A monetary gift may be given to the Library District or to the Pound Ridge Library Foundation. This policy has been written to provide a procedure in those instances when a gift is given directly to the District, or when, in the opinion of the Library Director and the District Board, a gift through the Foundation is not practical or possible.
As the statute creating the Pound Ridge Library District prohibits Library Trustees from soliciting gifts, the members of the Library District Board will assist in educating the public about the existence of the Foundation and about its work. It is the intention of the Pound Ridge Library District to encourage donors of gifts to the District to consider making their gift through the Pound Ridge Library Foundation, as the Foundation was formed as the fundraising arm for the Library District.
When a gift of money is received by the Pound Ridge Library District, the Library Director will determine the wishes of the donor, if any, regarding the use of the funds. The Library Director will also inform the donor that information about his or her gift will be shared with the Library Foundation unless the donor wishes to remain anonymous. The Library Director will immediately deposit the funds into the District’s appropriate account and will inform the District Board and the Library Foundation of the receipt of the gift. In the sharing of this information, the Library Director will be guided by this policy (see paragraph below) and by general concerns regarding confidentiality of gifts.
The Library Director will promptly write a letter of thanks to the donor, being sure to include appropriate language from the Internal Revenue Code regarding the tax-deductibility of the gift (see sample letter attached).
If the donor has designated a particular use for the gift, other than for general Library purposes or to support any capital campaign for the Library’s benefit, and the gift is less than $1000, the Library Director shall promptly expend the moneys as directed by the donor. At the discretion of the Library Director and the District Board, such expenditure may be postponed to a more appropriate time, given the needs of the Library at the time of the gift. However, all such designated gifts shall be spent as directed and for the benefit of the Library within a reasonable time after receipt thereof. Gifts exceeding $1000 or gifts requiring additional expenses by the Library will first be reported to the District Board for approval of expenditures.
If the donor has designated that the gift be applied to any capital campaign, then the Library Director shall deposit the gift into a designated capital fund account. A separate record of the amount of these gifts designated for capital projects, along with all donor information, shall be maintained. During any capital campaign for the benefit of the Library, all such designated monetary gifts received by the Library District shall be considered part of the total amount raised for the capital campaign and may be included as such in the Foundation’s calculations of total fundraising goals.
It is essential that everyone involved in the receipt of gifts or the raising of money for the benefit of the Library be made aware of all gifts to the Library, whether received by the District through the Library Director or by the Library Foundation. The Library Director and the District Library Board will inform the Foundation, as soon as possible, about all gifts to the District, including any giving history of the donor, the donor’s name and contact information, and the amount of the gift and its requested use, if any. This information will be shared with the President of the Foundation and the fundraising chair only and will be used by the Foundation only as needed. In the same way, the Foundation Board will report, as soon as possible, to the Library Director and President of the District Board on the receipt of gifts to its accounts, including amounts and identification of donors, any designations of gifts.
For purposes of this policy, the terms “money,” funds,” monetary gifts” or “money(s)” are defined as gifts to the Library in the form of cash, checks, bonds, stocks and other such financial instruments.
Revised and approved by the Pound Ridge Library Board of Trustees, May 13, 2003
Policy approved by the Pound Ridge Library Board of Trustees, May 9, 2006
Policy approved by the Pound Ridge Library Board of Trustees, November 10, 2009
Policy approved by the Pound Ridge Library Board of Trustees, December 20, 2011