How to Use University of Florida Foundation Funds

Paul A. Robell, Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs

This annual memorandum is a reminder of certain basic rules and procedures concerning funds held at the University of Florida Foundation (Foundation).

1. Please consult the UFF intranet site at www.uff.ufl.edu for all procedures (and necessary forms) about how to deposit and access funds from the Foundation. Forms, policies and procedures are located under the Document Library.

2. It is important that each fund at the Foundation has an appropriate fund administrator designated by the Vice President, Dean or Director. He or she is responsible for ensuring appropriate expenditures from each fund, subject to your approval. Please be sure all Fund Administrators in your College or Unit review “Information for Fund Administrators” at www.uff.ufl.edu (click on Document Library, then Policy or Procedure).

3. Special rules, procedures and investment options govern the establishment and management of funds that are holding gift money designated to construct or renovate a facility. Please be sure to contact the Foundation’s Finance and Accounting Office at 392-9503, about such funds.

4. The Foundation strives to be user-friendly and we look forward to working with you to find ways to accomplish your important goals. However, we are required to enforce all applicable Internal Revenue Service rules and regulations, Federal and State laws. The Foundation’s Board of Directors has established only three simple rules, in addition to requiring strict compliance with donor restrictions: no Foundation funds may be expended for first class travel, private club membership dues, or excessive or lavish entertainment.

5. Gifts for projects using either animal or human subjects should be de.posited at the Foundation but must be administered through the University’s Division of Sponsored Research. They can be transferred with no additional fee assessed.

6. Most Foundation funds have specific donor restrictions governing the use of the funds, which are documented in a written gift agreement or other written agreement with the donor. Please be sure that you and each Fund Administrator are aware of the specific donor restrictions governing each fund. Currently, the official documented purpose for each scholarship and fellowship may be found at www.uff.ufl.edu/scholarships and for each endowed faculty fund at www.uff.ufl.edu/FacultyEndowments. The purpose is also documented on the UFF Financial Accounting System, or your college’s or unit’s development office can access the original documentation.

Please note that if a donor establishes an endowed professorship or chair, expenditures may not be made from that fund until the professorship or chair is filled, except for those expenditures necessary to fill the professorship or chair.

If you have any questions concerning expenditures from Foundation funds, please contact the Foundation’s Disbursements Office at 392-9882, the Foundation’s Finance and Accounting Office at 392-9503 or the Foundation’s Associate Vice President/COO, Leslie D. Bram at 392-5499 or lbram@uff.ufl.edu .

7. As you are aware, all gifts collected on behalf of the University of Florida are to be deposited, receipted and processed through the Foundation. Gifts should be handled with the same care and procedures as are other university collections. See UF Finance and Accounting Directives and Procedures 1.4.11.5, “Cash Handling and Receipting,” and DDD memorandum “Procedures for the Collection of Gifts to the University and Related Organizations,” June 2003.

Good business practices would include all of the following:

• Timely transmittal of gifts to UFF (cash and checks no less than weekly but better within 24 hours; credit card/debit payments by the next business day);
• Checks should be immediately restrictively endorsed to UFF;
• Gifts held overnight should be secured in a lockable drawer, cabinet or safe;
• Gift logs should be maintained and reconciled to the UFF Finance Accounting System regularly.8. Confidential Records: Please remember that the records of the University of Florida Foundation, by statute, are confidential and not subject to the public records laws. Donor information, including details of gifts, addresses and telephone numbers, is not to be made public without the permission of the donor. If you have any questions concerning such information, please contact Foundation legal counsel, Susan Goffman, at 392-9251 sgoffman@uff.ufl.edu.

  We look forward to providing excellent service to the UF community this year. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions.