To establish a new account in the Foundation, a minimum $5,000 contribution is required. Lower amounts may be considered at the Foundation's discretion. Paperwork for the new account must be processed through and approved by the VP for University Advancement Office.

The minimum endowment level is $25,000 on the Athens Campus or $15,000 on a Regional Campus.

Private and public money cannot be commingled. Therefore, transfers cannot occur between Foundation and University accounts in general. You may, however, move expenses between Foundation and Ohio University accounts if they were processed to the wrong account. This is done by preparing an Accounting Correction/Journal Entry form (Excel). Policy requires the correction to be done within 60 days of the posting of the expense to FMS. More information regarding transferring to a Foundation account [PDF] is available.

If you are correcting an expense, an Accounting Correction/Journal Entry form (Excel) would be used. If you are charging a Foundation account for goods or services that were provided, a billing authorization form would be used.

When funding a student organization with Ohio University Foundation funds you must still account for this using a University Student Organization account. Use Transfer Object code 640300 to move funding. For more details about Student Org Funding review the Student Org Quick Reference Guide.

• However, if you are correcting an expense, an Accounting Correction/Journal Entry form (Excel) would be used. If you are charging a Foundation account for goods or services that were provided, a billing authorization form would be used.

Money can never be spent out of the endowed side of an account unless the donor has provided for an exception in the guidelines of the account.

Spending account balances can be obtained by querying the account in GL Funds Available Dashboard in OBI. To query on spending account balance enter the 42XXXX or 43XXXX source value for that account in the source field. To query on all spending account balances for your area, enter the appropriate planning unit or department organization value(s), then enter 420000 in the source value field on the left and 439999 in the source value field on the right. 

A Foundation account cannot end the fiscal year with a negative balance. Please use an accounting correction form to transfer expense to a different allowable account. Policy requires the correction to be done within 60 days of the posting of the expense.

Guidelines for a Foundation account can be obtained by clicking on the blue Source value within GL Funds Available in OBI.

All fundraisers must be approved annually before the event is promoted publicly. Approval is obtained through submission of a Fund Raising Clearance Form (Word).

No. The Foundation exists for the purpose of raising and administering philanthropic funds on behalf of the University. Departmental merchandise sales are not philanthropic transactions and may not occur through the Foundation. Only charitable contributions (i.e. donations) may be deposited into Foundation gift accounts. Non-charitable income (e.g. merchandise sales, event registration fees, etc.) may not be deposited into a Foundation gift account. Accounting standards require that the Foundation record revenue based on the existence or absence of donor-imposed restrictions. Buyers of merchandise are not donors, so revenue from these transactions is not a gift and may not be deposited into a Foundation gift account. Commingling merchandise sales with restricted gifts creates financial reporting errors that may lead to audit findings.