Gift Accounting may accept certain honorarium payments for gift credit. In order for an honorarium to qualify for gift credit, the payments must be for independent services that the employee provided and that are not associated with any contractual obligation. If the payment is to satisfy a contractual agreement, the honorarium does not qualify for gift credit. In order to insure the honorarium qualifies for gift credit and to provide documentation for audit purposes, we require that all honorarium payments for deposit as gifts include the UGA Employee Request for Gift Credit in Lieu of Honorarium Payment form, completed and signed by the employee requesting gift credit.
The preferred procedure for accepting honorarium payments as gifts to the Foundation is for the payment to be made to the donor (the employee performing the service), who in turn endorses the check to the Foundation. Gift credit is given as indicated on the form and a corresponding gift receipt is sent. As an alternative, the donor may prefer that the check be made payable directly to the Foundation. The aforementioned form is also required with this method of giving.
The recipient of the honorarium should keep in mind that, regardless of how the check is made payable, the organization that received the service is required by the Internal Revenue Service to report the payment by issuing a 1099 Miscellaneous Income Form.