UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
Thank You Procedures
Gifts to the University fall into two categories: Monetary (cash or cash-like) and Non-monetary
(items, goods, or services).
Only the Office of the University Treasurer or the Office of University Controller may issue the
official tax receipt for a monetary gift to the University of Colorado. For gifts received as part of a
material fundraising event, the Office of University Controller will issue a receipt to a donor who
makes a monetary gift payment of $250 or more and to others as requested. Gift tax receipts will be
issued after the organizational unit submits the actual Revenue and Expense Summary Statement
from the Reporting System (see the Step by Step “How to Read Revenue and Expense Statement
Summary”) and Donor List (see Resource Template) for the event, and the event finances reconciled
The Office of the University Treasurer will receipt monetary gifts received at other times.
I. Monetary Gifts
When a monetary gift is received, the organizational unit always has the option to issue a “thank
you” note or letter to the donor. The note or letter issued by the organizational unit may contain
only:
1) The name of the organizational unit,
2) The receipt date of the gift, and
3) Appreciation and/or thanks for the gift.
There should be no mention of a dollar amount in this correspondence. Wording should not include
“tax deductible,” “not-for-profit,” “501(c)(3),” similar phrases, or the University’s tax FEIN number.
A copy of a proposed “thank you” letter for a fundraising event must be reviewed by the Office of
University Controller for review before being sent.
Examples of acceptable wording include:
The University of Colorado “School of xxxxxxxx” acknowledges receipt of your gift on March 1,
2006. Thank you very much for your continued support of our programs.
We received your donation to the University of Colorado “xxxxxx Department” on March 1, 2006.
Thank you very much for your continued support of our programs.
The “School of xxxxxx” at the University of Colorado thanks you for your donation
of 10 gift cards to ABC Restaurant received on March 1, 2006. Your generous
support of our xxxx event is greatly appreciated.
II. Non-monetary Gifts
When non-monetary gifts (e.g., items donated for an auction) are received, it is the responsibility of
the organizational unit to maintain a list of these items. Acknowledgement to the donor should be
processed as described below. This acknowledgement is based upon the organizational unit (not the
donor) determining an estimated Fair Market Value (FMV) of the donated item. Donated items are
to be acknowledged as follows: