system is only as good as the data it holds. Donor SESS requires constant communication between the development staff, the academic and administrative departments, and Advancement Services. The data in Donor SESS comes from several sources. Account information comes from FRS and ADS. Award criteria and fund guidelines come from the Letter of Agreement between the university and the donor(s). Sponsor information comes from ADS. Finally recipient data and subcodes are generated from SIS and Financial Aid. All of the data revolves around the scholarship itself, just like the data in ADS revolves around the constituents. Account balance information is imported daily from FRS and ADS. Updates to addresses of sponsors is also updated daily from ADS. Recipient information is captured once a year from SIS and Financial Aid, and updates are also gathered from the academic or administrative offices through the mail or over the phone. Donor SESS is a very valuable tool for the development staff simply because of the ease of retrieving the information. Being able to provide instant information/timely and accurate reports to a donor is imperative to retain that donor for future campaigns. However, this system can also be an excellent tool for academic and administrative offices. Data in the system comes from a variety of sources.
In order to use Donor SESS, FileMaker Pro 5 is required, and access to the university's ethernet network, and a password. FileMaker Pro can be purchased from ITS on site license and a password may be granted by e-mailing a request to John Smith. |
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