TITLE: MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY CROWDFUNDING POLICY AND PROCESS GENERAL POLICY: I. Introduction a. The following policy applies to crowdfunding campaigns or projects undertaken by any individual associated with the MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY (e.g. staff, faculty, students or administration) using or planning to use a third-party crowdfunding or crowdsourcing vendor, portal or service provider. b. Generally, crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or campaign by soliciting relatively small donations of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. II. Policy a. Use of crowdfunding to raise funds at MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY as described in this policy and accompanying campus crowdfunding procedures is subject to all Maryville University rules, policies, compliance regulations and state and federal law. b. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY faculty, staff and students that wish to raise funds through a crowdfunding mechanism for MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY, groups, initiatives, or projects must use the campus approved and provided platform, crowdfund.maryville.edu. This compliance will ensure that the project is branded appropriately for MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY and that the donor s gifts are tax deductible under the university s tax exempt status. This will also assure that no tax liability accrues to the initiator as a result of receiving the funds personally. c. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY s name, branding and/or logo may not be used in conjunction with a fundraising campaign without prior written approval by the appropriate approving official and the Vice President for Advancement as set forth in accompanying campus crowdfunding procedures, which are incorporated herein. d. Campaigns or projects that use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources, or affiliate themselves with MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY in any capacity, must receive institutional approval from the appropriate MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY officials as set forth in the accompanying campus crowdfunding procedures. e. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY email lists may not be used without prior approval by the appropriate approving official as set forth in the accompanying campus crowdfunding procedures. Page 1 of 5
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS: Appropriate approving official: the highest-level official (or designee) in the MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY unit most closely affiliated with the project/campaign. For example, if the project seeks to crowdfund an aspect of research being conducted in the physics department, then the appropriate approving official is the department chair or designee. Crowdfunding: the practice of funding a project or campaign by soliciting relatively small donations of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. Campaign or project: any type of crowdfunding initiated by MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY staff, faculty, students or administration; including, by way of example not limitation, crowdfunding research or scholarship, crowdfunding creative work (e.g. movies, plays, music etc.), crowdfunding non-profits or social good ideas, crowdfunding entrepreneurial ideas, or crowdfunding travel. This list is not exhaustive, and this definition is intended to be construed broadly to encompass any/all crowdfunding campaigns or projects initiated by MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY staff, faculty, students or administration. Third-party crowd-funding: any crowdfunding vendor, website or service provider (e.g. Kickstarter or Indiegogo) not owned, licensed or operated by MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources: the use of MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY s branding, name or logo, MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY intellectual property, MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY IT or computing resources (e.g. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY computers and Internet networks), MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY research or laboratory resources, MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY facilities, or MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY email lists. This list is not exhaustive, and this definition is intended to be construed broadly to encompass any/all MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources used in any crowdfunding campaign/project. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY email lists: any and all email lists containing email addresses belonging to MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY students, staff, faculty, administration, donors and alumni. PROCESS DETAIL: A. MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY Crowdfunding Platform 1. Maryville University has created its own a campus-wide crowdfunding platform to service campaigns or projects that use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources. Information about this crowdfunding platform can be found at http://tbd B. Approval Process for Campaigns/Projects That Use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY Resources 1. Campaigns or projects that use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources, including MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY branding, or that claim to be on behalf of MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY, or affiliate themselves with the MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY in any capacity, must designate a project manager/campaign leader responsible for seeking the approvals set forth in these procedures and the Campus-Wide Crowdfunding Policy ( Crowdfunding Policy ). Page 2 of 5
