Systems and Procedures
A Division of The Office of Budget and Finance
A Division of The Office of Budget and Finance
WPSU-TV and WPSU-FM are part of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) and derive a substantial portion of its income from contributions.
These contributions are obtained primarily from the following areas: donations from individuals (including but not limited to online donations, mail campaigns, on-air campaigns, telephone solicitations, email campaigns, unsolicited donations, major gifts, endowments, and planned gifts), business support (underwriting), grants, and fundraising events. Most of the contribution money is received by WPSU through wpsu.org/donate/pledge from individual donors by underwriters. This procedure establishes the controls and accountability necessary for the processing of contributions to WPSU.
The WPSU membership team recruits volunteers to assist in taking contributions during on-air campaigns. Volunteers are recruited mostly from the public and community organizations. A training session is held before each pledge event to instruct the volunteers on telephone protocol, pledge form completion, and donor confidentiality (including appropriate sections of PCI/DDS policy).
During each live pledge break from the WPSU studio, the WPSU Volunteer Coordinator will review the completed pledge forms for accuracy and initiate any necessary corrections.
In accordance with Policy FN01 Cash Revenues and Procedure FN2005 Processing Cash Revenues after each live pledge event, all pledge forms including cash, checks, and/or credit cards are secured by the Membership Director or the Associate Membership Director (who have completed the PCI/DSS training) in a safe. On the following business day, all pledge forms are sorted and entered as follows: credit card forms are entered by PCI/DSS trained staff on WPSU’s secure ePay terminal; cash and checks are held in the safe until Outreach Finance’s next deposit day and are transferred by Outreach and Online Education (OOE) Division of Development and Alumni Relations (DDAR) staff in a lock bag between WPSU and Outreach Central Finance in compliance with CR2004 Accountability for Transfers of Items of Value (Except Equipment). All cash must be verified by two individuals from the originating department and the receiving department. For any gift received in person, a pre-numbered receipt will need to be issued with the pink copy accompanying the payment. Pre-numbered receipt books are supplied by Central Accounting. Monies are receipted in the gift system once back-up is returned to WPSU office.
Individuals who complete their pledge and wish to pay by check will receive a reminder slip (pledge/remit) with a return envelope through the mail.
When WPSU is not live in the studio an after-hours answering service will take contributions from donors who call the toll-free number.
The Membership Director for WPSU creates pledge remits from MEMSYS (WPSU membership system) to contributors who have made a pledge to make their gift by check. Remits include information on date of pledge, amount of pledge, and if any payment has been made toward the pledge.
Contributors are instructed to return the reminder with payment in the enclosed, self- addressed envelope addressed to WPSU.
If a thank-you gift (premium) is associated with the contribution, MEMSYS will automatically generate a coded label for premium mailing when pledge is paid in full. This processing methodology is applied to all gifts received through membership campaigns (mail, online, on-air, telemarketing).
A donor can choose to make a gift by credit card through WPSU’s donate page or by calling WPSU (either the WPSU Member Line during normal business hours or the toll-free number during live pledge events). If the donor makes their credit card gift over the phone, the WPSU representative on the receiving line will capture the donor’s credit card information on a pledge form and either: 1). enter the form into WPSU’s secure ePay terminal (for PCI/DSS staff), 2). secure the form in the safe located in the 222/223 suite until it can be entered into WPSU’s secure ePay terminal (for PCI/DSS staff who are also one of the three designated individuals with the safe combination), 3). give the form to a PCI/DSS staff for proper storage. Processing of all credit card gifts falls under the responsibility of Donor and Member Services. After a credit card gift has been successfully entered the credit card information is removed from the form and is shredded.
If WPSU PCI/DSS staff are not able to process a credit card transaction, the credit card form is returned to the safe located in the 222/223 suite for the WPSU Membership staff, who will attempt to contact the donor to resolve.
Per University policy, refunds are not granted for charitable contributions unless special permission is granted by the Director of Donor and Member Services. If a Refund Request Form is received, WPSU Membership staff consult with Donor and Member Services to determine if the request qualifies for a refund (see Policy FN08 Refunds).
Gifts made by check are primarily routed to Donor and Member Services to be processed. On the rare occasions WPSU receives these gifts, the allocation and appeal codes are written on the outside of the envelope to indicate where the check should be deposited.
When checks are received from donors the Membership Director will first open the check and determine to which fund the gift should be deposited and notes the corresponding DDAR allocation and appeal codes that should be applied. Cash and check contributions received by WPSU are processed by Outreach Finance and posted to Ellucian Advance Web Application (AWA) by OOE DDAR. Normally, payments are sent with a pledge slip. If a pledge slip is not received, a copy of the check (masking the routing and bank numbers), is used as documentation. The pledge slip is stamped with "Received" date, the check number or "Cash" is entered on the slip, the amount of payment is verified (by circling the amount on the slip or writing the amount), with payee information is verified and the check is restrictively endorsed in compliance with Policy FN01 Cash Revenues and Procedure FN2005 Processing Cash Revenues. If the payee information is different, then the changes are indicated on the pledge slip. Then, the cash/checks are attached to the pledge slips.
