Taking the mystery out of gifts and endowments

Gift & Endowment ImageNow system available now

Nearly 6500 files have been scanned and moved to a new system that can be accessed and searched electronically, providing unprecedented access for schools and units into their own gift and endowment accounts.

In the past, when departments or units had questions about restrictions relating to an endowment or a gift, they’d have to ask Wanda Breeden in investment accounting for help. Then Wanda would get her keys and head down to the Carruthers Hall basement (the “dungeon”) to research the question.

“SFS was only one of many units that called inquiring about gift and endowment accounts. We’d call and ask her for clarification of the endowment’s requirements or the donor’s intent, and she’d have to search the paper files to find the pertinent information. Some files could be several inches thick,” explained Lisa Shuler of Student Financial Services (SFS).

Breeden would dutifully pull the gift agreement, determine the donor’s intent and any restrictions on the gift, and then report back.

And although Breeden didn’t mind helping schools and units vet their agreements for compliance, the trips to the filing cabinets in the “dungeon” were definitely not the best use of her time or the time of the person inquiring.

“There can be lots of restrictions in gifts, and departments don’t always know how to use them,” Breeden said.

“There was a real need to provide better insight into these records.”

The new system, brought into being as a joint project between Financial Reporting & Operations and University Advancement, will definitely provide clarity into gift and endowment requirements.

Instead of drawers full of meticulous paper files, everything is now online and easy to access. Schools and units will have the ability to look at their own documents only. Each file contains gift agreements, the checks that created them, and all related documentation.

Custom designed in cooperation with Enterprise Applications, the Gift and Endowment system is housed in ImageNow. It features searchable fields by Advance ID, entity name (project short name), start date, project number, award number, and more; in short, there are many useful options for viewers to find what they’re looking for.

Allison Holt, Controller for the School of Medicine, says the Gift and Endowment system supports the School of Medicine’s objective to increase use of restricted funds when appropriate.

“The system lets finance users who are accountable for the accurate spending of the funds to directly research and interpret donor intent,” she said.
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For instructions on accessing the system and additional information, including a downloadable user guide, click here and scroll down to “Gift & Endowment ImageNow."