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Gift Agreements

The following information is intended to be used by employees of the university in accordance with University of Oregon Gift Processing Guidelines. 

Letter of Intent

The letter of intent is completed by a Development Officer when a donor wishes to give to an already established expendable or endowment fund. The letter of intent must include a payment schedule with the final payment made within 5 years; the payment schedule may be a single date. The Foundation will fill in the exact purpose language from the fund so the donor is certain the purpose of the fund matches their intentions. 

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Requests for a letter of intent may be submitted electronically via Laserfiche Forms. If you have questions or need credentials and training for Laserfiche Forms, please send an email to giftagreements@uofoundation.org or call 541-302-0300.

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Please review the special circumstances (below) and check the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the electronic submission form. Approved language will be added by the Foundation.

Endowment Gift Agreement

When a donor establishes an endowment fund, the gift is restricted from current spending; the monies are invested and spending is from Board-authorized endowment distributions. All gifts to an endowment are considered endowed unless the donor specifically designates an amount to be immediately available for spending. An endowment can only be established when a donor plans to give $100,000, either immediately or within five years. Certain exceptions are made for memorial or faculty/staff gifts. 

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If the gift asset will be anything other than cash, please make a note on the draft document and further information/instructions will be provided by the Foundation. All gift assets other than cash must be pre-approved for acceptance by the Foundation. 

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Requests for an Endowment Gift Agreement may be submitted electronically via Laserfiche Forms. If you have questions or need credentials and training for Laserfiche Forms, please send an email to giftagreements@uofoundaiton.org or call 541-302-0300.

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Please review the special circumstances (below) and check the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the electronic submission form. Approved language will be added by the Foundation.

Expendable Gift Agreement

When a donor establishes an expendable fund, the gift is immediately available for current spending. An expendable fund can only be established when a donor plans to give $10,000, either immediately or within five years. Certain exceptions are made for memorial or faculty/staff gifts. 

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If the gift asset will be anything other than cash, please make a note on the draft document and further information will be provided by the Foundation. All gift assets other than cash must be pre-approved for acceptance by the Foundation. 

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Requests for an Expendable Gift Agreement may be submitted electronically via Laserfiche Forms. If you have questions or need credentials and training for Laserfiche Forms, please send an email to giftagreements@uofoundation.org or call 541-302-0300.

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Please review the special circumstances (below) and check the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the electronic submission form. Approved language will be added by the Foundation.

New Fund Request

Typically, a department, program, or school establishes a new fund when there is no general expendable fund. An expendable fund "for use at the discretion of the head of the department" may be established at any time with or without donor monies in hand. â€‹

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A department, program, or school may also want to establish a quasi fund related to an existing equity. A quasi fund separates off a portion of the expendable monies to be invested. This is appropriate when an expendable fund has a large balance and the planned spending is over a long enough period to justify market risk. A new quasi fund requires pre-approval from the Foundation for investment. 

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A department, program, or school may also want to establish an interim fund. An interim fund is established when there is a fundraising plan to raise enough funds to create and endowment within the next five years. All donors must be notified that the goal is to establish an endowment and that if sufficient monies are not realized, the gifts will be immediately spendable. 

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Requests for a new fund may be submitted electronically via Laserfiche Forms via the Department Initiated Fund Request (DIFR). If you would like access to the DIFR process, please submit a Systems Access Request form for review and approval. If you are in need of training on this process, please email uogiftagreements@uoregon.edu or call 541-346-2113. For all other questions, please email giftservicesdept@uofoundation.org or call 541-302-0300.

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Please review the special circumstances (below) and check the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the electronic submission form. Approved language will be added by the Foundation.

Memorial Gifts

Memorial gifts may be made in memory of a person who has recently passed away (within one year of establishing the memorial). Donor Relations works with the family member (or imitator of the gift) and the department to identify a designation for the monies. Memorial gifts may be ultimately designated as any fund type; a new endowment fund may be established at a minimum level of $25,000 and a new expendable fund at $10,000. Minimum levels must be reached within one year of the initial gift, otherwise monies must be designated to an already established fund. When memorial gifts establish a new fund, the initiator of the gift is the donor for purposes of completing an Endowment or Expendable Gift Agreement. ​

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Requests to initiate a memorial gift may be submitted electronically via Laserfiche Forms. If you have any questions, please send an email to giftagreements@uofoundation.org or call 541-302-0300.

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Please review the special circumstances (below) and check the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the electronic submission form. Approved language will be added by the Foundation.

Special Circumstances

Certain approved language must be added to address the following circumstances. Please be certain to make a note on the draft agreement when any of the following apply.

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  • The donor wishes any level of anonymity.

  • The donor wishes to prepay the gift fee. 

  • A letter of intent voids or amends a previous agreement. 

  • Funding is "blended", a combination of lifetime and estate giving. 

  • Includes a portion to be paid by a third party or company match. 

  • A donor wishes to specify different fund names or purposes at different funding levels.

  • Naming recognition. 

  • The gift is to a construction project that is not yet underway. 

  • The fund is being established based on a revocable deferred intention. 

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