We have an account called Undesignated that functions like a "holding tank" for a donor's gift when the donor has decided where they want their gift to go. This account has many gifts in it, dating back several years. One particular gift was made in September 1999. The donor has now decided a specific designation. We know how to do an adjustment and change the fund, but we need the gift to show up in this fiscal year for reporting purposes. Short of completely deleting the gift and re-entering it with today's date, is there a way to handle this?

What on earth has your finance office done with this gift for 8 years. How did they close each fiscal year with these undesignated gifts? I have never heard of this. I would never change a gift date from that far back to today. The legal date of gift should be retained and it is not revenue this fiscal year. It should have been counted as revenue in 1999 and would be double counting to put it in again this year. Melissa S. Graves Director of Development Services The Village for Families and Children mgraves (at) villageforchildren.org www.villageforchildren.org GET ON THE BUS! Check out what the Blackbaud User Society is talking about today at www.blackbus.org!

Oh, that's not the only gift in Undesignated. There are many more although we're trying to find a permanant home for as many as possible. How do you handle gifts where a donor hasn't designated an allocation? I understand the double counting issue and I agree. The problem is getting our VP to understand it.

When we get gifts they are either designated or undesignated - to us undesignated is unrestricted money to be used where it is needed. I have never heard of a donor giving you the money and not immediately telling you what they are giving it to you for. Melissa S. Graves Director of Development Services The Village for Families and Children mgraves (at) villageforchildren.org www.villageforchildren.org GET ON THE BUS! Check out what the Blackbaud User Society is talking about today at www.blackbus.org!

There is this funny little fund called Unrestricted. When a donor does not attach a specific designation for their gift, it is automatically posted to our unrestricted fund and used where most appropriate. We would never change the gift date, nor would we allow a gift to go undesignated. Good luck with your powers that be. Maybe you could show him/her these postings. Claudia Losek ProMedica Health System Toledo, Ohio [Email Removed]

OK....First you need to decide if you would actually change a gift from Undesignated (Unrestricted) to Restricted or Temp Restricted. That's your first hurdle. Next the adjustment part isn't hard. It's an accounting issue not a new gift issue. You would make an adjustment of the fund in RE and make your GL adjustment date the date you make the change. If RE and FE are linked this will post over when posting gifts. It will show a reversal in the undesignated fund to 0.00 and then show an addition to the appropriate fund chosen. It doesn't change your overall fund balance or income. It does change your balance sheet through becuse money will be moved from Unrestricted to restricted. Better make sure your auditors agree. If you are not linked make sure your acctg folks know in detail what you have done so their records match yours. Good Luck. Hillary Murphy Financial Administrator Phoebe Foundation

My assumption is that this fund is only for special undesignated gifts and that the money is truly in holding waiting to be spent. If that is the case, then moving the money exactly as Hillary expertly described is fairly problem free. If the money went in as unrestricted and was spent as needed and now needs to be adjusted, when you do as Hillary describes, an equivalent amount of money that you've raised this year in unrestricted will be moved out and restricted for use this year. Depending on the size of the gift this could cause an issue. None of this will change your fundraising totals for this year. Your VP has no reason to take issue with you - you should have your finance office and auditors dictating exactly how this MUST be handled with I'm sure little uncertainty. I believe that your organization probably needs a gift acceptance policy that outlines this situation and possibly even stops the practice of accepting gifts that the donor can't decide what you should use it for. If undesignated at the time of gift - use as needed. Melissa S. Graves Director of Development Services The Village for Families and Children mgraves (at) villageforchildren.org www.villageforchildren.org GET ON THE BUS! Check out what the Blackbaud User Society is talking about today at www.blackbus.org!