Instructions for Receiving Donations

Checks MUST be made payable to "Harvard University" or "President and Fellows of Harvard College" with the student organization's name and gift account/endowment fund number in the memo line of the check. Checks made payable to the student or student organization will not be processed by Alumni Development Services (ADS). Terms or a brief description of the gift purpose should also be included by the donor in the form of a letter. Donors should mail checks directly to the student organization's SOCH mailbox.

Once received by a student organization, checks must be promptly delivered by a SOCO -registered officer to Olivera Saric Knezic. Please email olivera@fas.harvard.edu to arrange the check delivery. Checks can be submitted in person with a completed Fund Deposit Request Form, which is found in the Finances folder under the Files tab of an organization's portal on SOCO, or sent directly to the Alumni & Development Services (ADS) Bank of America lockbox, see the Deposits to Gift Accounts section for instruction above.

For the donation to be processed, Harvard requires the complete address of the donor as well. If the check only includes the entity name of the donor (example: the [Donor] Family Foundation), include a document accompanying the check with the full name and address of each donor who individually contributed. A complete address on each check is required so that ADS can send a receipt to the donor. Without an address, all gifts will be returned to the student organization without being processed.

Student organizations may need to communicate with their donors to ensure that each donation coming in is made out to Harvard University, includes your gift account number on the memo line, includes a donor-written, short letter stating the purpose of the donation, and that the donor's address is submitted to the Student Engagement Team with the check.

Student organizations may collect donations via credit card but may never accept credit card information directly. Instead, organizations should direct donors to use the Harvard online giving form where they may use the following instructions:

1. Under " Select a Fund", choose "OTHER - Harvard College"
2. In the "Other Fund Name" box, enter "Name of Fund" and "Fund #"
3. Student organizations should provide donors with their gift account numbers to be used in step two.
4. Under "Select a School", choose "Harvard College"
5. Please mention if this is a donation from an individual or a donation made by an individual on behalf of a corporation
6. Select the "My and/or my spouse's employer will match my/our gift" if appropriate
7. Please refer to the Matching Gifts Program section for more information (see below on this page)

Gift receipts are sent to all donors by Alumni and Development Services as an acknowledgment of their gift and as their tax receipt for the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to this tax receipt provided by Harvard, student organizations are encouraged to thank donors directly in a more personal way with a letter or card.

If a donor wishes to make a gift to you, as well as a matching gift through an employer, please inform them that they must donate online through the online giving form.

Donors whose employers have matching gift programs should contact their employer's personnel or employee benefits office to obtain a gift matching form. Please be aware that matching gifts can take longer to be processed and deposited by ADS.

Gift receipts are sent to all donors by Alumni and Development Services as an acknowledgment of their gift and as their tax receipt for the Internal Revenue Service. In addition to this tax receipt provided by Harvard, student organizations are encouraged to thank donors directly in a more personal way through a thank you letter or card.

Donors wishing to make a gift other than cash (gifts of property, gifts in kind, gifts of stock), should contact the Assistant Director of Finance and Administration for Student Engagement, olivera@fas.harvard.edu, who will reach out to ADS on behalf of the student organization and help facilitate this. Be sure to mention the student organization, gift fund number, and the type of gift if possible, so that the organization will receive any monetary value of the gift. ADS will also send, as they do all gifts, a tax receipt to the donor for this gift. Questions about gifts of securities should be directed to the Harvard Management Company (866-845-6596, security_gifts@hmc.harvard.edu).

Funds raised and deposited into Gift Accounts must be solicited in compliance with the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, furthering the mission of an educational institution. Only contributions and gifts may be deposited into these gift funds (no sales income, ticket profits, etc.). Contributions need to be for activities of the organization, and, usually, no goods or services may be provided in exchange for these gifts (subscriptions, tickets, tee shirts, etc.). If goods or services are provided to a donor, the donor must be notified of the cost of those services so that he or she may deduct them from the overall total gift for tax deduction purposes. IRS Publication 526 describes certain membership benefits and tokens that do not affect tax deductibility.

Please remember that sales from advertising and other goods are not donations and should be deposited directly into student organization Harvard University Employee Credit Union bank accounts. Membership dues are also not considered gifts, are not tax-deductible, and cannot be deposited into Gift Accounts.