Gift funds

Overview

All expenses related to university business that are funded by the UWL Alumni & Friends Foundation (“UWL Foundation”) should now be processed through the university financial system (Workday). This includes expenses like alcohol, meals over hosted meal rates, and other expenses related to social or recreational events.

These expenses should be charged to 233 accounts, which have an exception to go into a deficit temporarily and will be invoiced by UWL Business Services to the UWL Foundation on a monthly basis.

The Foundation will review the monthly invoices sent by Business Services and will issue a payment to the university to reimburse the 233 accounts for all donor-aligned and adequately funded expenses.

A UWL Foundation employee serves as the Gift Manager in Workday for all university 233 accounts. This employee reviews expenses for alignment with donor intent, as well as available funding on the Foundation side, before approving expenses.

Relationship Between University and Foundation Accounts

There should generally be a one-to-one relationship between a department’s Foundation accounts and its university 233 accounts. If there is a Foundation account that does not have a corresponding 233 account, please contact the Foundation. The Foundation will work with Business Services to get a corresponding 233 account set up where expenses will be charged. Note: Foundation Scholarship funds will generally not have a departmental 233 account.

Spend Authorizations & Expenses

Spend Authorizations & Expenses

Foundation expenses that are processed through the expenses module in Workday, such as purchasing card purchases and expense reimbursements, will require a spend authorization in Workday that will provide pre-approval for these types of expenses. The spend authorizations will be routed to a UWL Foundation and department spend authorization reviewer, which will typically be the department head, to review for alignment with donor intent and fund availability before the expenses are incurred. If a spend authorization or expense report is submitted with incomplete information, it will be sent back to the original requester.

Both the spend authorization and expense report are required and should be linked together using the “Create New Expense Report from Spend Authorization” feature in Workday. Failing to do so will result in spend authorizations that are not spent down and expense reports that are not tied to their corresponding spend authorizations.

The Foundation will typically review and approve spend authorizations on a weekly basis. For urgent needs, contact the Foundation directly to communicate the need.

Expenses that normally require special forms, such as the Food Expense Approval form and Prizes, Awards, & Gifts form, still need these even if using Foundation funds. A copy of the form should be attached to the transaction in Workday.

Reporting Foundation Expenses using an Expense Report

Employees may use “Foundation" expense items in expense reports for expenses intended to be charged directly to Foundation funding. These items should be used for expenses that are against university policy. The Foundation expense items are:

Alcohol (Foundation)

Meals-Hosted/Event Food and Drink Overage (Foundation)

Non-Travel (Foundation)

Other Business Meal/Event Expense (Foundation)

Travel (Foundation)

These expense items generate receivables (unlike other expense items, which post expenses to the general ledger in Workday). The Foundation will review these receivables based on invoices received and reimburse the UWL for approved costs.

Salary & Fringe Expenses

Salary and fringe expenses have different workflows and approvals than non-payroll expenses. For new hires, position changes, and period activity pay, the Cost Center Accounting Specialist will enter the funding information for the staffing event in the Assign Costing Allocation step. If a 233 Gift account is entered for the costing allocation, the transaction will route to the Foundation Gift Manager for review and approval.

Purchase Requisitions & Orders

Purchase Requisition & Purchase Orders

Purchases to be made via purchase order should follow the typical purchase requisition and purchase order process in Workday but should include the 233 funding information for the purchase order lines that are to be charged to Foundation funding. The requisition will then get routed to the appropriate UWL Foundation staff member to review and approve the 233 lines, if aligned with donor intent. Expenses that are against University policy, but able to be purchased directly by the Foundation (i.e., alcohol) should use the spend category SC00075-Foundation Reimbursable Expenses. If a purchase requisition is submitted with incomplete information, it will be sent back to the original requester.

Meals Over Hosted Meal Rates

As of July 1, 2025, UWSA Policy 435 was updated to indicate that food expenses that exceed the allowable per-person limits may be charged to a 233. If food expenses that exceed the allowable hosted meal are charged to a 233, they do not need to be broken out separately on an expense report.

FAQ

What if Foundation funding for expenses charged is insufficient?

If expenses are charged to a Foundation account that does not have sufficient funds to cover the expenses, the department will need to discuss with their divisional leadership and/or the Foundation finance leadership to determine if there is another funding source that can cover the expenses.

If there isn’t a funding source that can cover the expenses, the employee who incurred the expenses may be held liable.

What happens if expenses aren't aligned with donor intent?

If expenses are incurred by an employee before getting pre-approval through a spend authorization and they are not allowable by Foundation policy, the employee who incurred the expenses will be held liable.

How do I enter a transfer?

Accounting Adjustments and Payroll Accounting Adjustments made in Workday to transfer expenses already incurred into a 233 account will be routed to both the Gift Manager and Cost Center Manager for approval.

How are funds moved from the foundation to my 233 account?

Business Services will invoice the Foundation for all expenses and receivables posted to 233 accounts on a monthly basis. The Foundation will issue payment to UWL to fund the expenses and receivables posted to the 233 accounts.

In some cases, a department may need to complete transfers before an account is ready to be invoiced. For example, a department has an endowed faculty position, but the College needs to cover part of the fringe expenses related to the position. For these cases, the department should contact the Grant Accountant to have the account for this endowed faculty position added to their invoice confirmation list before the Foundation is invoiced for that account. On a monthly basis, the Grant Accountant will then contact the department to confirm if the account is ready to be invoiced before invoicing for that account.

Resources

UW Resources

The following job aids have been developed to assist with Foundation expense processes:

How to create spend authorizations