Gift Acceptance Policy
The Parish of St. Matthew (the “Parish”) is deeply appreciative and welcomes all donations for support of its mission, parishioners, programs and facilities.
1. The purposes of this Gift Acceptance Policy (the “Policy”) are to govern the Parish’s acceptance of all gifts to the Parish and to provide guidance to prospective donors and their advisors as they contemplate making gifts to the Parish. The Policy is intended to establish a process for the cultivation, acceptance, recording and management of all gifts.
The Policy is intended as a guide for the staff and volunteers of the Parish when discussing, planning, and accepting all gifts and pledges. The Policy is designed to strengthen the Parish and its endowment, capital, deferred, grants, and annual fundraising programs.
2. The Vestry of the Parish (the “Vestry”) is responsible for overseeing the adoption and implementation of the Policy, in consultation with the Rector, the Treasurer, and, as applicable, the Parish’s Investment Committee.
3. The Vestry shall have the sole authority to accept and approve all gifts (regardless of the method of funding by the donor) with restrictions or conditions requested by the donor, including without limitation, restrictions on the use, investment or distribution of such funds. All donor restrictions must be described in a written gift instrument from the donor that is accepted, approved and acknowledged by the Vestry. The Vestry may seek the advice of the Parish’s Investment Committee regarding proposed gifts to the Parish of St, Matthew Endowment Fund (the “Endowment”) that contain restrictions on the use, investment or distribution of such funds, but the Vestry shall have the sole authority to determine whether to accept such restricted gifts to Endowment.
4. The following types of unrestricted gifts may be accepted, so long as the Vestry determines that such gifts are in support of the Parish’s religious and charitable mission and will not result in adverse publicity to the Parish:
a. Cash gifts in the form of cash, checks, debit or credit cards. All processing and merchant fees for donations shall be borne by the Parish, and the donor will be credited with the face amount of the intended cash gift. For security purposes, the Parish does not retain donor credit card information and uses a third party processor for credit card transactions.
b. Publicly-traded securities by transfer through the Depository Trust Company to the Parish’s brokerage account in accordance with instructions provided by the Parish. It is the Parish’s intent that such securities will be immediately sold upon receipt for the benefit of the Parish. The donor shall be credited with an amount equal to the number of shares transferred multiplied by the average of the high and low trading prices for the day when the securities are transferred into the Parish’s brokerage account.
c. Donations of three hundred dollars ($300.00) or more in lieu of reimbursement for Parish program or event expenses incurred by volunteers. Such contributed expenses must be approved in advance by the event chair or a member of the clergy. Approved donations must be substantiated by the submission of a reimbursement request form with related original receipts and a statement by the donor that these expenses are intended as a contribution to the Parish. Donated expenses shall be treated as unrestricted gifts to the Parish’s annual operating budget and cannot generally be used to fulfill a future or existing pledge to the Parish’s annual stewardship campaign. If such a request is accepted by the Parish, the donation shall be recognized by a letter of substantiation.
5. The Vestry shall have the sole authority to accept unrestricted or restricted gifts funded by methods other than cash or publicly-traded securities, so long as:
a. The acceptance of such gifts
i. Will support the Parish’s religious and charitable mission;
ii. Will not result in adverse publicity to the Parish; and
iii.Could not foreseeably result in liability for the Parish, regardless of the duration or amount of such liability.
b. All costs incurred by the Parish and the donor in connection with terms and conditions for the Parish’s acceptance of such gifts, including without limitation, the preparation of written transfer documentation containing donor instructions or restrictions and of agreements, appraisals, analyses and studies (as may requested by the Vestry), fees and costs of transfer, recording or liquidation (if a gift (such as real property) is to be sold), are to borne solely by the donor.
6. The Vestry shall have the sole authority to establish donor recognition levels, programs and events (in the form of publications, signage and other types of public recognition) as it believes to be in the best interests of the Parish. A donor’s permission to publicly identify him or her and his or her gift, including the recognition level of the gift (if applicable), will be assumed, unless otherwise requested by the donor in writing at the time of donation
7. The donor shall have the sole responsibility to substantiate any charitable deduction that he or she claims for federal and state income tax purposes. The Parish shall recognize its receipt of gifts in accordance with then applicable regulations of the Internal Revenue Service.
8. The Parish, its staff and its volunteers may offer general information to a donor who is considering a donation; however, any donor who receives gift illustrations or economic modeling acknowledges that such materials are for informational purposes only. Each donor is strongly encouraged to consult with his or her respective attorneys, tax and financial advisors in any and all aspects of a contemplated gift. The Parish does not advise donors as to their own tax and estate planning.
9. In the course of discussing gift prospects for the Parish, Vestry members, employees, consultants, fund-raising committees and volunteers may discuss information of a personal and financial nature concerning prospective and current donors. The following guidelines are intended to affirm the Parish’s commitment to protect the privacy, dignity and trust of its benefactors, friends and prospective donors.
a. The Parish places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of its donor information. The Parish will not sell, rent, transfer, loan or trade a donor’s personal or biographical information to any third party. All copies of documents, communications or analyses containing such information are to be strictly controlled and safeguarded to prevent inadvertent or intentional distribution.
b. The Parish shall request that its fundraisers follow these policies to the extent that they receive donor information in the course of carrying out their duties:
i. All fundraising-related discussions concerning gift donor prospects are strictly confidential; and
ii. All information concerning a donor’s financial capability, past giving patterns, specific gifts, and personal disclosures is strictly confidential.
10. The Vestry shall have the right to modify or amend this Gift Acceptance Policy, and any such amendment or modification shall require the approval of at least two-thirds (2/3rds) of the members of the Vestry. In the event of the granting of a waiver from the Policy or a dispute with respect to the interpretation of a provision in this Policy, the determination of the majority of the members of the Vestry shall be final and binding.
11. This Policy supersedes all prior authorizations, resolutions and actions, whether oral or written, with respect to the subject matter hereof. Notwithstanding the prior sentence, the Parish will continue to honor and abide by those written agreements with donors as of the Effective Date.