A unit of the University of Maine Foundation, Gift Processing provides the service of processing all university contributions including gifts, pledges, and pledge payments. The unit receives, records, and legally receipts gifts of all forms.

Our goal is to ensure that donations are in compliance with university policies and federal regulations, are in accordance with donor intent, and that security and confidentiality is maintained in the processing of all records.

When funds are to be directed to a chartfield string or designation intended for gifts, whether the funds are gifts or non-gifts, you must submit the deposit to Gift Processing with a completed Standard Gift Transmittal Form rather than to the Bursar’s Office. Please contact Gift Processing at (207) 581-1148 or umainefoundationgifts@maine.edu.

Frequently Asked Questions

A gift is a contribution received for either restricted or unrestricted purposes in support of the university’s mission for which the institution has made no commitment of resources or services other than, possibly, committing to use the gift as the donor specifies.¹

QuidPro-Quo: If goods and services, other than token items, are received as a result of making a contribution, only the amount of the contribution in excess of the benefit is considered a charitable donation._²

The Gift Processing Department issues all official tax receipts to donors from the University of Maine.

References

CASE Global Reporting Standards
IRS Pub. 526

Click the “Give Now” button in the top navigation bar, or visit umaine.edu/give to make a gift online.

To give by mail, mail donations to:
University of Maine Foundation
Buchanan Alumni House
Two Alumni Place
Orono, ME 04469-5792

• Coin – All American Coins and Foreign Coins valued at less than $1.00
• Cash – All American and All Foreign
• Check – All American and All Foreign (To “University of Maine Foundation”)
• Money Order – All American and All Foreign (To “University of Maine Foundation”)
• Credit Card – Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress, and Discover.
• Gift-in-Kind – Non-cash donations of materials or long-lived assets that are directly related to the mission of the university or are convertible to cash in support of the university’s mission. This includes equipment, software, food, vehicles, collections of art, books, etc.¹ Because Federal guidelines are complex, please contact Gift Processing when such donations are considered or initiated.

Exception: The value of a person’s or organization’s time or service is not considered a charitable contribution, regardless of whether the individual assists as a volunteer or as a professional providing a specialized service (e.g., accounting, legal work, consulting or printing).¹

References

IRS Pub. 526, CASE Global Reporting Standards

Yes, the university accepts memorial or honorary donations.

Donations should be sent directly from the donor to:
University of Maine
Buchanan Alumni House
Two Alumni Place
Orono, ME 04469-5792

A note on or accompanying the check stating “in memory of” or “in honor of” and the persons name is enough to indicate that the donation is a memorial or honorary donation. Memorial and honorary donations may also be made using the university’s online giving website at umaine.edu/give. A field is provided to indicate the name of the person to be memorialized or honored.

The University of Maine Foundation is responsible for sending notices of all memorial and honorary donations. These notifications include the donors’ names, their mailing addresses, and the allocation in which each memorial or honorary donation was made. Because of privacy standards, donation values are never disclosed in these notifications.

If you are interested in suggesting memorial or honorary donations to benefit the University of Maine in an obituary or posting, please contact Gift Processing at (207) 581-1148 or umainefoundationgifts@maine.edu.

References

IRS Pub. 526, CASE Global Reporting Standards

Guide of standards and requirements

Gifts-in-kind are non-cash donations of materials or long-lived assets directly related to the mission of the University of Maine or readily convertible to cash to support the university’s mission.

Deductible as charitable contribution examples include tangible property such as equipment, software, hardware, product inventory, deep discounts or “bargain sales”, personal collections, items to be used for fundraising auctions, cars, boats, airplanes, and real estate. Intangible or intellectual property includes such things as patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

Special IRS rules exist for contributions of vehicles, boats, and airplanes that may limit the donor’s charitable deduction. In addition, the IRS imposes significant additional reporting requirements on the University for these items.

Reporting requirements

Donor reporting requirements: In addition to inclusion on the donor’s IRS Form 1040 when filing a tax return, total non-cash contributions valued at more than $500 require the filing of IRS Form 8283 – Non-Cash Charitable Contributions. The donor may have to complete section A, Section B or both, depending on the type of property donated and the amount claimed as a deduction. Total non-cash contributions valued at more than $5,000 require the donor to obtain a qualified written appraisal.

University reporting requirements: The University is required to provide an acknowledgment for non-cash gifts that may include a description but not the value of the item(s). Gifts valued in excess of $5,000 – the donor may request that the University complete the donee portion of IRS Form 8283 to confirm receipt of the non-cash gift. Only Gift Processing may complete the donee portion of this form on behalf of the university. For vehicles, boats, and airplanes, IRS Form 1098C must be completed by the University and sent to the donor and the IRS. If the University disposes of a gift-in-kind within three years, it must file IRS Form 8282 with the IRS and send a copy of the form to the original donor.

All of these requirements have specific deadlines and equally stringent consequences if the IRS’s standards are not met. In addition to jeopardizing donors’ charitable tax deductions, failure to comply could lead to university financial penalties up to the value of the donation AND the loss of the university’s status as a charitable institution.

Not deductible as charitable contributions

The value of a person’s time or service, appraisal fees, or partial interest in property is not allowable as a donation.
• Time and service – The value of a person’s or organization’s volunteer time or service could include such things as consulting, accounting or legal work, and contractor design services. This does not preclude volunteers from billing the institution for their work, receiving payment, and then making a cash donation to the university.
• Appraisal Fees – Appraisal fees related to establishing the value of the gift-in-kind donation are not allowable as a donation.
• Partial Interest In Property – If the donor maintains partial interest in or ownership of a property, the use of the property cannot be claimed as a donation. Use of a donor’s property for a fundraising event, or free use of office space in a donor-owned building are examples where the donor maintains at least partial interest. If the donor relinquishes interest or ownership in a building or piece of real estate and donates it to the university, it would qualify as a donation.

