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2202 Gift Receipts

Document purpose

A donor may not be able to claim a federal tax deduction for certain charitable contributions unless the donor obtains a gift receipt from the charity. The University will incur no penalty for failing to acknowledge a gift, but assists donors by providing such receipts.

effective

July, 2003

revised

April, 2023

Reviewed

May, 2025

Responsible Office

Treasurer

Approval

Treasurer

Policy

The University will provide a contemporaneous written acknowledgement(s) to all donors of $250 or more throughout the year, and year end gift receipts summarizing a donor’s monthly totals, no later than January 31 of the year following the donation. Each gift receipt will contain:

 

  1. The name of the University entity which received the gift.

  2. The amount of the cash contribution or a description (but not the value) of the non-cash contribution.

  3. A statement that no goods or services were provided by the University in return for the contribution, if that is the case.

  4. A description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that the University provided in return for the contribution.

The Office of the Treasurer is the only office with authority to issue receipts for gifts to the University, Pennsylvania Hospital and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Gifts made to the University of Pennsylvania (HK) Foundation Limited, The Friends of the University of Pennsylvania Charitable Trust, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Chester County Hospital are receipted by those entities as appropriate.