A Journal Entry for Incoming Funds and deposit slip are prepared on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Deposits are picked up at Outreach Central Finance via courier services. Deposits are handled in accordance with University Policy FN01 Cash Revenues and Procedure FN2005 Processing Cash Revenues subsequent policies/procedures referenced therein.
Underwriting grant money is donated by individuals and businesses to sponsor partial or total television and/or radio programming. Underwriting grants are solicited through the OOE DDAR Office. The contributing business receives audio and visual mention of their support.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is prepared by the underwriting representative. This agreement outlines contract dates, contract amount, and invoicing details. The contract details are documented in the underwriting database, FileMaker, which is used to generate the MOAs.
WPSU underwriting representative will verify that the following information is completed, including:
WPSU Director of Business Support will review all agreements prior to submission to client for signature. Once approved, the MOA will be sent via Adobe Sign for client's signature.
Upon client's approval, the MOA will be forwarded to the OOE Office of Compliance & Contracts for countersignature.
Upon execution of the MOA by the client and Office of Compliance & Contracts, the OOE DDAR Administrative Support Assistant will verify the contract information is complete and save an electronic copy of the executed MOA.
At the beginning of each month, the signed agreement including backup from WPSU traffic system is forwarded to Outreach Central Finance for billing:
The Outreach Central Finance representative matches payments to the appropriate invoice and prepares a Journal Entry for Incoming Funds and deposit slip for cash/checks or charges credit card. As noted in the prior section, checks are deposited twice weekly, unless unusual circumstances require holding a check. Deposits are handled in accordance with University Policy FN01 Cash Revenues and Procedure FN2005 Processing Cash Revenues and subsequent policies/ procedures referenced therein.
The Outreach Central Finance Office updates the appropriate accounts receivable database (FM or TV) to show these invoices as paid.
Invoice terms are Net 30 unless the MOA states differently. If payment is not received by 30 days after the due date, a 30-day notice is sent to the client, and subsequent notices are sent at 30-day intervals if payment has not been received (e.g., 60, 90, etc.). After 60 days, the underwriting representative contacts the client regarding non- payment status. An email is sent to Outreach Central Finance with a summary of discussion with the client. This email will be kept with the invoice file for the client. If after 90 days (120 days for advertising agencies), payment is not received, the WPSU Director of Development will contact the client to discuss action to be taken, which will be documented in a Report of Contact in AWA.
Aging reports for underwriting (FM and TV) are generated each month and sent to the WPSU Director of Business Support, Underwriting staff, Finance Director, and Finance Specialist for review and action. This is the primary method by which Outreach Central Finance tracks the status of delinquent accounts with WPSU.
OUD issues a computer-generated receipt for payments received from the donor/member/client. The receipts are based on the payment information that is entered into AWA.
The WPSU Finance Specialist will periodically verify the WPSU Gift Transfer Report matches the eDDS reports. The WPSU Finance Specialist will also review SIMBA to ensure that the appropriate funds and cost centers have been credited or charged, and if not, will prepare any needed correcting journal entries. Results of reconciliations are to be reviewed with the WPSU Finance Director.
Returned checks will be processed per Procedure FN2002 Processing Returned Checks. The Office of University Development will be considered the originating department when WPSU is involved. WPSU will be notified of the returned check, but the collection effort will be handled by OUD.
The WPSU Finance Manager is responsible for conducting spot audits to ensure that the controls and methods as described in this procedure are being adhered to. Results of the spot audits will be documented, discussed with the WPSU Finance Director, and sent to the Outreach Financial Officer for review.
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 collaborating with Internal Audit when audits are being performed in the administrative area. Audits relating to sponsored activities or other audits performed by external auditors may also be performed. The Financial Officer would also be responsible for collaborating with the external auditor and/or a central university office related to these procedures.
University Records retention must be managed in accordance with Policy AD35 University Archives and Records Management, and Record Retention Schedules approved by the Records Management Advisory Committee, the Office of General Counsel, and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff. These records retention schedules are derived from - or based upon - federal, state, and local statutes or regulations, University Policy, industry standards, and business needs. All University Records must be maintained in such a manner to provide ease of access, establish a suitable audit trail for all transactions, and to be reviewed prior to disposition.
University Records and Transitory/Disposable Record are defined below. See Policy AD35, Definition of Terms for additional information.
Upon completion of the retention period, University Records must be disposed of via secure destruction or transfer to University Archives, unless an exception to the disposition process set forth below applies. If the disposition method for University Records states "Review by Archives" on the records retention schedule, the employees responsible for those records should consult the University Archivist for a final determination of disposition. For University Records that must be securely destroyed, units may arrange for shredding services by either contacting the Blue/White Shredding Program or the Inactive Records Center.
Exceptions to the disposition process are as follows:
To safeguard the privacy of individuals, records that contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII), as defined in University Policy AD53 Privacy Policy, or student records, as defined in University Policy AD11 Confidentiality of Student Records, must be destroyed beyond recovery. For additional information regarding privacy and the protection of an individual's personal information, see Policy AD53 Privacy Policy.
Additional questions may be directed to the Office of Records Management.
There are no exhibits associated with this procedure.
For questions, additional details, or to request changes to this procedure, please contact the Outreach Finance Office.
To request changes to this procedure, please contact the Office of Systmes and Procedures by submitting a GURU Technical Support Request Form.
July 1, 2024