All gifts to UAB must comply with the standards outlined in Board of Trustees Rule 411: Minimum Standards, Acceptance, and Reporting of Gifts and Use of Gift Revenue and the UAB Fundraising and Gift Acceptance Policy. Due to associated federal tax regulations and potential conflicts of interest, gifts from employees or from their family members/family trusts to their own departments or units involve heightened risk and must undergo specialized review prior to approval, acceptance, and receipt by UAB Advancement. The following considerations and procedures apply:

CONSIDERATIONS

Neither UAB nor any of its related entities shall be placed in the position of acting as a conduit of funds for which employees claim a deduction that is likely to be disallowed by the IRS.
Federal tax regulations provide that a gift may not be fully deductible if there is a direct or indirect personal benefit to the donor. Examples include when the funds are used to support the employee’s own salary or for travel or entertainment in which the employee or family members participate.
Under federal tax rules, the following have elements of private benefit and are not considered to be charitable contributions:

Providing financial aid to a specified student;
Providing compensation for a named faculty/staff member or trainee;
Directing funds for the purchase of equipment or furnishings for offices or laboratories of specified individuals or for their travel or sponsored (research) activities;
Directing funds to an account over which the employee has expenditure control.

Investigators are presumptively prohibited from using personal funds or receiving funding from a family member/family trust to support research efforts they are directing or conducting at UAB.
Employees cannot donate to an account over which they or someone they supervise has spending authority.
These guidelines do not apply to general fundraising initiatives in which UAB Advancement invites broad employee participation or other similar pooled gifts (e.g., the UAB Benevolent Fund; a fund to which more than one employee donates to support student scholarships, etc.).

PROCEDURES

Employee Donor Agreement Form must be completed by the employee wishing to donate.
Department chair must review Employee Donor Agreement Form and indicate proposed use of donated funds, assuring that:
- Expenditures of donated funds comply with federal tax regulations and above guidance;
- University account to which the gift is applied is under the control of the VP, AVP, or dean – not under the employee or department chair;
- Funds from the account are dispensed impartially, and the donor is not the authorized approver on the account or in a position to influence direction of the funds; and
- Gift is for general purposes of the unit and is not specifically related to the donor’s research or other work.
Office of Advancement must review the Employee Donor Agreement Form in collaboration with Division of Financial Affairs to authorize acceptance of the gift.
VP, AVP, or dean manages the account to which the funds are applied.

SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDANCE ON GIFTS FROM EMPLOYEES