Actually, Ellen, the donated items could qualify for a deduction as long as
the agency qualifies.  But nothing associated with the raffle (ticket
purchases etc.) does qualify since the person has received the benefit of
possibly winning.  But not so with the donors of the merchandise.

-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ellen Barkenbush
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2001 3:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Alumni Club Activities


Alan, I'm sure our fearless leader John will have the most precise info,
but in my one experience with a raffle, none of the money was counted as
gifts regardless of where it came from.  To the best of my knowledge, by
linking the game of chance to the money there is no donative intent
because the money was raised by offering the people who bought the
tickets an opportunity to win something.


"Alan S. Hejnal" wrote:

> We're trying to sort out the gift recording related to an event
> being sponsored by one of our (college-based) alumni associations.
> Here's the situation as I understand it.
>
> The association has solicited donations of items to raffle or
> auction off to raise money for scholarships and for lab equipment
> for the particular college within the university.  They want to
> take the items, hold a raffle or auction, take in the proceeds and
> use them make gifts from the association to the university for
> various purposes of the association's choosing.
>
> I'm trying to sort out the transactions involved.  This alumni
> association has an account on the university's books, but it's an
> "agency" account, so we can't record anything to that account as a
> gift to the university.  So are items donated for this event gifts
> to the university, or are they gifts to this alumni association?
> The association is not its own 501(c)(3), so if these are not
> gifts to the university, are they deductible?  If the contributed
> items *are* gifts to the university in the first place, can we
> record the subsequent proceeds as gifts from the association?
>
> Am I over-complicating this?  Does someone have a nice, simple
> procedure for handling such situations?
>
> Thanks in advance....
>
> Alan
>
> Alan S. Hejnal
> Director of Development Operations
> Marquette University
> P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI  53201-1881
> VOICE: (414) 288-7427  FAX: (414) 288-3585
> mailto:[log in to unmask]

--
_______________________________________________________
Ellen Barkenbush
Associate Director, Annual Giving
Drew University
Madison, NJ 07940
phone: (973)408-3988     fax: (973)408-3691
www.drew.edu

"The two most beautiful words in the English language are 'check
enclosed.'"
 - Dorothy Parker