Process for Gifts to Student Organizations

If contributors want their contribution to be gifts to the University (i.e., they want to obtain a University receipt and take a charitable deduction on their income taxes), it is important to consider the intended purpose of the gift. The purpose might be one of the following:

  • A specific student organization
  • A specific event
  • A general cause

Specific Student Organization

If the contribution is intended to be a gift and is for a specific sponsored student organization, the University can accept the gift only if the gift is accepted and processed for a University receipt through the procedure defined by the sponsoring unit, as described in the SSO Agreement. For more information, contact your unit’s OUD officer.

Specific Event

If the contribution is intended to be a gift and is for a specific event, such as a career fair, the contribution can be accepted as a gift only if the event is sponsored.

To be sponsored, the event must be conducted:

  • By an SSO
  •  Under an Event Sponsorship Agreement (ESA) signed by:
    • A VSO and a University department, or 
    • A VSO and the collaborating SSO and sponsoring department

If any of these three configurations are in place, the event is sponsored and the gift can be accepted by the sponsoring unit using its usual process and disbursed to benefit the event.

General Cause

A gift supporting a general cause is one that does not specifically name a student organization or event (e.g. promoting students in engineering, leadership through business, etc.). The school or college associated with the general cause should determine if the purpose is charitable. The gift can then be accepted if there is a neutral funding process.