Because of the complex nature of this type of donation, it is best to consult with Gift Processing prior to receiving any gift-in-kind contribution. We have access to research materials that can be of assistance to both University staff and donors.

Stock gifts are just one way that donors may make a contribution to benefit the University of Maine. Accounting information is necessary for the donor’s broker to transfer the stock to the university. Donors of their brokers should contact Gift Processing directly at (207) 581-1148 or umainefoundationgifts@maine.edu to receive this information.

At the time of contact, the donor or broker should also provide the following information:
• The name of the stock to be expected
• The number of shares or the approximate value of the stock to be expected.
• The name of the donor or donors making the stock contribution.
• What designation the donor wishes to make the contribution to.

The following information is an overview of the credit/debit card standards and requirements described in the University of Maine System’s Administrative Practice Letter (APL), “Credit/Debit Card Standards,” with additional information specific to the University of Maine. The APL “establishes procedures and requirements for University of Maine System (UMS) departments accepting payments by credit/debit card…and applies to all departments, individuals, and entities…involved in acceptance of credit/debit card payments on behalf of the UMS.”

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council has a very thorough standard in place to ensure that merchants safeguard cardholder information. This is known as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). View the PCI Security Standards Council’s website for more details and review the UMS APL on Employee Protection of Data for institutional policy.

In order to continue processing credit card payments using a personal computer, you must comply with the following requirements.

You must access the online site via a computer that is isolated in a single location and not connected to other locations or systems. This means you will need:
• A personal computer dedicated to the payment processing function.
• A separate port connected to the campus PCI Compliant Network.
• The computer used must be kept up to date with anti-virus software.
• The computer used must be kept up to date with security patches (i.e., Windows updates, MS Internet Explorer updates).
• The computer used must not have software installed that causes cardholder data to be stored (for example, there is no software for batch processing or store-and-forward).
• The computer used must not have any attached hardware devices that are used to capture or store cardholder data (for example, there are no card readers attached).
• The computers used must have any wireless capabilities disabled.

In addition, all departments accepting credit cards must comply with the following security procedures relating to the handling of cardholder data. Cardholder data consists of, at a minimum, the personal account number (PAN). Cardholder data may also be in the form of the PAN plus any of the following: cardholder name, expiration date, and/or card verification value (CVV).
• You must not send or receive cardholder data by electronic means such as e-mail, chat or instant messaging.
• You must never store cardholder data in electronic format on any university computer or external device.
• You must retain any paper documents containing cardholder data only for as long as needed to complete the transaction.
• If documents containing cardholder data must be delivered from one employee to another, they must be labeled as confidential and delivered personally or by a trackable delivery service. Do not send cardholder data by regular or inter-campus mail.
• Upon completion of the transaction, any paper documents containing cardholder data must be properly destroyed or rendered unreadable. Proper destruction would mean cross-cut shredded, incinerated, or pulped so that cardholder data cannot be reconstructed.
• The card verification code or value (three-digit or four-digit number printed on the front or back of a payment card) must never be stored in any form under any circumstance.
• Access to cardholder data must be limited to only those individuals whose jobs require access.

In order to continue to enter credit card payments online, you must follow the University of Maine Procedures for PCI DSS Virtual Terminal Compliance.

Those departments that elect to continue to manually process credit card transactions via a virtual terminal as identified above must complete the following tasks to properly comply with the terms in this message:

Department must register the computer with UMaine IT (Andy Moody 207.581.1592) by providing the following:
• PC make and model
• PC network name
• IP address of PC
• Department must identify the contact person for management and maintenance of the PC.
• Department must acknowledge compliance with all terms and conditions outlined in this message and their understanding that there will be a separate monthly port charge of $7.00 (current rate) for connection to the campus PCI Complaint Network.

Gift Processing Forms

Guidelines
• All deposits to Gift Processing must be hand-delivered in a sealed envelope.
• University policy prohibits you from keeping bank account information. Please do not copy or retain copies of checks.
• All deposits sent to Gift Processing must be received with the appropriate Gift Transmittal Form completed and all supporting documentation.
• It is against university policy to retain credit card security codes—they must be destroyed.
• University policy prohibits you from keeping credit card information. Please do not copy or retain credit card information.

Standard Gift Transmittal Form Download

Use this form to submit return devices/forms completed by and signed by donor to make a donation via credit card charge.

Credit Card Gift Transmittal Form Download

Use this form to submit return devices/forms completed by and signed by donor to make a donation via credit card charge.

Gift-In-Kind Transmittal Form Download

Use this form for non-cash donations of property, materials, and equipment including software, hardware, vehicles, collections, and livestock. See above for gift-in-kind standards and requirements.

Foundation/UMAA Transmittal Form Download

Use this form for the University of Maine Foundation when checks are sent to Gift Processing.

For Philanthropy Officers: Always encourage donors to access the online giving website at umaine.edu/give to make their donations directly. Please use the Credit Card Gift Transmittal Form to send your donor-signed donation charge requests to Gift Processing. Donations processed via the online giving website are charged, recorded on the university’s fundraising database, deposited to the appropriate MaineStreet chartfield, and receipted appropriately.

For UMaine employees, visit additional guidelines for more information.

The information contained here is general in nature and is intended only as a guide. It is not intended to provide legal, tax, or financial advice.