Why set up a new fund?

Funds are established by purpose in accordance with the donor’s intentions. When a gift for a restricted purpose is received and there is no fund already in existence that matches the restrictions, a new fund shall be established.

A department may also want to set up a separate fund to track an individual gift, or group of gifts. This is also allowed as long as all gifts are for the same purpose.

How to establish a new fund:

The fund may be set up as soon as the form of payment by the donor is received. The UCI Foundation accounting office should be notified to request that a new fund be established. This notification may be sent via e-mail to Gay White or by sending a written request via campus mail. The following information is required in order to establish a new fund:

• Desired Name of the fund (*note: the Foundation does not allow a fund to be named for a specific faculty member; ie. John Doe Research Fund. The Fund name may reference the area of research).
• School/Department/Unit information
• Indicate type of fund, ie. Endowment or non-endowment.
• Purpose and restrictions of fund; you may indicate a specific researchers name in this field as follows: "the purpose of this fund is to perform research in the department of XXX. This research is currently being conducted by John Doe." This protects the University if the faculty member were to leave the University.
• Authorized signers; two signers are required on every fund. One should be either the Dean/Director/ Chair/or Vice Chancellor of the department. Development personnel should be authorized for signature on Development/Fundraising funds only.
• Send statements to: indicate name, address and phone number. Only one statement per fund will be sent.

The Foundation will establish the fund by creating a Custodial and Signature Authorization Form. The form will be sent to the department to obtain the signatures of the two authorized signers on the fund. The form shall then be returned to the Foundation accounting office to be kept permanently, or, until the fund is closed.