Gifts

Gifts are defined as funds received from external sources that are “donative” in nature, bestowed voluntarily and without the expectation of any compensation (i.e., the donor does not receive goods or services in exchange for donations). Gift income is important to RIT in that it helps to support the University’s mission to provide strong academic programs and engage in cutting- edge research.

University Advancement is the official fund- raising organization of RIT. To ensure accurate accounting, all gifts including cash, checks, securities, gifts-in-kind, etc., should be deposited and recorded by the University Advancement. This ensures that each donor will receive a formal receipt (for tax purposes), proper acknowledgement, an accurate donor history is maintained, and that gifts are properly handled for internal and external financial reporting purposes.

Donors often send checks directly to departments across campus. When this occurs, departments should hand-deliver original gift checks and related support to the University Advancement, located at 100 Park Point, 1st level. University Advancement staff will deposit the check, credit the department’s gift revenue account, update the donor’s record, and issue a formal acknowledgement to the donor. When departments deposit gifts directly at the Student Financial Services (SFS) Office, critical steps in the gift process are by-passed: donors may not receive proper tax documentation and gift revenue may not be properly recorded.

When a department makes a gift deposit (to a 54XXX gift object code) at the SFS Office, Accounting will post the deposit to a general ledger suspense account, not to the department’s gift account indicated on the Deposit ID Form. Accounting will send a memo to the department that made the deposit and provide them with a copy of the deposit slip. Departments will be asked to e-mail or send documentation to support the gift to CTO Gift Accountants, ctogifts@rit.edu, (c/o University Advancement). Once the documentation is received, the deposit will be credited to the department’s gift account. Until that time, the gift will remain in suspense and no spending against the gift can occur. When a department hand-delivers a gift and related documentation directly to the University Advancement, the gift is typically credited to the department’s gift account in the next day’s deposit.

Your assistance in processing gifts through the University Advancement enhances the accuracy of our donor records, as well as RIT’s financial reporting. If you have any questions about this process, please contact the CTO Gift Accountants at ctogifts@rit.edu.