Procedure GE2002 - Employee Gift Authorization and Processing

Office of University Development

Policy Steward facilitating procedure: Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations

GENERAL:

Employees of The Pennsylvania State University on the monthly or regular biweekly payrolls may authorize gifts to the University through payroll deduction. Employee donors may specify the area (or areas) where the gift is to be applied, or can identify their gifts as unrestricted, to be used where the University need is greatest.

Each year, the Office of Annual Giving conducts one major campaign to enroll new employee donors. A Faculty and Staff Contribution Form ( Exhibit "A" ) is sent to all employees giving them the opportunity to make a one-time contribution or to initiate a payroll deduction. For employees already participating in payroll deduction giving, donors may increase or decrease the amount of the deduction, cancel the deduction, or change the allocation of their gift at any time by either

The following documents the authorization, data entry, reporting, verification, receipting, and transfer/distribution of funds, and record retention for this process.

PROCEDURE:

AUTHORIZING A DEDUCTION

An employee who wishes to start, increase, or change the allocation of a gift deduction must complete a Faculty and Staff Contribution Form ( Exhibit "A" )

The "Information About You" section will be filled out, providing necessary personal information, as specified on the form (see Exhibit "A" ). Additionally, the "My Gift Will Be ..." area should be completed indicating the college, campus, or program to which the gift will be applied. Allocations may be selected from, but not limited to, the allocations listed on the back of the form. If the donor wished to make an unrestricted gift, they should enter "Unrestricted."

Next, one of the "Giving Options" must be selected:

CHECK: Selection of this option is used to authorize a one-time gift. A check, payable to Penn State, may be issued for a specified amount. The check will be included with the form and sent to the Office of Annual Giving. Further processing will occur as documented in "Faculty and Staff Contribution Form Processing."

PAYROLL DEDUCTION: A payroll deduction may be authorized/changed by checking the appropriate block and completing the corresponding payroll deduction section. The employee enters the amount to be deducted each pay period. The suggested minimum payroll deduction if $5, and the deduction must be an even dollar amount per month to each allocation . If multiple allocations are selected, the total of all amounts must equal the amount of the deduction per pay period.

PLEDGES $1,000 AND MORE: If $1,000.00 or more, the "Pledge" option may be selected, payable in annual installment (5-year maximum). The donor must specify on page 2 of the form (see Exhibit "A-2" ) the amount of their pledge, the time period over which they desire to pay their pledge, when reminders should be sent, and sign/date in the appropriate area.

FACULTY AND STAFF CONTRIBUTION FORM PROCESSING

General

When a Faculty and Staff Contribution Form ( Exhibit "A" ) is received in the Office of Annual Giving, a "thank you" note is generated and sent acknowledging their contribution.

Faculty and Staff Contribution Forms ( Exhibit "A" ) and checks (as applicable) are then forwarded to Donor Services in accordance with Procedure CR2004 - Accounting for Transfer of Items of Value (Except Equipment) . All forms will be date-stamped by Donor Services upon arrival. They are reviewed for accuracy and completeness. Employees are contacted for clarification or additional information, if/as needed.

Cash Handling/One-Time Gifts, Pledges

Upon receipt by Donor Services, all monies will be deposited in accordance with Procedure CR2005 - Depositing Cash Revenues and Policy FN01 - Processing Cash Revenues , as applicable. Additionally, a Report of Cash Receipts ( ROCR ) will be prepared in accordance with instructions specified in IBIS. The ROCR will credit General Ledger account 0680 - Gifts for the total amount received.

Credit Card Payment Processing

Gifts being charged on a donor credit card will be handled in accordance with the applicable University procedure for the type of credit card being charged. Refer to University Procedures FM2009, FM2010, FM2013, and FM2014 (all obsolete).

Giving Through Payroll Deduction

Refer to "Payroll Deduction Processing" for processing details for this method of giving.

DATA ENTRY (APPLIES TO ALL GIVING OPTIONS)

Each Faculty and Staff Contribution Form is reviewed, comparing the data on the form to what data (if any) currently exists on the Alumni/Development database for an employee. As applicable, new information will be entered, and/or old information will be updated on the Alumni/Development database for each Faculty and Staff Contribution Form received.

PAYROLL DEDUCTION PROCESSING

Information Transfer

For those employees who've selected payroll deduction as their gift option, the pertinent payroll data is electronically uploaded to the University Payroll Office on the 15th of each month. This action results in the generation of an Automatic Payroll Upload Detail Report once the payroll actually runs.

Updating University Payroll Records

Upon electronic upload to the Payroll Office, the information provided for each employee is entered to their record on the University payroll system. At month-end, a Journal Voucher is generated which summarized this activity, crediting the total gift deductions received/processed for the month to General Ledger account 0680 - Gifts. A copy of the Journal Voucher is forwarded to Donor Services

Verification of Deductions Processed

Administrative Information Services (AIS) processes monthly and bi-weekly payrolls according to a per-arranged processing schedule, and generates various summary reports. All individual deductions processed are summarized on a computer generated Gift Payroll Deductions Listing - Active and provided monthly to the Office of Annual Giving and Donor Services.

