All solicitation for gifts, funding, support or sponsorships in support of Guilford College or a College department, constituency, initiative, or activity is required to be coordinated through a centralized, strategic fundraising plan administered by the College’s Advancement Office.
Purpose/Reason for Policy:
- to provide faculty, staff, students and alumni with the appropriate resources and support to successfully engage in fundraising activities that will inspire the joy of philanthropy toward Guilford College
- to ensure benefactors and prospective benefactors are contacted in a manner that is conducive to their interest for engagement and respectful of their time and resources
- to focus fundraising efforts on the College’s strategic priorities, to project a consistent message and voice to donors, and to maintain the College’s ongoing compliance with its legal and statutory obligations.
- to provide support for faculty and members of the community to solicit external grants.
Scope/Covered Persons: All members of the Guilford College Community
Definitions:
Fundraising: For purposes of this policy, fundraising is defined as any solicitation for financial support or other commitments for the provision of goods, in-kind donations or services; raffles, crowdfunding, prize drawings and auctions; whether for the benefit of a Guilford priority, initiative, department/program, student club/organization, or to help generate support for another tax-exempt charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
In-kind Donations: Gifts of products, time and services.
The Policy:
Guilford College understands and appreciates the role each and every member of the community plays in the development of relationships with students, parents, alumni and other external partners. Those relationships often are the reason donors decide to support academic programs and other strategic priorities.
The Advancement Office is responsible for coordinating all of the College’s fundraising activities in a manner that serves the best interests of the College and supports the College’s priorities to the fullest extent possible. Advancement seeks to nurture the bonds between the campus and external partners while avoiding duplication, unintended conflicting information, or missed opportunities for giving. To further this goal, all solicitation for gifts, funding, foundation/corporate grants, support or sponsorships in support of Guilford College or a College department, constituency, initiative, or activity is required to be coordinated through a centralized, strategic fundraising plan administered by the College’s Advancement Office.
Exceptions:
- Governmental Grants and Grants Requiring an Institutional Endorsement: Faculty and staff who are interested in applying for a government sponsored grant [NIH, NEH, etc] for research or other academic purposes should coordinate those efforts with the provost.
- “Travel Grants” and other funding that is allocated entirely from within College funds will be managed by the Cabinet member/VP of the appropriate division.
- Student Fundraising: Students, clubs and organizations may wish to seek external funds to support key initiatives and projects. In order to facilitate the review of student organization fundraising efforts and to pose minimal conflict with institutional fundraising efforts, the associate dean of students has been given the responsibility for reviewing student fundraising activities and for consulting with and seeking approval from Advancement.
- Athletics: The director of Athletics may authorize specific Athletics-related fundraising/sponsorship efforts upon consultation and approval by Advancement.
- Event Ticket Sales and Sales of Goods and Services.
- Certain In-Kind Donations: Solicitations of in-kind contributions valued at $100 or less are excluded from this policy if the donor does not wish to have a formal receipt for their donation. The Office of Advancement is the only authorized entity to issue donation receipts for Guilford College.
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Vice President for Advancement: Responsible for coordinating all fundraising at Guilford College.
- Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Advancement: Responsible for receiving and processing all fundraising request forms.
- Director of Annual Giving: Responsible for coordination of all Athletics-related fundraising, the Annual fund, faculty development, Friends Center, Friends of the Library, CCE Annual Fund, loyalty and unrestricted funds.
- Provost and Academic Dean: Coordinate with Advancement to assure that all applications for a governmental research grant or external corporate/foundation grant for academic purposes are coordinated at the appropriate level.
- Dean of Students: Coordinate with Advancement in order to determine which student fundraising/sponsorship efforts they can authorize directly, and which efforts need further consultation with Advancement.
- Students and advisors of student organizations: Contact the associate dean of students before authorizing student solicitation of gifts and sponsorships.
- Faculty and other individuals considering applying for grants: Contact the Provost’s Office before pursuing governmental, private foundation and/or corporate grant funding opportunities.
- Faculty and Staff approved to solicit funds from any source: Use the resources available to the College through Advancement for garnering philanthropic support.
- Institutional Research Office: Coordinate with the Advancement Office when coordinating grant applications for faculty and others.
- Human Resources: Coordinate with the Advancement Office when seeking or accepting discount programs for employees.
- Athletics Coaches: Seek permission from the Director of Athletics before any fundraising efforts are undertaken.
- Director of Athletics: Coordinate with Advancement to determine which fundraising/sponsorship projects can be managed by Athletics staff and which ones require coordination with Advancement.
- Any member of the Guilford College community: Students, staff and faculty are encouraged to support and promote any existing Guilford fundraising effort in person, through social media or other communication outlets.
- Any member of the College community who receives a gift, donation or sponsorship, or offer of a gift, etc., even if unsolicited, should contact the Office of Advancement for appropriate and coordinated acknowledgement.
Compliance: Willful and/or repeated violations of this policy may be cause for corrective action in accordance with established procedures for staff and faculty.
Other Related Policies, Regulations, Statutes and Documents:
Procedures:
The success of Guilford’s Advancement efforts requires both appropriate coordination and scrupulous observance of the College’s fiduciary responsibilities. The following procedures are designed to ensure that fundraising opportunities toward College priorities are maximized:
- Unless specific exceptions outlined in this policy apply, faculty and staff should seek the approval of the Advancement Division prior to making contact with prospective benefactors and/or actively soliciting gifts of any type (including crowdfunding sites, events, etc) from current/past/prospective Guilford benefactors. This coordinated fundraising effort is vital for both the achievement of the College's fundraising goals and the continuation of favorable donor relations.
- To request approval, faculty and staff whose projects are not exempted elsewhere within this policy should complete the Fundraising Request Form. Completed requests will be reviewed by the Vice President for Advancement. For larger, more comprehensive fundraising initiatives, as much as six weeks advance notice may be needed for this process. Smaller requests can normally be handled within a shorter time frame. Please give Advancement as much notice as possible. Requests will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.
- An employee who learns of a prospective benefactor, or has an idea for a fundraising opportunity, should coordinate with the Provost, the Associate Dean of Students and/or Guilford’s Office of Advancement, as appropriate, before contacting the benefactor.
- Once a gift is received, the Office of Advancement will acknowledge the gift and if necessary, work with the appropriate department and/or individuals to recognize it.
Approval Authority: Guilford College President
Responsible Office: Ara Serjoie, Vice President for Advancement, Hendricks Hall 115, 336-316-2320 , serjoiea@guilford.edu
Revision History: New policy approved by the President’s Cabinet on March 20, 2019.