Donation Exemption Statement   

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Section 1. Reception of donation

All donations must be received via the Dollars To Scholars website. No donations may be accepted in cash for the sake of proper certification and clear record.

 

Section 2. Usage of Donation

All donations must be used to progress the organization’s goals as outlined in Article 1 of the bylaws as well as directly or indirectly serve to educate, outlined by the IRS as “the instruction and training of the individual for the purpose of improving or developing his or her capabilities” or “the instruction of the public on subjects useful to the individual and beneficial to the community.” To these ends, donations may also serve to indemnify any members of the organization who have monetarily contributed to the organization only for the purpose of the organization. For example, a member of the film committee may be indemnified for a lens they purchased to shoot a video but not a camera they already own and use for other purposes. All applicable indemnifications are subject to Article 10 of the bylaws.

 

Section 3. Receipt of Donation

All persons who donate to Dollars To Scholars via the website will receive an email confirming their donation and the exact amount for purposes of tax deduction. This email shall include the donor’s name and email, the date of donation, its method, an ID, and confirmation of the receipt and its tax-exempt purpose. The email also must include the name of the organization, its logo, the EIN of the nonprofit, and the statement “No goods or services were provided in exchange for this donation.”

 

Section 4. Processing and Tracking of Donations

Once a donation is received via the software of the website and funneled into the organization’s bank account, its record shall be recorded in a google sheet accessed only by those with access to the organization’s email account. This spreadsheet shall track every aspect of the donation that will go in the receipt, as outlined in Section 3 of this statement. The spreadsheet may also track anything related to the donation not included in the email. The ID of the donation will be managed through this spreadsheet. It will likely be sequential, but can be created through another algorithm as needed. This spreadsheet will be downloaded every month and stored through a cloud drive or a hard drive to ensure the data of the donor’s gift is not lost and to thus ensure the gift is registered as tax exempt. In accordance with IRS regulations, these records must be kept for a minimum of three years.

 

Section 5. Donation Interface

As described, all donations must be handled through the website. There should be a “Donation” tab at the top of the site along other navigation buttons, which will take the user to a separate page. That page must remind the donator that their donation is voluntary and tax-exempt. The page must also be easy to use, understand, and reliable. To facilitate this, pre-set amounts should be accessible as buttons on the page, along with a custom amount input.