Governing Documents and Gift Fund Creation

Governing Documents and Gift Fund Creation

Gift and fund management are essential components of a strong stewardship and donor relations program as these ensure that we can meet donor expectations. Effective gift and fund management begins with the creation of new funds. Below are some strategies to help with the new fund creation process.

Strategies

Each unit will likely have its own processes for establishing new gift funds. Below are the standard steps in the process which can be used as a framework for units to develop their own checklist to ensure each new fund is being created and stewarded appropriately. Review process annually with internal parties (major gift officer, business office, etc.) to make any needed adjustments. Units who would like assistance from the OVCIA Stewardship team to submit requests for new UIF or Banner funds for any new gifts, please email stewardship@illinois.edu for further instructions to complete this process. 

Process Steps:Who is Responsible (typically):
Gift Documentation Request Form submitted to UIF Gift Planning & Trust Services (giftdocs@uif.uillinois.edu) Ideally, Unit Major Gift Officer (MGO) and Stewardship (SDR) have had communication prior to a draft.MGO or SDR  
Internal reviewed and approved Consult with business office (BO) or others as needed and provide feedback until a draft governing document is agreeable. Illinois Stewardship also receives a copy of the draft to aid in the processSDR  
Donor reviewed and approved Consult with donor and provide feedback until a draft governing document is agreeable.MGO  
Document signed and fully executed UIF will finalize draft for and send out for digital signatures (via DocuSign). Hard copies can be requested as needed. Once signed, UIF will upload the document to TED.Gift Planning  
New Fund Request submitted to UIF Gift Administration This is required for UIF to process all incoming donations.SDR or BO  
Banner Request submitted to Gift Admin A new fund should only be requested when the UIF gift fund has met the endowment level or is for current use, in which funds are ready for spending.SDR or BO  
Endowment recipients added to TED Automatic process done by UIF, added to Fund Purpose search.Gift Admin  
Stewardship recipients, attributes, & SDR Plan added to TED Manual process to organize and track engagement with donors.SDR  

Gift Documentation

Gift documentation is a broad term that encompasses the paperwork necessary to record the donor’s wishes for designation or use of the gift, the donor’s understanding of UIF’s administrative terms, and more. UIF’s Gift Planning & Trust Services writes all governing documents and provides the statement of gift form to document gifts.

  • A fund agreement is an agreement between the donor and UIF, with the unit’s consent.
  • A statement of understanding (SOU) is an agreement between the unit and UIF.
    • Typically for funds with multiple donors, quasi-endowed current use funds, or funds established by a unit for a fundraising campaign.
  • A statement of gift (SOG) is an agreement between the donor and the unit.
    • Typically for outright gifts or pledges to an existing fund.
  • You do not need to know which type of documentation to request. Gift Planning will assist you with this decision.
  • The four phases of the process are drafting, internal review, donor review, and finalization.
  • See the Resources section for additional information including:
    • Gift Documentation Requirements Grid
    • Gift Documentation Process Workflow
    • Gift Documentation iLEARN course

Tips & Tricks

You can find annotated resources on UIF Online for further information.

  • Download the Gift Documentation Request Form before you fill it out. Do not fill it out within the web browser.
  • Review the Gift Proposals section of this document for information on restrictions in acceptable gift documentation.
  • UIF will not accept gifts with recipient selection by the donor, a non-U of I purpose, freedom of speech or academic freedom issues or narrowly restricted gifts that prevent fund administration.
  • Ensure all exception approvals (naming recognition, extended pledge terms, etc.) are submitted with the request and that any internal process requirements for your unit have been met.
  • Reference donor interactions in TED for assistance in completing the GDRF, and include important information in the “Additional Info” section.
  • “Good” gifts have broad and flexible terms and few, if any, selection criteria. Defer to business and academic policies, or email stewardship@illinois.edu for guidance.

UIF Gift Fund

A University of Illinois Foundation (UIF) fund (which is separate from a Banner gift fund, as the UIF maintains its own set of records in a separate system outside of Banner) is required when your unit will be receiving gifts from donors.  This is required as the UIF processes all incoming donations for the system via these UIF gift funds.  UIF can establish endowment funds for gifts to be held for investment, current use funds for gifts available for immediate use and non-gift funds used to process fundraising proceeds. Review the Funds iLEARN courses for further information.

  • One of the following documentations is required to create a new UIF fund:
    • a draft governing document (required for endowments),
    • correspondence regarding the fund, or
    • a gift has been received for the fund.

Tips & Tricks

  • The New Foundation Designation (Fund) Request Form is included within the “Fund” section of UIF Online forms.
  • You will need to include the college name, department name, and the Banner site or “organization code” (ex. 1-XX-###) associated with the gift fund.
  • If requesting to auto sweep fund at the time of requesting a new gift fund (meaning either the fund has met the minimum endowment level or for current use), attach a completed Banner Request Form with the request.
  • Units who would like assistance from the OVCIA Stewardship team to submit requests for new UIF or Banner funds for any new gifts, please email stewardship@illinois.edu for further instructions to complete this process. 

Banner Fund

Once UIF funds are established, the UIF has the capability to sweep the related endowment income & gift/non-gift revenue from these UIF funds to the related Banner gift funds. Once this revenue has been swept, it is then available to the units for spending.

Existing Banner gift funds

Units also may wish to occasionally create a new gift fund in Banner which will be funded from an existing Banner gift fund (as opposed to being funded from a UIF fund). For example, a unit may want to transfer funds out of one of their unrestricted gift funds and into a new gift fund which they want to use for a different isolated purpose (for example, a professor’s research). 

In these cases, the unit does not need to complete the form for creating the UIF fund (since this new Banner fund will be funded via fund transfers from another Banner gift fund, not from UIF) – they would simply need to complete the Banner Fund, Program, Index Code Request Form in that type of situation and email the completed form to newaccounts@uif.uillinois.edu.

University endowments

Occasionally, gifts are given directly to the system (i.e., the gifts are made out or left to the “University of Illinois” as opposed to the Foundation). These types of gifts are held as University endowments and the related investment income sweeps into a 4J endowment income fund.  To establish a 4J University endowment income fund, simply complete the Banner Fund, Program, Index Code Request Form and email the completed form to newaccounts@uif.uillinois.edu.

Tips & Tricks

  • When completing the Banner request form, gift funds typically have a 4M (“Gifts…”) fund type.
  • Gift & endowment income funds are assigned generic program codes in the “19nnnn” range, where the last four digits of the generic program code represent the assigned NACUBO function.
  • Gift funds and endowment income funds should have default program codes assigned to them which are in line with the donor intent restrictions assigned to those funds and how the funds will be used. For example, a gift fund restricted for scholarships should use the “191787”program code, since “1787” is the NACUBO function generic program code for “Scholarships”.
  • For a full listing and description of the various NACUBO functions, see the “Banner Program Codes and NACUBO Function Overview“.
  • Confirm with your business office: who should submit new fund requests, as well as who should be copied.

Resources