Sustainability Fee FAQs
What is a sustainability fee?
A sustainability fee is a one-time fee assessed on all new gifts to the SCC Foundation that are earmarked for a specific program. The fee ensures that there are sufficient financial resources to 1) effectively process and manage all gifts to the SCC Foundation, 2) support donor stewardship efforts that promote donor retention, and 3) support donor cultivation efforts that bring new donors to the college, the SCC Foundation applies a “sustainability” fee to most restricted gifts, i.e., gifts earmarked for a specific scholarship or program purpose.
How much is the fee?
The fee for restricted gifts is 5 percent of the total gift amount.
How does this fee help Santiago Canyon College?
Public support for community colleges in California has not kept up with inflation. As a direct result, Santiago Canyon College (SCC) looks increasingly to private companies and individuals for support, so that it can maintain its high standards of academic excellence, and develop innovative new programs that meet business demand for trained workers. The events, marketing and fundraising necessary to raise public awareness of and financial resources for SCC cost money to carry out. However, the overwhelming majority of donations to the SCC Foundation is earmarked for specific programs like the Hawk’s Nest Food Pantry or Veteran Service Office (VSO). This leaves relatively little funding available to launch new initiatives needed to expand fundraising capacity, find new donors, or foster stronger relationships with existing donors. Without these efforts, over time donor support will stagnate or decline. The sustainability fee supports and expands the college’s capacity to host events, create and manage fundraising programs and conduct marketing efforts that introduce new donors to the college or deepen the relationships existing donors have with our college.
How is the sustainability fee applied?
Upon receipt of a gift, the Foundation will deduct a one-time fee of 5 percent from the total amount. While the fee will have only a minor impact on the program to which the gift is directed, the collective impact of this fee will be to foster a stronger fundraising and donor outreach program that will expand support.
Is the sustainability fee subtracted from my charitable tax deduction?
No, 100 percent of your contribution is tax deductible, unless you receive something in exchange for your gift (e.g., a raffle ticket, auction item, golf registration, etc.).
Do other colleges and universities assess this fee?
Most universities and colleges, or their auxiliary foundations if they are public institutions, apply a similar or in some cases even higher fee. The fee goes by various names, including administrative fee, advancement fee, gift fee, etc.
Is this fee assessed on all one-time gifts?
No, the fee applies only to gifts that are earmarked for a specific purpose, such as a college program. Gifts made to the President’s Circle, Hawk’s (Greatest Needs) Fund or fundraising events are not assessed a fee. The fee is also not currently assessed on one-time scholarships from third-party donors or on donations to annual named scholarship funds.
What about gift pledges?
The sustainability fee is applied to all pledge payments in the same way it would be applied to any one-time gift. The 5 percent fee is assessed as each payment is made.
Is the fee assessed on recurring gifts (credit card, payroll deduction, etc.)?
Yes. The sustainability fee is applied to all automatically recurring gifts to restricted funds, except as stipulated above.
What about gifts of appreciated assets, like stocks, mutual fund, real estate, etc.?
Currently the gift fee policy does not apply to gifts of appreciated assets like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, REITs, real estate, etc.
Is the fee assessed on gifts to an endowment?
Yes, the sustainability fee applies to gifts and pledge payments to establish or add to an endowment. It does not affect donor recognition or naming opportunities, and donors will receive full credit for the total contributed amount.
The minimum gift to establish an endowment is $15,000. How does the fee affect this?
Endowment minimums are based on the donor’s total gift, not the net amount invested after the sustainability fee is applied.
What about matching gifts?
Yes. The sustainability fee is applied to matching gifts.
Does the sustainability fee apply to planned gifts (from wills or trusts)?
Yes, the 5 percent fee will be assessed on all gifts conveyed by cash or check.
What about in-kind, non-cash donations?
If an in-kind or non-cash donation is sold and the proceeds are earmarked for the benefit of a program at Santiago Canyon College, the 5 percent fee will be applied to gross proceeds from the sale.
Does the fee apply to family or corporate foundation grants?
Family and corporate foundations have differing policies related to the assessment of fees to cover indirect costs associated with applying for grants to their organization. If such fees are not specifically prohibit in the grant agreement, the 5 percent sustainability fee will be applied. If a condition of the grant is that no indirect or administrative fees be applied, that condition will be honored.
Can a donor cover the fee directly?
Yes, a donor may choose to cover some or all of the 5 percent fee to ensure that more of the contribution is directed to the SCC program area the gift is designed to support.