Does anyone have a written policy regarding year end contributions? We've kept the 'books' open for days after the new year and management wants a written policy on accepting year end gifts. Would appreciate help. THANKS. Email [Email Removed] if you do have a policy you are willing to share. Thanks.

Our policy is to recognize checks written with a prior year date as prior year contributions if they are received by mid-January of the following year. Unfortunately, it's not a written policy as we don't have more than a handful of checks that meet those conditions (we do scientific research and outreach...we're not a university.) Bev Welling Lowell Observatory

this is a good question for the fundsvcs listserv (the list serv for advancement/development services and gift procesors) which can be found at www.fundsvcs.org. Since according to the IRS it is the donor's responsibility to substantiate gift date it should not be on your gift receipt so how you count them internally is your choice. The most common thing is to use the postmark. If postmarked by 12/31 then I count it in the previous year even if received after. I have gotten checks in April with a check date of 12/31 and had to completely ignore the check date because it was mailed in April. The IRS wants to know when it left the donor's control and until they place it in the hands of the mailman it is not a gift. One important note is that if donors mail in credit card gifts they can only count them on their taxes in the year they are PROCESSED so postmark means nothing. I would include in your processing for this year that all mail must be scoured on 12/31 for any mailed-in credit card gifts to be sure they are charged before everyone leaves for the day. Last year I picked up our mail on Saturday and processed them to be sure they were done for our donors. Thank Goodness 12/31 is a Monday this year! All of this comes out of IRS publications 526 and 1771 if you want to know how I know this. 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!