Procedures for receiving and processing donations in departments

On this page:

• Un-receipted cash and cheques
• Cash and cheques receipted by departments

As indicated previously, donations should wherever possible be directed to the Development and Alumni Relations office (CUDAR). Whereas, from an accounting viewpoint it may initially seem simpler and quicker to receipt and bank the funds yourself, you must also consider:

• The significance of the gift from the donor's perspective. It is important that we ensure that they receive an appropriate level of recognition both now and in the future.
• The opportunity to maximise the donation through Gift Aid.

Please notify CUDAR and the Finance Division if any assets are received as donations.

Un-receipted cash and cheques

Where departments receive donations directly in the form of cash and/or cheque then these should be forwarded to CUDAR for processing. CUDAR will then take responsibility for the banking of monies and receipting on UFS. If appropriate they will approach the donor and reclaim Gift Aid. The standard procedures (outlined in Procedures for Receiving Donations via CUDAR) are then followed.

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Cash and cheques receipted by departments

Donations of less than £50

When donations are less then £50, named and up tp £100k (but see Cash donations) are received then it is acceptable for departments to process these themselves on UFS.

All non invoice-related receipts, including donations, are processed on UFS, via Accounts Receivable as Miscellaneous Receipts with a receipt type of "Misc". Departments should determine and code the receipt to:

1. the correct departmental cost centre
2. the appropriate source of funds for the donation depending on the type of donation i.e. EF** or H***
3. a donation transaction code LF**

The VAT rate of 'Outside the Scope' should be attributed to the receipt. Any cash and cheques received should be banked promptly as per the procedures outlined in Cash and Banking Procedures, Chapter 7 of the Financial Procedures Manual.

Anonymous donations

The University does not accept anonymous donations over £50. CUDAR can accept donations where the donors information can be witheld either from the department or simply from the department publicising this information. Please see the Procedures for Handling Donations for more information. 

Requests by the donor for an invoice

Occasionally, adonor may request an invoice in respect of their donation. In these instances an invoice can be raised on UFS by the department that will be receipting the 'donation.'

When raising the invoice ensure that the line description on the invoice clearly states that it relates to a donation and the VAT code of 'Outside the Scope' is used. Code the invoice to:

1. the correct departmental cost centre
2. the appropriate source of funds for the donation depending on the type of donation i.e. EF*** or H***
3. a donation transaction code LF**

Then receipt the donation on UFS with a receipt type of 'Cash' and applied to the invoice.

Requests for a receipt

CUDAR are able to provide receipts for all donations that they process on  their systems and will do this automatically dependant on the type of gift. 

Where departments have processed the donation themselves, the UFS system is not capable of producing receipts. Therefore, if a donor requests a receipt, departments have two choices either:

(a) write a letter acknowledging and thanking the donor for their receipt on official departmental headed paper; or

(b) if an invoice has been raised, the donation receipted and applied to the invoice on UFS, to reprint the invoice. The invoice will now display a watermark entitled 'PAID'.

Subsequent gift aid requests

If a Department which has already receipted a donation on UFS then decides to try and maximise that gift via Gift Aid, they will first need to contact Central & Research Accounting in the Finance Division to transfer the original donation to CUDAR. The latter will then follow the standard procedure as detailed in Procedures for Receiving Donations via CUDAR before the donation is released once more back to the department.

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