The Florida Senate

240.2605  Trust Fund for Major Gifts.--

(1)  There is established a Trust Fund for Major Gifts. The purpose of the trust fund is to enable the Board of Regents Foundation, each university, and New College to provide donors with an incentive in the form of matching grants for donations for the establishment of permanent endowments, which must be invested, with the proceeds of the investment used to support libraries and instruction and research programs, as defined by procedure of the Board of Regents. All funds appropriated for the challenge grants, new donors, major gifts, or eminent scholars program must be deposited into the trust fund and invested pursuant to s. 18.125 until the Board of Regents allocates the funds to universities to match private donations. Notwithstanding s. 216.301 and pursuant to s. 216.351, any undisbursed balance remaining in the trust fund and interest income accruing to the portion of the trust fund which is not matched and distributed to universities must remain in the trust fund and be used to increase the total funds available for challenge grants. The Board of Regents may authorize any university to encumber the state matching portion of a challenge grant from funds available under s. 240.272.

(2)  The Board of Regents shall specify the process for submission, documentation, and approval of requests for matching funds, accountability for endowments and proceeds of endowments, allocations to universities, restrictions on the use of the proceeds from endowments, and criteria used in determining the value of donations.

(3)(a)  The Board of Regents shall allocate the amount appropriated to the trust fund to the Board of Regents Foundation, each university, and New College based on the amount of the donation and the restrictions applied to the donation.

(b)  Donations for a specific purpose must be matched in the following manner:

1.  The Board of Regents Foundation and each university that raises at least $100,000 but no more than $599,999 from a private source must receive a matching grant equal to 50 percent of the private contribution.

2.  The Board of Regents Foundation and each university that raises a contribution of at least $600,000 but no more than $1 million from a private source must receive a matching grant equal to 70 percent of the private contribution.

3.  The Board of Regents Foundation and each university that raises a contribution in excess of $1 million but no more than $1.5 million from a private source must receive a matching grant equal to 75 percent of the private contribution.

4.  The Board of Regents Foundation and each university that raises a contribution in excess of $1.5 million but no more than $2 million from a private source must receive a matching grant equal to 80 percent of the private contribution.

5.  The Board of Regents Foundation and each university that raises a contribution in excess of $2 million from a private source must receive a matching grant equal to 100 percent of the private contribution.

(c)  The Board of Regents shall encumber state matching funds for any pledged contributions, pro rata, based on the requirements for state matching funds as specified for the particular challenge grant and the amount of the private donations actually received by the university or Board of Regents Foundation for the respective challenge grant.

(4)  Matching funds may be provided for contributions encumbered or pledged under the Florida Endowment Trust Fund for Eminent Scholars Act prior to July 1, 1994, and for donations or pledges of any amount equal to or in excess of the prescribed minimums which are pledged for the purpose of this section.

(5)(a)  The Board of Regents Foundation, each university foundation, and New College Foundation shall establish a challenge grant account for each challenge grant as a depository for private contributions and state matching funds to be administered on behalf of the Board of Regents, the university, or New College. State matching funds must be transferred to a university foundation or New College Foundation upon notification that the university or New College has received and deposited the amount specified in this section in a foundation challenge grant account.

(b)  The foundation serving a university and New College Foundation each has the responsibility for the maintenance and investment of its challenge grant account and for the administration of the program on behalf of the university or New College, pursuant to procedures specified by the Board of Regents. Each foundation shall include in its annual report to the Board of Regents information concerning collection and investment of matching gifts and donations and investment of the account.

(c)  A donation of at least $600,000 and associated state matching funds may be used to designate an Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair pursuant to procedures specified by the Board of Regents.

(6)  The donations, state matching funds, or proceeds from endowments established under this section may not be expended for the construction, renovation, or maintenance of facilities or for the support of intercollegiate athletics.

(7)  The Board of Regents Foundation may participate in the same manner as a university foundation with regard to the provisions of this section.

¹(8)  Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, for the 1999-2000 fiscal year only, for gifts received during this period, the university presidents shall provide a list of donations from private donors for challenge grants, new donations, major gifts, and the eminent scholars program to be matched for the 1999-2000 fiscal year to the Board of Regents. The listing shall contain an explanation of the donation, a statement of the specific benefits accrued to the university as a result of the donation, and how the donation is consistent with the mission of the institution, as defined by the Board of Regents in the 1998-2003 Strategic Plan. University presidents shall rank each private donation to their university, giving highest priority to private donations that provide additional library resources to universities; donations that provide student assistance through scholarships, fellowships, or assistantships; donations that provide funding for existing academic programs at universities; and donations that meet the matching requirement without encumbering pledges. The Board of Regents, using the same criteria, shall develop a systemwide priority list and may set restrictions on the annual amount of matching funds provided for single donations that exceed $5 million.

History.--s. 10, ch. 85-196; s. 14, ch. 86-145; ss. 14, 22, ch. 89-367; s. 36, ch. 89-381; s. 12, ch. 90-302; ss. 6, 16, ch. 90-365; s. 35, ch. 94-230; s. 13, ch. 98-65; s. 8, ch. 99-13; s. 47, ch. 99-228.

¹Note.--Section 47, ch. 99-228, added subsection (8) "[i]n order to implement Specific Appropriations 8E, 193A, and 195 of the 1999-2000 General Appropriations Act."