OIST Graduate University
Policies, Rules and Procedures
Authority: Approved by the President

Chapter 7 Fundraising
7.1
PolicyThroughout history, private support for universities has been essential to their growth
and academic excellence. Even today, contributions and donations to colleges anduniversities from individuals, the private sector, nonprofit foundations, and otherentities are critical to strengthening their physical and intellectual foundations. Suchsupport augments existing education and research programs and is indispensable for
new ventures in science and technology and for other advancement. Recognizing this,gifts to, and fundraising for, the University is encouraged.
Fundraising at the University involves solicitation of contributions, donations, andgifts as well as bequests, and devises, together referred to as “gifts”. Fundraising also
may proceed through University events (ticket sales) and sales of items bearing
University marks and logo.
All fundraising activity at the University must be supervised, coordinated, and directedby and through the Fundraising office in the Office of the President [Link: 2.4.1]. It is
the Fundraising office that, in consultation with the President, prioritizes fundraising
initiatives to meet the University’s objectives. These priorities are the main focus of theFundraising office’s efforts.
The President will maintain a prioritized list of donors who are approved forsolicitation. All solicitations and negotiations regarding gifts require the express priorapproval of the President.
Gifts in support of research are reviewed in coordination with the office of the
President to assure appropriate disposition and treatment.
7.2 General Considerations
7.2.1 Often donors are interested in whether a tax deduction is available for a gift
to the University. To ensure that a tax deduction is available, the University willadvise as appropriate donors from the United States to make gifts through the OISTFoundation in New York, and corporate donors from Japan to make gifts throughthe Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private School of Japan [Nihon
Shiritsu Gakkou Shinkou Kyousai Jigyoudan].
7.2.2 Restricted Gifts, those made for a defined purpose or for an area of research
specified by the donor, deserve special attention and in some cases may involve
negotiation to ensure that these gifts are aligned with OIST’s mission and1

ch07_fundraising_20240401_en_clinstitutional interests.
7.2.3 Gifts that involve associated costs for the University to pay (e.g., the donor
pays building construction costs but the University must pay for building
maintenance and repairs) are acceptable but require close review.
7.2.4 Gifts vs Grants. A grant, which may be provided by governments, the private
sector, or a private individual donor, is not a “gift” because the grantor effectively
determines how the money is to be used, requires audits of expenditure, places timeand other constraints on the research, requires periodic reports, and may obtain acommercial interest in the results of the research, among other things. Additionally,
grants (including private grants made by individuals) may be subject to an indirect
costs (overhead) assessment, whereas gifts will not be subject to that imposition.
Grants should be administered by the Grants Section (in the office of the Dean of
Research) rather than the Fundraising office. Thus it is very important to distinguishbetween a gift and a grant.
7.2.4.1 Gifts. In general, donated funds are gifts when the following
characteristics exist:- the donor intends to make a charitable contribution;- the donor does not impose contractual requirements; and- the funds are given irrevocably.
7.2.4.2 Private grants. In general, provision of funds are grants when any of thefollowing characteristics exist:- there is provision for audits by or on behalf of the person providing the money;- the person providing the money is entitled to receive some consideration suchas a detailed technical report of research results or a report of expenditures;- the research is directed to satisfying specific requirements as directed by the
person providing the money (e.g., a precisely stated scope of work to beaccomplished within a specific period of time, instead of a statement
supporting a general area of research);- a specified period for performance is prescribed, or termination is at thediscretion of the person providing the money;- funds that are unexpended at end of period are to be returned to the person
providing the money;- patent or licensing rights are requested by the person providing the money.
7.2.5 Gifts involving “matching funds” are permissible.
7.2.5.1 Care must be exercised to determine whether such a gift might actuallyconstitute a joint research collaboration, which should be referred to the office of
the President.
7.2.6 “In Kind” donations (items rather than money) to support a researchcollaboration are subject to different rules and should be referred to the office of the2

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President for review.
7.2.7 Special attention must be paid to the nature of the agreement when a gift isgiven by a commercial company. No direct profit-based advantage to a commercial
entity can be part of an agreement between the University and the commercial
enterprise making a gift.
7.3 Rules
7.3.1 All fund-raising activity at the University must be supervised, coordinated,and directed by and through the Fundraising office [Link: 2.4.1].
7.3.1.1 The President maintains a prioritized list of donors who are approved forsolicitation and this list must be consulted each time fundraising occurs.
7.3.1.2 No solicitation or negotiation regarding a gift can be made without the
President’s explicit approval.
7.3.1.3 Gifts supporting specified research or specified aspects of research must
be reviewed in collaboration with the office of the President.
7.3.2 No direct profit-based advantage, implied commercial return or otherbenefit may result in favor of a commercial entity seeking to donate funds or othergifts to the University. (Chapter 22)
7.3.2.1 Donations of specialized/unique research or other equipment which may
require servicing and maintenance by the donor’s commercial enterprise requirejustification prior to acceptance.
7.3.3 Gifts which may involve donor use of the University names and marks must
be coordinated with the office of the Vice President for Public Relations &Communication. (Chapter 16 [Link: 16])
7.3.4