Using both the Gift Payroll Deductions Listings - Active and an Automatic Payroll Upload Error Report, Donor Services verifies that all payroll deductions were indeed processed, and processed correctly. If any errors are discovered, Payroll is contacted and the errors are resolved accordingly. If necessary, the employee will be notified. Documentation as to the specific error and details on its resolution will be noted by Donor Services and retained with the Automatic Payroll Upload Error Report for audit trail purposes.

TRANSFER AND DISTRIBUTION OF GIFT FUNDS

Payroll Deductions

Employee payroll deductions are distributed monthly through a program requested by Donor Services and developed by AIS. This automated function reads data from a file and creates batch files which ultimately allocate the funds specified for donation tot he appropriate budget(s)/fund(s). The file provides Penn State ID, name, and amount of monthly deduction for each donor. Through a batch process, this file reads against specific fields on the Alumni/Development database, checks pledge schedules, and assigns gifts according to donor requested allocations. Any funds which cannot be assigned because of differences in amount or pledge schedule generates an error report for Donor Services, and are resolved on an individual basis.

Ultimately, this batch process distributes the funds given through an automated Journal Voucher, debiting General Ledger account 0680 - Gifts by the amount of payroll gifts withheld during the month, and crediting the appropriate budget/funds.

One-Time Gifts

Unlike payroll deduction activity, a weekly Journal Voucher is prepared to distribute the funds received for any one-time gifts , debiting General Ledger account 0680 - Gifts for the total dollar amount of gifts received for the week, and crediting the appropriate budget/fund designated by the employee.

RECEIPTING PROCEDURES FOR EMPLOYEE GIFTS

Payroll Deduction Gifts, Pledges

In accordance with University and IRS mandates, receipts are generated every January and distributed to those employees authorizing a gift to the University via payroll deduction. Each receipt indicates the cumulative amount and gift designation(s) for the gift made.

One-Time Gifts

Receipts for one-time gifts, unlike payroll deduction gifts, are issued immediately upon deposit and posting of each gift, per Policy FN01 guidelines.

PROCESSING RETURNED CHECKS

See Procedure CR2002 - Processing Returned Checks .

AUDIT COORDINATION - FINANCIAL AND PROCEDURAL

The Financial Officer is responsible for ensuring that procedures pertaining to the accountability and safeguarding of all cash receipts, cash funds, and other assets are established and followed in accordance with approved University policies and procedures. Regular audits relating to advances, cash, travel, equipment accountability, and other expenditures provide a means to protect University assets. The Financial Officer is responsible for working with Internal Audit when audits are being performed in the administrative area, as well as performing an annual audit that is submitted to the Assistant Controller.

RECORD RETENTION, DISPOSITION AND DESTRUCTION:

Record retention must be managed in accordance with Policy AD35 - University Archives and Records Management , and records schedules approved by the Records Management Advisory Committee, Office of General Counsel, and Office of the President. These retention requirements are the University's retention criteria, either derived or based upon federal, state, and local statute or regulations, industry standards, and business needs. Retention beyond recommended time periods require justifiable reasons and warrant review by the Records Management Officer or designee. All documents must be maintained in such a manner so as to provide ease of access for review, and to provide a suitable audit trail for all transactions.

Upon expiration of a stated period of time, documents must be discarded and/or destroyed, unless permission is granted by Records Management Officer or designee to retain the records. Archival records created more than 20 years prior to the current date must be reviewed before destruction. Units should also contact the University Archivist before discarding any document which may be of permanent or historical value to the University. To safeguard the privacy of individuals, documents that contain salary information, personally identifiable information (PII), or student records must also be shredded. See Policy AD53 - Privacy Policy and AD22 - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for additional information regarding privacy and the protection of an individual's personal information. For documents that must be shredded, departments may arrange for Blue Bag service by contacting the Blue/White Shredding Program of the Office of Physical Plant. Exceptions to the practice are as follows:

Documents subject to a Legal Hold (see AD35, Legal Hold). A legal hold will remain in effect until it is released in writing by the Office of General Counsel.
Documents under audit or review, either internally or externally. The retention period extends until released by the Corporate Controller's Office. The Financial Officer will be notified regarding any accounts which are under audit; the Financial Officer will be responsible for contacting the department.

Additional questions may be directed to the University Archivist or the Records Management Officer.

EXHIBITS:

Exhibit A - Faculty and Staff Contribution Form

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For questions, additional detail, or to request changes to this procedure, please contact the Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations.

CROSS REFERENCES:

Procedure Status:

Date Approved: May 4, 2011

Most recent changes:

Revision 2 - 04/21/2011 - revised to address SSN conversion issues and to reflect current operations

Revision History (and effective dates:)

Revision 1 - 12/13/1999 (formerly "Payroll Deductions for Employee Gifts" revised to reflect current operations)
Original - 10/7/1982