Appendix I: Donations Procedures

FBCE August 2022

Background

On occasion, a DFPS employee becomes involved with donations from community members. These donations fall into two categories: monetary and non-monetary (in-kind). The issue for DFPS is the stewardship of those donations.

Monetary Donations

There are two types of monetary donations:

Non-appropriated funds are funds received directly by DFPS that were not appropriated by the Legislature, such as checks made payable to DFPS or cash given directly to DFPS. DFPS does not have legislative authority to set up or have local bank accounts in DFPS’s name, outside the state Treasury. Any funds made payable to DFPS must be deposited into the state Treasury and are not available for use by DFPS unless the Legislature authorizes use of those funds. Non-appropriated funds may not be placed in regional children’s income accounts.
Collaborative funds are funds raised by an external entity in collaboration with DFPS; or donations accepted by DFPS on behalf of any collaborative entity. DFPS is considered only a temporary steward in the acceptance and transfer of such funds.

Note: If the donor does not direct the donation to a specific client or project, leaving this determination up to DFPS employees, those funds must be received as non-appropriated funds.

Non-Monetary (In-Kind) Donations

In-kind donations are any non-monetary items donated to DFPS, its programs, or its clients, such as artwork, furniture, clothing, houseplants, and so on. Employees are encouraged to connect such items directly to a specific client in need. When a match is not possible or the donor requests that the donation stay within the agency, DFPS must account for and reconcile these donations.

Policy

Handling Monetary Donations

In most cases, an FBCE employee is responsible for handling and reconciling monetary donations. When that is not possible, a regional director must assess his or her operations to determine the potential risk of misappropriation and assign the following:

One employee who will be primarily responsible for receiving donations.
One employee responsible for reconciling the donations.

These designated employees must be trained on the donation policy and have written instructions on how to handle the donations. Other DFPS employees should avoid handling donated funds.

When DFPS knows in advance that funds will be received, the agency encourages external entities to establish bank accounts and post office boxes to receive the donations. DFPS or a DFPS employee cannot be a co-signer or any part of the community partners’ bank account. A donor should be asked to donate directly to the entity and should make checks payable to the entity (not to DFPS or an individual). A donor can mail the funds to the entity’s post office box or street address.

If it is not possible to follow this procedure because of lack of advance notice, or because non-appropriated or collaborative funds are received directly by DFPS as cash, through the mail, or in the field, the procedures below must be followed.

A DFPS employee assigned to handle donated funds must adhere to prudent funds-handling procedures. The procedures below may be modified if necessary, but an employee must adhere to the basic elements to ensure proper control and accountability.

Procedure 1: Maintaining Receipt Books

An employee who receives monetary donations (referred to as the “receiving designee”) must maintain pre-numbered receipt books that have carbon copies. Numbered receipt books are available through the State Office Accounting Division.

When a monetary donation is received, the receiving designee must write a receipt. The carbon copy of the receipt should be given to the donor.

Separate receipt books should be maintained for the following:

Funds transmitted to external entities.
Funds donated directly to DFPS, which are sent to the State Office Accounting Division for deposit in the state Treasury.

Receipt books must be kept for three years after the last receipt date by the employee who received the monetary donation.

Procedure 2: Securing Donations

Offices must maintain a secure location (for example, a lock box or lockable file cabinet) for the donations until they can be transmitted to the proper entity.

After creating the receipt, the receiving designee should place the donation in the secure location.

The transfer of the funds to an external entity should be made to someone officially designated to accept them on behalf of the entity. Collected funds should be transferred frequently, at least once a week. No more than $3,000 should be kept on hand at one time.

Procedure 3: Maintaining a Receipt Log

The receiving designee must maintain Form 0263 Monetary Donations Receipt Log, which tracks the donation from receipt to final disposition (see Sample A).

After the donation is secured, all necessary information should be recorded on the receipt log. See Sample A: Monetary Donations Receipt Log.

Occasionally, an entity will only receive a portion of a donation. This leaves a remaining balance. When this remaining balance is transferred over to a different entity, it must be logged accordingly. The receiving designee must do the following:

Note the receipt number of the original transaction.
Record the name of the entity to which the funds have been donated.
Record the fund type to be transferred (usually cash).
Fill in only the Amount Transferred column. Do not place the amount of the original donation in the log – this will cause the balance to be off.
Include the sign-off name and date.