Fundraising proposals must satisfy the following criteria:

7.3.4.1

The funds raised will support a key mission or objective of the University;

7.3.4.2 The fundraising arrangement will not breach any other contract held by
the University;
7.3.4.3 There is a connection between the University and the recipient of any
solicitations;7.3.4.4 Recipients of the invitations or solicitations have not been the subject ofrecent or repeated solicitations from the University; and3

ch07_fundraising_20240401_en_cl7.3.4.5 The number of similar promotional events over the last 12 months has
not been so excessive as to give the University an appearance of undue
commercialism.
7.3.5 Fundraising proposals based on sales of items to the public and use of the
University’s name, marks, or logos [Link: 15] must demonstrate the following:
7.3.5.1 The commercial entity selected to provide the items has a very highreputation for quality and service in its industry;
7.3.5.2 The commercial entity selected to provide the items to be sold has values
and operational practices that are consistent with the University’s;
7.3.5.3

The product to be offered is of high quality; and7.3.5.4 The price proposed by the entity selected to provide the items iscompetitive within the relevant market.
7.3.6 All gifts to support research, whether ultimately characterized as a gift toadvance education or research, or as a private grant [Link: 7.2.4], is subject to theresearch review requirements established by the office of the President.
7.3.7 All fundraising is subject to the policies, rules, and procedures that apply to
all University Funds.
7.3.8 An acknowledgment of the offer of a gift must be promptly sent to the donor,
indicating that the gift offer has been received in the Fundraising office and the dateof that receipt. An acknowledgement of receipt of a gift offer is not the same as an
acceptance of that gift.
7.3.9 Once a gift has been formally accepted by the University, an acceptance letter
must be promptly sent to the donor indicating the date of acceptance (not necessarily
the same as the date of receipt or the date of the acknowledgement). Acceptanceletters must state the nature of the gift and the amount (if cash) or a description of
the gift sufficient to link it to the donor.
7.3.9.1 Gifts that are conditional are not considered “accepted” unless the
University agrees to all the conditions and then notifies the donor of acceptanceof the gift and its conditions.
7.3.10 Announcement of gifts may only be made by the Office of The President[Link: 2.4.1].
7.3.11 Processing and official receipting of gifts are handled exclusively by theFundraising office, in coordination with the office of the Vice President for Financial
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ch07_fundraising_20240401_en_clManagement [Link: 2.4.5].
7.3.12 Students should not be solicited for funds; their involvement in fundraising
activities is limited to providing time and effort (and enthusiasm) only. Any
exceptions to this constraint must be approved by the President [Link: 2.4.1] and theDean of the Graduate School [Link: 2.4.5.1]
7.4 Responsibilities
7.4.1 The President must be involved in the process of reviewing gifts and gift
proposals in conformance with the requirements set out in 7.2 and 7.3 of this
Chapter.
7.4.2 The President should actively participate in raising funds from the private
sector by identifying and developing relationships with potential donors asrequested by the Fundraising office.
7.4.3 Faculty may assist in fundraising activities by identifying potential donors
to the Fundraising office. Faculty must request the assistance from and workthrough the Fundraising office in the event they identify or come upon potential
donors/donations.
7.4.4 Individual faculty should refrain from negotiating with donors in theabsence of first identifying the donor to the Fundraising office. This avoids a) the
potential embarrassment of more than one faculty member pursuing a donor
simultaneously and b) solicitation in the absence of full knowledge and a soundsolicitation plan.
7.5
Gift Acceptance
7.5.1 The acceptance of gifts shall be pursuant to the OIST Gift Acceptance Policy
and OIST Naming Gift Guidelines.
7.5.2 A Donation Review Committee is responsible for reviewing proposals for
donations as specified in the Gift Acceptance Policy and recommend to the President
whether to accept the proposed donations.
7.6 Donation-funded Course, Research Unit, and Chair
To establish a course, research unit, or chair by donation defined in 7.9.8, Rules ofDonation-funded Course, Research Unit, and Chair shall be referred. [Link]
7.7
Forms
For regular donation: Donation Request FormFor Donation-funded Course, Research Unit, and Chair: Gift Intention Form; Proposalof Donation-funded Course, Research Unit, and Chair.

