Donor Resources

We declare that all donors have the following rights:

• I. To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
• II. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
• III. To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
• IV. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
• V. To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.
• VI. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
• VII. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
• VIII. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
• IX. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
• X. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

This Donor’s Bill of Rights was developed in conjunction with the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits.

Depending on the gift, we complete some or all of the following steps:

• We provide a gift agreement or letter of intent. These documents outline the purpose, form, schedule and administration of the gift.
• We convert gifts to cash. Non-cash gifts are converted to cash as soon as practically and prudently possible.
• We place the gift in a designated fund. To ensure spending according to your direction, a separate fund is established when your gift’s purpose is sufficiently distinct.
• We send a receipt. We send a written acknowledgment for every gift in accordance with IRS regulations.
• We apply applicable fees. A one-time gift fee, up to 5%, is charged to support the Boise State Foundation. Additionally, all endowments are assessed a quarterly administrative fee. These fees do not affect the portion of your donation considered a charitable donation for IRS receipting and University giving totals.
• We invest the monies. The Foundation board approves guidelines to invest gift monies in programs that match the return and risk profiles with the designated purpose for the gift.
• We disburse funds to the university. For expendable gifts, all monies are immediately available for university spending. We disburse monies as requested by the university after we confirm the requested spending matches the designated purpose for the monies. For endowed gifts, the Foundation makes cash available for spending based on the board-approved distribution rate, currently 4%, again, only for the designated purpose.