Trip Funding

Owned by Adam Janecke (admin)
Last updated: Oct 20, 2023 by Kate Miller
3 min read

Trips may have the option of fundraising to cover the non-academic portion of their trips. Depending on how the leader approaches this function will dictate whether the funding can be considered a tax-deductible donation to the donor.  Before a leader makes this decision they should meet with the Gift Processing Manager/and or Controller who will assist the trip leader in evaluating what method would work best for the group they are leading.

  1. Deposits:
    1. If a trip deposit is required from the participant in advance of the trip, those payments would not be deductible.  Typically these funds are used to secure their place on the trip and to cover any airfare/lodging deposits that are due in order for UNW to begin planning the trip. 
    2. Deposits are non-refundable.

  2. Fundraising for approved trips: 
    1. A gift to the University to support a particular student or employee identified by name, including gifts to support expenses incurred by the University as a result of a particular individual’s participation in University activities are not deductible.
    2. A gift made to the University to satisfy a payment required of an individual participating in a University trip such as trip deposits or payment of billed installments are not deductible.
    3. Appeals should go out with an appeal card/envelope addressed to UNW, PO Box 130517, Roseville MN 55113.  Gifts should NOT be mailed to any other offices on campus.
    4. The Gift Processing department will process the gifts with a gift code specific to the trip and donations will be applied to the department's trip fund.
    5. Students and advisors may be given a recommended goal when they are fund raising, but they cannot be denied participating in the trip if they fall short of the goal. The trip leader should help set a goal for fundraising for the mission portion of the trip.  For example, if there are 15 participants going on a trip and the mission portion of the trip is $4,000, the total goal would be $60,000.  (The goal should be set higher than the actual anticipated need to create a modest cushion for unexpected expenses.)  Each participant could be given a goal of $4,000, provided the University allocates donations equally to support each participant regardless of the amount of contributions raised by any one student. 
    6. Support letters must clearly indicate that their donations will fund the trip as a whole and will not fund a particular student.
    7. Donations to University-controlled funds are tax deductible as charitable contributions, including those from parents, relatives, and participants.
    8. Gifts will not be returned because an individual cancels out of the trip. The gift was given to the trip, not the individual. This message must be clearly conveyed to the donors.
    9. If the group falls short of the fundraising goal, it is permissible to charge a specific and equal amount to each participant at the conclusion of the trip (regardless of the funds generated by an individual’s efforts). This amount would not be tax-deductible.  If, however, the sponsor creates a new goal that equals the deficit, and asks (but does not require) each participant to work toward that goal, those donations would be tax-deductible.

Trip Fundraising Process

  1.  Fundraising is an option on the Trip form within the UNW Travel App.

  2. Trip leader to create an appeal card for their trip.  Appeal card sample: https://unweagles.sharepoint.com/:i:/s/ERT/travel/EcoUkLdybf1Ao67nmVr9TzwBaSJ53i--uDUoEu_-TYvTjw?e=E1cITM
    1. Card needs to be approved by the Gift Processing Manager to ensure they are:
      1. Payment card industry (PCI) compliant
      2. Family educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliant
      3. Required information for entry into Banner. (Sample available)

  3. Trip leader to create the labels for the appeal cards. Labels need to be approved by the Gift Processing Manager.
    1. All trips will have Campaign, Solicitation, Designation, Gift Class and the student ID (encoded for FERPA) so we can track giving by appeal.
    2. If funds are non-deductible we will be using a CN (College Non-Tax) gift type.
      1. It would be nice to have Dymo label for people to use maybe for Mary Hawley 

  4. Trip Leader creates a fundraising letter template for either: 
    1. Department Trip Fund - Letters should explain that donors are supporting the trip as a whole and not lead them to believe they are funding one particular individual.
    2. An individual participant's trip cost – Letters should explain the non-deductibility of the gifts.Â