5ch07_fundraising_20240401_en_cl7.8 Contacts
7.8.1 Policy Owner: The President
7.8.2 Other Contacts: Fundraising office
7.9 Definitions
7.9.1 Bequest: The transfer of property (except real estate) under the terms of a
Last Will and Testament.
7.9.2 Contribution: A sum of money voluntarily provided in response to a requestor campaign seeking funds.
7.9.3 Deferred Gift: A gift divided into a present interest and a future interest,
usually by means of annuity, where the donor irrevocably gives one interest (such as
annuity payments to the University for a span of years starting at a future date) but
personally retains the remaining interest.
7.9.4 Designated Gifts (or Designated Funds): Gifts of money for a purpose that is
only loosely described by the donor. Typically, a designated gift merely specifies aparticular recipient, but the use of the money is not prescribed, e.g., JPY 3 m given
as “shogakukifukin Fund (donation type)”, $5,000 donated for use by the University
Child Care Center, $500,000 donated to support the Library, or $75,000 donated to
the general endowment. The relevant decision-makers and budget managers thus
have some discretion to decide how designated gifts are expended. Compare“restricted gifts”.
7.9.4.1 Shogakukifukin (donation type): a fund which is donated to support
education and research activities of the specific research unit without requiringsubmission of a report on usage, etc. to the donor. See “Instruction Regarding
Shogakukifukin Fund (donation type).”7.9.5 Devise: The transfer of real estate under the terms of a Last Will andTestament.
7.9.6 Donation: Money or other tangibles voluntarily given to a charity, church,
nonprofit educational institution or other nonprofit entity or foundation.
7.9.7 Donation Fund: A pool of donation designated for a specified program or
project.
7.9.8 Donation-funded Course, Research Unit, and Chair:- Donation-funded Course: A course and an educational program establishedor supported by a donation fund from individuals, corporations and otherorganizations.

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ch07_fundraising_20240401_en_cl--Donation-funded Research Unit: Research Unit and other research projects
equivalent to Research Unit established or supported by a donation fund fromindividuals, corporations and other organizations.
Donation-funded Chair: Faculty position established or supported by adonation fund from individuals, corporations and other organizations. This
includes Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor or equivalentfaculty positions.

7.9.9 Gift: A thing (or things, including money) voluntarily transferred by one
person to another person or to an entity, without remuneration by or any other formof consideration from the person or entity to whom the transfer was made.
7.9.10 Grant
7.9.10.1 Research Grant
Money given to individuals (and sometimes to groups) to explore various fields ofstudy, most often in response to a proposal seeking funding for a specific area of
research. Grants cover the cost of research plus provide the researcher(s) withincome. Governments, private sector entities, and individuals all fund researchthrough grants. A grant is not a “gift” because the grantor effectively determines
how the money is to be used, requires audits of expenditure, places time and otherconstraints on the research, and requires periodic reports, among other things.
Applicant should seek for an approval by the Dean of Research through the Grants
Section before applying for research grant.
The Grants Section or the Business Development Section will assist the applicant
in financial report, activity report, audit and other required activities by grantor.
Overheads from research grant shall be as stipulated in the PRP 27.5.3.
7.9.10.2 Non-Research Grant
Non-Research Grant is important external funds to promote the University’s
operation. Non-Research Grant is money given to individuals (and sometimes togroups) to response to a proposal seeking funding for a specific administrative
work. Applicant should seek for an approval by the Vice President of applicant’s
division. Applicant should report the details of the application and screening
result to the Grants Section at the earliest possible. Applying division shall conduct
financial reporting, activity reporting, audit and other required activities by
grantor on division’s responsibility. Overheads from non-research grant shall be
as stipulated in the PRP 27.5.3. However, in the case that rules for overheads is
not specified by grantor, all received amount can be used for the purposes of the
grant.
7.9.11 Restricted Gifts (or Restricted Funds): Donated money specificallydesignated as to both purpose and recipient by the donor, e.g., $200,000 to fundsummer research student stipends in chemical engineering, $5,000 to purchase a
specific item for evolutionary biology research, or $50,000 to the office of the Deanof the Graduate School to be used to recruit geology students who also play the tuba.
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The relevant decision-makers and budget managers have very little or no discretion
regarding the use of restricted gifts. Compare “designated gifts”.
7.9.12 Donation Review Committee
The OIST internal committee established to review proposals for donations andrecommend to the President whether to accept the proposed donations.

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