Hi - my name is Alice and I have posted here before... I'd really be interested in getting your opinion on this - do you have an organization accounting policy/list of procedures you follow when you receive restricted donations? (something that includes for instance a management fee you deduct from the donation if any, or any procedural steps you take when you receive/post these donations) I looked in the client documents section of the Blackbaud website but did not find anything on that... appreciate any feedback/recommendations - I can also be reached at [Email Removed] thanks! Alice

We prepare budgets for most of our restricted funds. Some of the funding sources will allow indirect costs and some will not. Of course, they all love to require matching funds that somehow always seem to catch all the overhead. If we have a donor that came in from some general fund development effort that also lists a restriction, we will honor that and not charge anything except direct services to those dollars. When we fundraise, we always include a check box that suggests the dollars go to our greatest need. So far we have not had a problem doing this. I do think that if you are going to hit all funds with some sort of indirect charge, you must disclose it.