See example highlighted in Sample A: Monetary Donations Receipt Log.

Procedure 4: Reconciling the Log and Receipt Book

The second designee (referred to as the “reconciling designee”) must review and reconcile the log and receipt book monthly. The reconciling designee should do the following:

Compare the receipt book to the funds receipt log. All receipt numbers unaccounted for in the log must be noted and investigated.
Ensure that the ending balance noted on the log matches the amount of funds on hand in the secured location.
Once reconciled, sign off on the log.

Procedure 5: Documenting Transmittals

After the log and receipt books are reconciled, Form 0264 Entity Transmittal Letter must be sent, by the employee who received the donation, to each entity that received a donation. Participants follow this process:

The receiving designee must create a letter for each entity that received funds during the given time period (month).
The reconciling designee should sign off on the letter after confirming that the items transmitted match those in the monthly receipt log.
DFPS must maintain a copy of each letter for three years.

Procedure 6: Reporting the Reconciliation

The reconciling designee sends Form 0265 Memorandum of Reconciliation to the regional director monthly. Participants follow this process:

The designee responsible for the reconciliation must notify the regional director, in writing, that the reconciliation has been completed.
The results of the reconciliation must state that everything is accounted for, or give a detailed listing of what is missing, plus the outcome of the investigation of any missing items.
DFPS must maintain a copy of the memo for three years.

Handling Non-Monetary (In-Kind) Donations

In most cases, FBCE employees are responsible for handling non-monetary donations. When that is not possible, a regional director must assess his or her operations to determine the potential risk of misappropriation of in-kind donations. One employee must be assigned to be primarily responsible for receiving donations.

In most regions, the FBCE employee is the appropriate responsible party. The designated employee must be trained on donations policy and be provided with written instructions on how to handle the donations.

A DFPS employee is encouraged to connect in-kind donations directly to clients. However, this is not always possible. For example, a donor might request that the item be donated to a DFPS program or office, or no client currently needs the items. In these cases, an employee must use the procedures below.

In-Kind Donations Log

Employees must maintain a log that tracks the donation from receipt to final disposition. The regional director or designee should review the log on a regular basis. See the Sample B: In-Kind Donations Log, below.

The log must include the following information:

The date the item was donated.
The donor’s name.
The name of the DFPS employee who received the donation.
A description of the item.
Where the item was sent or the name of the recipient, or how the item is being used.
The name of the DFPS employee who signed out the donation and the date that the donation was signed out.

Bulk Donations

If one donor gives multiple items that are distributed at different times, the designated donations employee must maintain a running log. The person who signs out the partial pick-up must also “re-log” the remaining items. See the XYZ, Inc. example in Sample B: In-Kind Donations Log, below.

Thank-You Letter for Non-Monetary Donations

The FBCE employee sends Form 0300 In-Kind Donation Thank You to the donor acknowledging receipt of the contribution. An employee may not include any reference to the value of the item. The donor is responsible for determining the value. The form letter should be used only for non-monetary donations.

Sample A: Monetary Donations Receipt Log – Form 0263

Beginning Balance: $0

Receipt #	Date	Donor Name	Purpose/Entity to Receive	Type	Amount Donated	Received By (employee name)	Amount Transferred	Entity Transmittal Sign-Off (Name/Date)	Amount Remaining
12345	5/2/08	ABC Corp.	XYZ Entity	Check	$100	Kathy Wall	$50	Paul Miller 5/8/08	$50
12345			JKL Entity	Cash			$50	Sarah Hill 5/30/08	$0
12346	5/13/08	Car Wash Receipts	XYZ Entity	Cash	$150.25	Kathy Wall	$150.25	Paul Miller 5/21/08	$0
12347				Gift card	$50	Kathy Wall	$0		$50

Remaining balance: $50

Reconciled by: John Smith Date: 5/31/08

Sample B: In-Kind Donations Log

Date	Donor Name	Received By	Item Description	Item Location / How Used	Item Sign-Out Name and Date
1-1-08	ABC Corp.	John Smith	10 X 12 painting	Placed in meeting room 550E	Jane Doe 1-8-08
1-2-08	XYZ, Inc.	Sarah Neal	50 sleeping bags	Distributed 30 sleeping bags to clients in Region XX	Mike Pine 1-12-08
1-12-08	XYZ, Inc.	Mike Pine	20 sleeping bags

Reconciled by: RD designee 2/10/08

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