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FAQ: How the Foundation is accountable to the public
Who manages the Foundation?
The UI Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors that elects its officers and appoints its staff. The President of the Foundation reports to this board, which can number as many as 30 elected members, including the UI President, who serves as an ex officio member. The current chair of the UIF Board of Directors is Chuck Kierscht of Hinsdale, Illinois.
How does the Foundation report on its business practices?
As a separately incorporated foundation, the UI Foundation exists under Iowa corporate law and meets the law's requirements, including making a significant amount of information available to the public, such as the IRS Form 990 (annual tax return report with substantial information on revenues and expenses), audit report, and our Annual Report on Giving that provides calendar year fund-raising performance. The Foundation's General Policy on Information Sharing details the various materials made available to the public upon request
The UI Foundation is administered by a Board of Directors comprised of leading UI friends and alumni who volunteer their time to oversee the Foundation's activities and programs. Our staff are pledged to uphold the highest ethical standards, and we endorse and follow all policies and practices described in the Donor Bill of Rights, which was developed by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, and the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. The purpose of the policy is to "assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support."
What does the Foundation do with contributions?
We direct your gifts exactly as you specify. Expenditures of these gift funds are made by UI administrators, faculty, and staff, according to strict guidelines for the use of the money as specified by the donor. Donors often allow the University to direct their gifts where they're needed most. These are called "unrestricted" or "undesignated" gifts. The University typically uses unrestricted funds to help provide scholarships; recruit outstanding faculty; facilitate student and faculty research; help defray the costs of traveling to national conferences to present research, to museums for research activities, and to competitions and exhibitions for arts students; and support important University initiatives for which other funding is not available.
Additional information is also available:
- You may see how donors directed their gifts to various UI colleges and other programs for the most recent reporting year (not all UI units are listed).
- A breakdown of how gift funds were allocated among current operations and capital purposes within the University during the most recent fiscal year (according to data provided to the Council for Aid to Education) also is available.
For additional statistics and other annual highlights, please visit the Statistics and Rankings section of this site.
How does the Foundation ensure that donor intent is followed?
If the UI is to survive and thrive in the years ahead, private support is essential. At the UI Foundation, our job is to do everything we can to maximize that support, now and into the future -- which means that earning and keeping our donors' trust is among our very highest priorities.
The majority of contributions received by the UI Foundation annually (more than 100,000 in recent years) are cash gifts made in response to annual mailings and telefund campaigns. In those cases, checks or credit card authorizations usually are accompanied by a contribution card that has been filled out by the donor, indicating to us that the gift is to be directed to a specific account within the Foundation (usually a "gift fund" for a particular college, department, or program).
When a contributor wishes to make a more complex gift (such as those involving real estate, a variety of non-cash assets, or through a bequest or trust), he or she often contacts the Foundation well in advance -- a critically important step -- so we can work more closely with the donor and his or her financial advisor. In these cases, a "Statement of Gift Intent" is developed to assure that all involved -- the donor and his/her family and advisors, the UI Foundation, and often the UI unit(s) that will benefit from the donor's gift -- are in agreement about the nature and designation of the contribution.
In the situations noted above, UI Foundation staff are guided by administrative procedures developed to reflect the highest standards of integrity and accountability. (Read more about other steps we take to assure your gifts reach their destination and are handled in the ways you intend, including our Donor Intent Policy.)
How does the UI Foundation protect donor privacy?
Your right to privacy is very important to us. We recognize that providing the UI Foundation with personal information is an act of trust.
To supplement the donor-privacy protection provided by Iowa law, the UI Foundation has have created an online privacy policy to protect your personal information. This policy covers Web site(s) owned or operated by The University of Iowa Foundation. We encourage you to take the time to read this privacy policy and those of any Web site you visit.
What does the Foundation's IRS Form 990 contain?
As is true of all I.R.C. Sec. 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, the UI Foundation is required by federal law to file an annual income tax return -- IRS Form 990 -- and to make that report available to the public upon request. Our Form 990 contains detailed data such as:
- The UI Foundation's revenues and changes in net assets or fund balances for the year
- A detailed statement of our yearly operational expenses
- A description of our major program accomplishments for the year (in our case, the amount of private funding we provide to The University of Iowa)
- Detailed balance sheets for the current and previous fiscal year
- Information about our audited financial statements (reconciliation of revenue and expenses per return)
- An analysis of income-producing activities and the relationship of those activities to our exempt purpose (that is, raising funds to benefit the UI)
Printed copies of may be obtained by calling the Foundation or visiting the Foundation's offices at the Levitt Center for University Advancement, One West Park Road, Iowa City, Iowa.
How does the Foundation communicate with its donors?
In communicating with our constituents -- including alumni, friends, contributors, UI faculty and staff, and other interested individuals and organizations throughout Iowa and across the country -- the UI Foundation seeks to keep our key audiences informed about the following:
- Important UI fund-raising news, such as recent noteworthy gifts, relevant tax law changes, campaign progress, and volunteer assignments
- How private support impacts the lives of UI students, faculty, and staff; for example, through stories about individual scholarship recipients, newly appointed faculty chairs, or new campus facilities
- Profiles of individual donors and how giving to the UI enables them to achieve their personal financial and philanthropic goals
- UI Foundation news, including the latest productivity figures, awards and honors, staffing changes, etc.
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