Gift Definitions

Gift Definitions

Charitable Gift - A gift is an irrevocable transfer of personal property (e.g., cash, securities, books, equipment) or real property by a donor, either outright or through a planned/deferred gift vehicle (e.g., charitable gift annuity, retained life estate, charitable remainder trust, life insurance, will bequest). Charitable purposes are designated by the donor and without expectation of a tangible or economic benefit to the donor except tax benefits and life income in the case of planned/deferred gifts. A gift to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College implies no responsibility to provide the donor with a product, service, technical or scientific report(s), or intellectual property rights. Providing stewardship services to the donor (such as the names of recipients of scholarships, awards, appointing the donor to membership on advisory committees, etc.) or providing a proposed budget or summary of how the funds were expended does not prevent the contribution from being considered a gift. The donor may specify the use of the funds or the gift may be unrestricted for use in meeting needs identified by Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the ABAC Foundation*.

Current Gifts - Current gifts are gifts made in the current year that can be utilized immediately. They are commonly referred to as “outright gifts” or “immediate gifts”. Current gifts may be designated to help fund opportunities for today and can be assigned to benefit a specific area of interest to you, including student or faculty focused priorities at ABAC.

Deferred Gifts - Deferred gifts are often called “planned gifts” because they are integrally connected to financial and/or estate plans. They range in size from smaller bequests to multi-million dollar trusts. They are called deferred gifts because even though they are given today, the benefits by ABAC will not be realized until sometime in the future.

Designated Gifts - A donor may choose to designate a gift to any college objective at ABAC. A gift may be designated for schools or general support.

Programmatic Objectives - Examples of programmatic objectives are student enrichment and scholarships, faculty and staff support, and capital improvements. Programmatic gift solicitations greater than $500 should be coordinated with the Office of College Advancement.

Non-Programmatic Objectives - Examples of non-programmatic objectives include faculty travel and student conferences. For all non-programmatic gift solicitations, please coordinate with the Office of College Advancement.

Endowed Fund - An endowed fund is one in which the original principal is never invaded and the gift exists in perpetuity. Endowments are generally funded within five years of the initial contribution. Income is distributed annually pursuant to spending policies adopted by the ABAC Foundation. No income will be distributed until the endowment is fully funded.

There is no limit for donating gifts to already-existing endowments, but the ABAC Foundation has minimum requirements for establishing new endowments. Each endowment will be supported by an accompanying fund agreement which explains the gift’s purpose and use.

Non-Endowed Funds - Non-endowed funds consist of funds of which both principal and income may be expended, but only for purposes specified in the fund agreements.

Non-Endowed “In-and-Out” Funds - These funds are designed to handle gifts of relatively small amounts made for a specific purpose, to be disbursed on a one-time basis. These are generally expected to be expended within twelve months of the fund’s establishment, as set forth in the fund agreement. These earn no return from investments and no fees are assessed.