FAQ: How the Foundation is accountable to the public
Who manages the Foundation?
The Foundation is governed by up to 30 volunteer directors comprising University friends and alumni, who elect Foundation officers. The President and CEO of the Foundation reports to this board; in addition, the University of Iowa President serves as an ex officio director. The current chair of the Foundation Board of Directors is Thomas R. Hanson of Hinsdale, Illinois. Information on other Foundation leaders is available at http://www.uifoundation.org/about/leadership.
How does the Foundation report on its business practices?
As a separately organized, Iowa nonprofit corporation qualified under Federal regulations as a tax-exempt organization, the Foundation makes a significant amount of information available to the public, which is detailed in the Foundation's Policy on Safeguarding and Disclosure of Foundation Information.
What does the Foundation do with contributions?
The Foundation directs gifts as donors specify. Expenditures of these gift funds are made by University administrators, faculty, and staff, according to strict guidelines for the use of the gifts as specified by the donor. Donors often allow the University to direct their gifts where they're needed most. These are called "unrestricted" or "undesignated" gifts. The University leaders typically use unrestricted funds to help provide scholarships; recruit outstanding faculty; facilitate student and faculty research; help defray the costs of traveling to national conferences to present research, to museums for research activities, and to competitions and exhibitions for arts students; and support important University initiatives for which other funding is not available.
For additional statistics and other annual highlights, please visit the Statistics on Giving section of this site.
How does the Foundation ensure that donor intent is followed?
If the UI is to survive and thrive in the years ahead, private support is essential. At the UI Foundation, our job is to do everything we can to maximize that support, now and into the future—which means that earning and keeping our donors' trust is among our very highest priorities.
The majority of contributions received by the UI Foundation annually (more than 100,000 in recent years) are cash gifts made in response to annual mailings and telefund campaigns. In those cases, checks or credit card authorizations usually are accompanied by a contribution card that has been filled out by the donor, indicating to us that the gift is to be directed to a specific account within the Foundation (usually a "gift fund" for a particular college, department, or program).
When a donor wishes to make a more complex gift (such as those involving real estate, a variety of non-cash assets, or through a bequest or trust), he or she often contacts the Foundation well in advance—a critically important step—so we can work more closely with the donor and his or her financial advisor. In these cases, a "Statement of Gift Intent" is developed to assure that all involved—the donor and his/her family and advisors, the UI Foundation, and often the UI unit(s) that will benefit from the donor's gift—are in agreement about the nature and designation of the contribution.
In the situations noted above, Foundation staff are guided by policies and procedures developed to reflect the highest standards of integrity and accountability. (Read more about other steps the Foundation takes to assure gifts reach their destination and are handled in the ways donors intend, including the Foundation's Donor Intent Policy.)
How does the UI Foundation protect donor privacy?
Donor privacy is very important to the Foundation. The Foundation recognizes that providing personal information is an act of trust.
In general, although donor names, gift amounts, and gift designations may be subject to disclosure upon request pursuant to Iowa’s Public Records law (except for donors requesting anonymity, prospective donor information, and other specific circumstances), the Foundation respects its donors’ expectation of confidentiality about their giving records. Therefore, the Foundation requests that its staff and volunteers and UI colleagues hold all donor information in strict confidence and use it only to further the Foundation’s mission out of respect for donors and their desire for privacy, except where otherwise required by law to disclose such information.
To supplement the donor-privacy protection provided by Iowa law and the Foundation’s Policy on Safeguarding and Disclosure of Foundation Information, the Foundation has a Web site privacy policy to protect personal information provided through Web site(s) owned or operated by the Foundation.
What does the Foundation's IRS Form 990 contain?
As is true of all I.R.C. Sec. 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, the Foundation is required by federal law to file an annual income tax return—IRS Forms 990 and 990-T—and to make that report available to the public upon request. The Forms 990 and 990-T contains detailed data such as:
- The Foundation's revenues and changes in net assets or fund balances for the year
- A detailed statement of yearly operational expenses
- A description of major program accomplishments for the year (including the amount of private funding provided to The University of Iowa)
- Detailed balance sheets for the current and previous fiscal year
- An analysis of income-producing activities and the relationship of those activities to the Foundation’s exempt purpose (that is, raising funds to benefit the University)
- An analysis of income-producing activities and the relationship of those activities to our exempt purpose (that is, raising funds to benefit the UI)
How does the Foundation communicate with its donors?
In communicating with constituents—including alumni, friends, donors, University faculty and staff, and other interested individuals and organizations throughout Iowa and across the country—the Foundation seeks to keep its key audiences informed about the following:
- Important University fundraising news, such as recent noteworthy gifts, relevant tax law changes, campaign progress, and volunteer assignments
- How private support impacts the lives of University students, faculty, and staff; for example, through stories about individual scholarship recipients, newly appointed faculty chairs, or new campus facilities
- Profiles of individual donors and how giving to the Foundation enables them to achieve their personal financial and philanthropic goals
- Foundation news, including the latest productivity figures, awards and honors, staffing changes, etc.
How does the Foundation handle a request for anonymity?
A donor may request that a specific gift or all of their gifts be made anonymously, which may be handled in one of two ways.
One type of anonymity ensures that the donor’s identity would not be included in any publications, honor rolls, donor walls, or similar public recognition, nor would it be subject to public disclosure under Iowa Public Records law. As a partner in the Foundation’s fundraising mission, select University staff would be made aware of the gift and donor’s identity, after appropriate safeguards are in place. The donor also receives an appropriate tax receipt and recognition for the gift (e.g., included in The Presidents Club qualifications, athletic ticket minimum contribution requirements).
The other type of anonymity is absolute confidentiality. The gift will be documented by the Foundation to the generic record of “Anonymous Donor.” The University will not be made aware of the donor’s identity, and the donor would not be included in any publications, honor rolls, nor would it be subject to public disclosure under Iowa Public Records law. This information will also be secured within the Foundation, made only available to a limited number of Foundation staff based on business need. However, the donor will also not receive recognition for the gift (e.g., included in The Presidents Club qualifications, athletic ticket minimum contribution requirements). When the identity of the donor is known to the Foundation, an appropriate tax receipt will be provided.
