GUIDELINES FOR DIFFERENTIATING SPONSORED PROJECTS AND GIFTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

April 5, 2002

This document provides information to assist in determining when external funds to be received by the University of Notre Dame should be handled as sponsored projects or as gifts. The terms grants, contracts, and gifts are sometimes used interchangeably, so the intended use of the funds and the terms and conditions of the sponsor are critical in determining whether they should be accounted for as sponsored projects or gifts. The information provided is intended to help define Notre Dame’s legal obligations and liabilities, and it is relevant for all personnel who manage such funds.

Sponsored Projects

Generally, whenever Notre Dame agrees (orally or in writing) to provide any goods or services using university facilities or the official time and services of Notre Dame faculty and/or staff, the funds received are to be treated as sponsored project awards to Notre Dame. These awards could be in the form of grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or a variety of other research agreements. Sponsored projects occur when Notre Dame or an employee of Notre Dame submits a bid, offer, proposal, or the like or responds (orally or in writing) to a request, announcement, call for proposals, or the like that results in the issuance of an award involving Notre Dame and another party. All proposals for externally sponsored project support, regardless of funding source, must be processed through the Office of Research. Likewise, all awards for externally sponsored project support must be processed by the Office of Research, then forwarded to Research and Sponsored Programs Accounting. The presence of any one of the following factors generally distinguishes the resulting funds from a gift and classifies the award as a sponsored project:

1. The proposed work binds the University to a specific line of scholarly activity which requires a statement of work or an orderly testing of specific hypotheses, methodology, or validation of particular approaches. This includes awards to individual faculty, centers, and departments.2. A deliverable for which the University is responsible. This may be a technical report of scientific progress, a curricular offering, a training program, or a specific service.3. A specific commitment is made regarding the level of personnel effort, items of output (e.g., publication of papers or reports), or achievement of specific performance targets as a condition of funding. The sponsor defines a period of performance during which the funds shall be used.4. A budget for expenditures by activity, function, or project period is required as a condition of funding.5. A fiscal report, technical or other activity report, or external audit is required during the course of the work or at the end of the project period.6. Unexpended funds must be returned to the sponsor at the end of the project period.

7. The proposed agreement with the sponsor provides for the disposition of tangible property (e.g., equipment, records, technical reports, theses or dissertations) or intangible property (e.g., rights in data, copyrights, inventions) that may result from the activity.

Gifts

All gifts to Notre Dame are administered by the Development Office. The presence of any one of the following factors generally distinguishes the resulting funds from a sponsored project and classifies the award as a gift.

1. The gift is from a private individual, corporation, or foundation, and no sponsored project deliverables are specified or expected.2. The gift is from a non-governmental source and is for facility enhancement (“bricks and mortar”) or for the University’s endowment.3. The donor specifically intends the contribution to be a charitable gift with no sponsored project deliverables specified or expected.4. When no deliverables are specified, the conditions or stipulations placed on the intended use of the gift must be reasonable. The sponsor may direct the funds to areas such as scholarships, facility enhancement, or general research support and may request a summary of how the funds were utilized.5. The donor intends the gift to be irrevocable and, therefore, relinquishes the right to reclaim the gift or any unused portion thereof.

6. The donor makes the gift to the University without expectation of economic benefit or other tangible benefit commensurate with the worth of the gift.

NOTE: Regardless of whether funds are classified as sponsored projects or gifts, approval(s) must be obtained from the appropriate compliance committee(s) if any of the funds are to be used to support activities encompassing human subjects, animal care and use, radiological hazards, or biohazards. The approval(s) should be obtained prior to submission of the proposal, but must be obtained prior to the expenditure of any funds in support of such activities, per federal regulations.

Date last revised Apr 2002