Gift Agreements

Gift agreements and minimum funding levels are required for all gifts that are to be endowed or are ‘term/current-use’ gifts where the following are true:  

• The gift will establish a new fund, i.e., the monies cannot be allocated to an already existing fund, as there are none that encompass the purpose of the gift, and/or
• The gift is to establish a named fund. 

Gifts intended for already-established funds and that don’t meet any of the conditions above do not require an agreement. 

Your Major Gift Officer will work with the donor and the Assistant Director of Endowment & Gift Documentation to craft an agreement to meet the needs of the donor and the benefiting department.

Please contact your Major Gift Officer for any gift or gift fund agreement concerns.

Estate and Trust Gifts

The Office for Planned Giving administers all estate gifts. All correspondence, checks, notices, and receipts regarding gifts from wills, trusts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, or other gifts coming to the UW following a donor’s death (such as proceeds from a terminated life income plan) should be sent to the Manager of Estates in the Office for Planned Giving, Box 359515.

It would be helpful to connect with your Major Gift Officer to answer questions and to begin the process of receiving estate gifts and new endowments. They will work with the Office for Planned Giving and the Manager of Endowment & Gift Documentation to create a New Endowment Information Sheet (NEIS) that will document the purpose of the gift and any restrictions on its spending. The Office for Planned Giving will also help determine whether there are family members or estate agents who should be thanked and further stewarded for the gift.
 

Establishing an Endowment with an Estate or Trust Gift

• When a donor passes, the executor of the estate or trust contacts the UW Manager of Estates, to inform the institution that they are a beneficiary. If estate gift information comes directly to you, please send it on to the Manager of Estates in the Office for Planned Giving.
• The Manager of Estates will inform the Major Gift Officer for the benefitting unit of the gift.
• UW has a legal obligation to accept gifts through bequests unless they are deemed illegal due to certain language or spending obligations. If gifts are deemed illegal, the Manager of Estates will work with the Attorney General’s Office to negotiate the gift acceptance in court.  
  • Gifts typically take a minimum of 4-18 months to be received and can come in multiple installments.
  • Gifts are accepted even if the naming is outdated (i.e., “Far East”).
  • Gift details are based on wills and other bequest-related documents, not UW language.
  • Estate gifts larger than $25,000 no longer have to be endowed (by UW policy), unless a donor’s testamentary directions state otherwise.

Endowments funded by estate gifts are established internally with a New Endowment Information Sheet (NEIS). The Manager of Estates is responsible for completion of all NEIS documents. The NEIS serves as the primary gift agreement for estate gifts and the language in the document is directly from the donor’s will. The purpose of the gift as well as any spending restrictions will be documented in the NEIS.

Reach out to your Major Gift Officer for any concerns regarding estate and trust gifts.
 

Stewardship of Estate Gifts

Advancement Services works with the Manager of Gift Estates in the Office for Planned Giving to steward estate and trust gifts.

• CAS Departments should not send acknowledgment letters or complete any other stewardship outreach until they have communicated with Advancement. Reach out to your Major Gift Officer to clarify what stewardship actions should take place for a particular estate gift.

As a governmental unit with a nonprofit foundation, the University must determine whether external funding is a sponsored program or a gift to properly spend, track, report, and account for it.

UW Advancement Office and GIM (Grants Information Memorandum) 34 provide guidance in differentiating between a grant and a gift, especially when the funding originates from a corporation or foundation.

Reach out to cascfr@uw.edu for help in determining if a contribution is a gift or a sponsored project, such as a grant or a contract. The Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations will work with the Major Gift Officer for your unit and the Manager of Endowment & Gift Documentation to clarify gift details and documentation.

Please contact the Advancement Services team anytime at CASadser@uw.edu with questions or for more information about gifts that require formal gift agreements and documentation.