For corporate gifts, the Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) team is your main contact for questions about processing gift funding. The CFR team team will work with the donor and the Strategic Initiatives team to determine the appropriate next steps in processing the gift.

General Do’s and Don’ts for Handling Gift Funding:

Do:

• Contact the Corporate and Foundation Relations team member for your unit.
• Submit a gift transmittal form so Gift Services can quickly and accurately process the gift.
• Collect gift documentation (proposal, gift letter, and any other pertinent documents) to share with Gift Services so that the donor's intent can be thoroughly understood for audit purposes.
• Send gifts to Gift Services within 5 business day, per PCI compliance.
• Gift Services, Box 359505, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle WA 98195
• Stay connected to Gift Services processes and procedures through the Gift Services Teams Channel.

Don't:

• Hold on to checks and cash in desks/drawers.
• Hold on to checks and cash for longer than 5 business days.
• Establish gift funds with naming rights and specific restrictions without contacting your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member.

Processing gifts to the UW tend to follow one of three routes:

1. Gifts without a specific allocation or budget,
2. Gift to an already existing/established fund, or
3. Gifts with specific spending restrictions or naming established by the donor.

Gifts without specific allocation or budget

If a donor gives a gift to the UW without specifying allocation and budget details for the gift:

• Contact your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member.
  • The gift will be held in a suspense account and budget (DEVGFT, 63-9907) until the final destination of the gift can be determined.
  • The Corporate and Foundation Relations team will work with the donor to determine their intentions for the gift.
    • If it turns out that the gift is meant for an existing fund, your grant manager will submit a gift transmittal form to Gift Services to have the gift allocated appropriately.
    • If the gift requires establishing a new current use fund or endowment, the Corporate and Foundation Relations team will work with your grant manager to establish a new fund and complete a gift agreement.
    • The Gift Documentation Template is a helpful resource for documenting research gift funding.

Gift to an already existing/established fund

If a donor wants to give to an existing fund, the gift may be sent to Gift Services in any of the following ways:

• Check: Please have donors send their checks directly to Gift Services at the following address.
  • University of Washington, Gift Services, Box 359505, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle WA 98195
  • Checks should include the name or allocation code of the gift fund or funds that the donation will support on the Memo line.
  • If a check is delivered to your office:
    •  Complete Gift Transmittal Form
    •  Print the Gift Transmittal Form
    •  Send the check, accompanying documentation, and printed Gift Transmittal Form to Gift Services at Box 359505 via Campus Mail.
• Credit Card: The donor can give online or through a specific department or center’s online donation form, or through the My UW Giving portal.
• Pledge: All donors committing to giving a gift over a period of time will receive pledge payment reminders one month before their payment due date unless otherwise requested. Contact your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member for more information on pledges.
• Securities/Stocks: Complete a Gift of Securities to let Gift Services know to expect the gift, and where to direct it when it arrives. Share the Gift of Stock instructions with your donor if needed.
• Wire Transfer: Complete Wire Transfer Notification Form to let Gift Services know to expect the gift, and where to direct it when it arrives.

The Gift Documentation Template is a helpful resource for documenting research gift funding. Completed gift documentation is required by Gift Services for audit purposes.

Gifts with specific spending restrictions or naming established by the donor

If a donor gives a gift to the UW which has specific restrictions or naming established by the donor:

• Contact your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member.
  • The Corporate and Foundation Relations team collaborates with the Strategic Initiatives team in aligning the donor’s intent with department and program needs, and UW policies.

Purchases of merchandise to help support your unit is not considered a charitable contribution and cannot be processed using a gift fund budget.

The UW Gift Services team suggests working with the Office of Merchant Services to determine the best way to accept payments for merchandise.

If you are hosting an event or conference, and are asking individuals or organizations for sponsorships, please contact your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member before soliciting sponsorships as gifts. Often, event and/or conference sponsorships are considered revenue, not gifts. If they are a gift, they may have a gift premium and that will need to be documented and communicated to prospective sponsors.

If your school or department’s website includes an embedded online giving module (see an example on the College of Engineering’s “give” page), updates can be made to that list of funds anytime. Gift funds can be re-ordered or moved from the top list of priority funds to the “More Funds” section below, or vice versa. Additionally, new funds can be added to this list, or funds you’re not currently fundraising for can be removed.

To request changes to your online giving module, send an email to your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member. A member of the Strategic Initiatives team will facilitate those changes.

The Office for Planned Giving administers all estate gifts. All correspondence, checks, notices, and receipts regarding gifts from wills, trusts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, or other gifts coming to the UW following a donor’s death, such as proceeds from a terminated life income plan should be sent to Elizabeth Garner, Manager of Estates, Box 359515. Notify your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member to begin the process of receiving estate gifts and new endowments, and for questions.

A gift assessment fee is applied to most current use gifts upon their receipt, providing essential support to the University of Washington’s advancement efforts and institutional priorities. The assessment of 5.0 percent will be applied upon receipt to current-use contributions over $1,000 and under $5 million to the same fund in a fiscal year. Please see the Administrative Policy Statement to help address questions.

Endowed gifts are assessed an annual fee of 0.9 percent of a five-year rolling average, which supports the UW’s advancement efforts and offsets internal investment management costs. See the UW's Consolidated Endowment Fund for additional details.

Please contact your Corporate and Foundation Relations team member with questions or for more information about processing gifts.