2. Campaigns or projects that use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY s name, branding and/or logo require written approval by the appropriate approving official and the Vice President for Advancement. 3. Initial approval for a campaign or project must come from the appropriate approving official in the MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY unit most closely affiliated with the project/campaign. For example, if the project seeks to crowdfund an aspect of research being conducted in the physics department, then the appropriate approving official is the department chair or designee. 4. All campaigns and projects must also be approved by the Vice Chancellor of Advancement and by the appropriate administrator(s) or their designee(s) as follows: a. Research projects/campaigns must be approved by: Vice Chancellor for Research. i. Faculty research projects: 1. Must consult the Office of Contracts and Grants to get budget reviewed and approved. This allows the costs associated with the work (such as the use of campus facilities) to be properly evaluated and charged; 2. Must be submitted to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research or their designate for approval. ii. Graduate student research projects: 1. Must be approved by the student s advisor and the department chair. The advisor and the student are responsible for ensuring that the work proposed is in compliance with all campus policies and regulations. 2. Must also be reviewed and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School or designee. b. Student Organizations/Clubs projects/campaigns must be approved by: Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or their designate. c. Undergraduate Student Projects projects/campaigns must be approved by: Dean of the College or School in which the project is located or affiliated. d. Athletics projects/campaigns must be approved by: Athletic Director. e. Advancement projects/campaigns must be approved by: Vice Chancellor for Advancement. f. Facilities projects/campaigns must be approved by:. 5. All projects/campaigns which receive payment via credit card, either directly or through a third party service, must receive approval by the campus IT security principal particularly with respect to the security of cardholder data. All projects using crowdfund.maryville.edu meet this requirement. 6. All projects/campaigns must be approved in accordance with these procedures and the Crowdfunding Policy before they are published to, or go live on, any crowd-funding site. Project/campaign leaders are encouraged to seek approval as early as possible as it may take up to 30 days for MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY approval decisions. 7. Projects that use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources or affiliate themselves with MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY in any capacity must have a project plan associated with it. a. The project plan must include a project/campaign description, funding level sought, budget identifying the use of funds, a set of deliverables, the timeline, and responsibilities. The project plan must provide a clear overview of the budget, the location of the account from which collected donations will be spent on the project, and the manner and schedule by which, Page 3 of 5
if necessary, MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY will be reimbursed for use of any MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources. b. Initial approval shall not be provided without a project plan. c. The appropriate approving official with responsibility for initial approval will review and respond to incomplete implementation of a project plan. 8. All projects must provide clear information to potential donors as to whether the donors will receive a receipt for tax deduction purposes. Determining whether donations are tax deductible is a responsibility of the project manager and not MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY for any projects that do not use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources that are hosted on third-party platforms. For any projects that use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources, or MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY s campus-wide crowdfunding platform, determining whether donations are tax deductible must be done in consultation with the Vice Chancellor for Advancement or designee. 9. Any gifts, perks or benefits associated with projects launched or hosted on any third-party crowdfunding site are wholly the responsibility of the project manager/campaign leader and not MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY. Project managers/campaign leaders are cautioned that providing gifts or benefits in exchange for donations may alter the tax deductible status of a donation; project managers/campaign leaders should consult MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY s Office of Development with any questions regarding this issue. 10. A project that does not receive approval as set forth in these procedures and the Crowdfunding Policy may appeal the decision to the MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY Crowdfunding Advisory Committee. Required forms and procedures can be found at http://www.maryville Universityalumni.org/crowdfunding. 11. Maryville University reserves the right to discontinue an active fundraiser at any time for any reason, without notice, including, and without limitation, because of a group s eligibility status or group s failure to comply with Maryville University policies. C. Campaigns/Projects That Do Not Use MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY Resources 1. Campaigns or projects that do not use any MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY resources do not require institutional approval. All other Maryville University rules, policies, compliance regulations and state and federal law remain applicable to such campaigns or projects, including limitations on and policies concerning outside consulting. D. Cost Requirements 1. The use of the crowdfunding platform is paid for by the Division of Advancement. A standard gift acceptance fee of 5% will be applied to all gifts to the University. 2. All indirect funds raised through crowdfunding campaigns to fund research projects are required to cover the total cost of conducting that research. The method by which costs will be recovered shall be determined in concert with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. 3. Any requests for a reduction in these costs for projects shall be determined on an individual basis by the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and/or the Vice Chancellor for Advancement. 4. Required forms and procedures can be found at http://www.maryville Universityalumni.org/crowdfunding. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: For more information, see: UM System, Collected Rules and Regulations, Administration, Chapter 30.010 Overview of Development http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/collected_rules/administration/ch30/30.010_overview_of_development Page 4 of 5
UM System, Collected Rules and Regulations, Administration, Chapter 30.040 Development http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/collected_rules/administration/ch30/30.040_development UM System, Collected Rules and Regulations, Business Policy Manual, General Administration, BPM-106 Solicitation of Gifts http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/bpm/bpm100/manual_106 UM System, Collected Rules and Regulations, Cash Receipts, Deposits and Banking, CRM 302 - Deposits for Credit http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/crm/deposits_and_banking/crm302 RESPONSIBILITIES: [who should this be?] Created: June 2, 2015 Last Updated: June 28, 2017 Page 5 of 5