Gift Acceptance Policy (Arts-Specific: Cash, Securities, Art & In-Kind)
A board-adopted gift acceptance policy tailored to arts organizations, covering cash, securities, gifts of art and artifacts, in-kind production goods, and reputationally sensitive gifts.
Draft: pending review
This starter document is signed off by Arts nonprofit counsel (gift acceptance/tax substantiation) + CFRE before it ships. The guardrails below define that review.
What’s inside
- Acceptable/review-required/prohibited gift types (cash, securities, real property, crypto, art, in-kind services)
- Gifts-of-art protocol: curatorial review, provenance/title verification, and whether the museum can care for it
- Independent-qualified-appraisal guidance (the institution does not appraise donor gifts)
- Reputational due-diligence and gift-refusal/return standards
Legal & ethical guardrails
The sector-specific compliance points this document must honor.
- For gifts of art over IRS thresholds, the donor obtains a qualified appraisal and files Form 8283; disposal within three years requires Form 8282 — do not opine on valuation
- Accepting a gift of art commits the institution to provenance, title, patrimony, and long-term care obligations — verify title first
- Adopt reputational-source screening and a documented right to refuse or return gifts (post-Sackler standard)
- Restricted/conditional gifts must be captured in writing and moved into a formal restricted-fund agreement
Held for professional review.
The native DOCX and full working text ship only after sign-off by Arts nonprofit counsel (gift acceptance/tax substantiation) + CFRE on this exact version. The summary and review requirements remain visible in the meantime.
Not legal advice. Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. The Fundraising Co. provides educational fundraising materials and is not a law firm; nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship or substitutes for advice from professionals licensed in your jurisdiction. Laws and IRS rules vary by state and change over time. Review every document with qualified counsel before use.