Student-Privacy Rules Show a Renewed Trust in Colleges

New regulations go into effect this month for the Family Rights and Privacy Act, known as Ferpa, which governs the privacy of student records. Those regulations, announced in December by the Department of Education, empower colleges to act appropriately and decisively to protect the health and safety of students and others.

Full-text article by Peter Lake is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 2.2.09. [Subscription required.]

Rules for Giving

The 4/21/2008 Wall Street Journal explores how U.S. tax laws have changed in recent years in regard to charitable donations. The article touches on key points such keeping good records, advice on stock donations, and what's in store for the future of IRA gifts, as well as other key "what you need to know" items.

Click here to read the article.

Donors Seek Restrictions On Big Money Gifts

Recent disputes regarding the actual intent of donors for gifts given long ago has roiled such institutions as Princeton, Tulane, and Randolph College in Virginia. Now, donors are banding together to get advice on how best to place restrictions on gifts so they are used specifically and narrowly.

This article in the Wall Street Journal by John Hechinger reports that a new Indianapolis-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education has been formed to advise donors on how best to restrict their gifts. We need to take heed of this movement, and not only be vigilant on the usage of the gifts, but also to be sure that the gifts are legally gifts, or if the restrictions on the gift negate the charitable intent.

Big-Money Donors Move to Curb Colleges' Discretion to Spend Gifts
By John Hechinger
September 18, 2007; Page B1

For generations, wealthy alumni have donated big money to their alma maters with near-religious devotion. But some blue-chip donors are no longer willing to give merely on faith.

In an initiative to be announced today, several philanthropists -- including Bernard Marcus, the billionaire founder of Home Depot Inc., and investor John Templeton, who made a fortune running mutual funds -- are launching a nonprofit that will advise donors on how to attach legally enforceable conditions to their gifts.

The new Indianapolis-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education aims to curb colleges' discretion in spending donors' contributions. The three foundations backing the center -- those founded by Messrs. Marcus and Templeton and the John William Pope Foundation -- have about $1.25 billion in assets and have made $585 million in gifts over the past five years.

Read more...

Auditors Question Donor's Arrangement With ASU

This report from Anne Ryman at The Arizona Republic illustrates that we as Advancement and Development Services Professionals need to be diligent in making sure our institutions follow common practices and standards so there would be no hint of impropriety. Even if the IRS rules that these donations are legal gifts, one has to agree that the arrangement could be viewed as unethical.

Donor's ASU deal questioned
Gifts bought art from his firm

Anne Ryman
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 9, 2007 12:00 AM

Auditors are raising questions about whether the Arizona State University Art Museum had an improper arrangement with a philanthropist for handling his donations.

The museum received $450,000 over seven years from the donor and, under an arrangement with him, used the money to buy art from the donor's company, a university audit found.

The arrangement, which was discontinued after the June audit, allowed Stephane Janssen to receive personal-income-tax deductions for charitable donations, Janssen said. In at least one case, the museum possibly paid more than fair market value for Janssen's artworks, the audit found. ASU officials question that view.

Read More

Big Gifts, Tax Breaks and a Debate on Charity

An interesting article on philanthopy and the IRS.

By Stephanie Strom

Eli Broad, a billionaire businessman, has given away more than $650 million over the last five years, to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to establish a medical research institute, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and to programs to improve the administration of urban schools and public education.

The rich are giving more to charity than ever, but people like Mr. Broad are not the only ones footing the bill for such generosity. For every three dollars they give away, the federal government typically gives up a dollar or more in tax revenue, because of the charitable tax deduction and by not collecting estate taxes.

Read the full story from the 9/6/07 issue of the New York Times.

Additional Reading from the New York Times series on the "Age of Riches:"
Making Do, With $10 Million, August 5, 2007
The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age, July 15, 2007