Gift Fees FAQ

A. The fee on restricted-purpose gifts is our cost of being accountable to you and our other donors. This accountability includes our commitment to provide timely gift receipts, accurate records, expert management of gift funds, and efficient disbursement of gift funds to programs at the College. Unrestricted gifts made to the College for the area of greatest need are not assessed a gift fee.

A. Each donation to the Foundation is assessed a one-time administrative fee equal to 7% (as of 7/1/2017) of donations to endowed funds and capital projects and 7% (as of 7/1/2017) of donations to current use funds.

A. The gift fee allows the LCC Foundation to reduce its reliance on direct funding for its operations from Lane Community College, thus freeing College funds for education. Gift fee revenue is directly related to the LCC Foundation's cost of doing business. Effective fund-raising requires deployment of financial resources to cover direct costs of soliciting, processing, and accounting for donated funds. As gifts to benefit Lane Community College increase, the costs of gift receipting, accounting, investment and disbursement increase.

A. Foundation operations are funded through a combination of revenue from earnings on short-term funds, endowment management fees, real estate/property management income, unrestricted gifts, gift fees, and direct support from the College.

A. A gift fee of 7% is not uncommon at university foundations throughout the country.

We are a relatively young College foundation with a comparatively small endowment and thus endowment management fees only partially cover our costs of doing business. However, even older foundations with much larger endowments frequently charge gift fees.

A. The difference is primarily one of terminology. All community organizations have operating costs. In general, revenue from contributions helps in part to support them—whether or not a formal gift "fee" is identified. United Way, for example, typically charge fees of 15% or more.

In the non-profit sector, best practice standards hold that operating costs in the range of 15-20% are considered to be excellent, assuring that approximately $.80 of every dollar contributed goes to providing direct services. By comparison, $.93 (as of 7/1/2017) of each dollar you give to the LCC Foundation gets put to work by the College for the specific purpose you choose to support.

A. The LCC Foundation's funding sources are recommended by our Finance & Investment Committee and approved by our Board of Directors. The Finance & Investment Committee reviews the gift fee on an annual basis. In order to assure budgetary and financial stability, it is changed only rarely.

A. If a gift is made by a private foundation that has a written policy stating it will not pay gift fees, the LCC Foundation will waive the fee.

A. Like the vast majority of other foundations, the LCC Foundation charges an annual fee to manage endowed funds that are invested in perpetuity. Because we want to maximize our endowment's growth over time, we keep this annual management fee to a minimum, currently 2% of the market value of the endowment.