As we are moving toward creating better reporting and entry practices, I find our organization stuck with how to enter or report gifts in kinds. Our consultant had suggested not entering the values of the gift-in-kind in Raiser's Edge, but, in the past, I have done so for this organization and others. What is the right way? Is there a right way?

I don't think there's any right way -- it depends on your organization's needs.  We enter the value of gifts in kind into Raiser's Edge but do not provide a value, only a description, on the donor receipt.  Most, if not all, financial reports allow you to include or exclude gifts in kind so you have the option of reporting them or not.  In most cases, gifts in kind are included in our donors' total giving so we need the value in RE.  Hope this helps,

Leslie

There is no real right or wrong way in your donor database (so long as you receipt with no value) - there may or may not be reasons they may need to book the value in your finance office depending on what is donated and whether it should be booked as an asset, etc.

I prefer to see the estimate value in the database just so you can show what value these types of gifts bring to your organization in a year.  Without them you would be incurring a cost of X to provide these materials to clients, etc.

Consultants often do what they have done in the past - they are often people like us who have experience but sometimes not much more than us.  You need to decide which advice from your consultant to take and not take.  Also consult with your finance office on whether they have a preference.

I'm understanding that gift-in-kind gifts can be entered as $0 or at the value of the item based on a third-party appraisal. Now, I have a gift of jewelry that has been valued at $20,000. We consigned the jewelry to a store and it sold (after more than a year) for $15,000. The purchaser is making monthly payments.

We recorded the jewelry gift in the donor's record as gift-in-kind at $20,000. The donor doesn't care that the jewelry sold for less (or more) than the appraisal. And, the person who purchased the jewelry isn't doing it as a donation. So, I'm thinking the proceeds from the sale of the jewelry is not something that is tracked in Raiser's Edge; that it is just tracked through accounting. And, any gain or loss on the asset is handled at their level.

Am I on the right track?

Lynda

I've never been in this situation but believe that from a donor standpoint you're correct.  For historical information, you should create a note on the GIK documenting the details of the gift and sale, and stating the sale value (you've probably already done that ).

Leslie

Lynda.

We would have worked with an appraiser to get a gift value and recorded the gift as "other" not a gift-in-kind. To us at the Maine Community Foundation, a gift-in-kind is advertising donated from a newspaper or magazine or the value of the cost of catering an event. We would record the jewelry as an other gift like we do our real estate, paintings and other art works received. We would have receipted the donor for the appraisal value from the third party and recorded any gain or loss on the sale through our GL.

Karen