955.1 Guideline: Employee Involvement in Charitable Fundraising

I. Purpose of Guidelines

The combined charitable fund raising campaign of the Richfield Public Schools is designed to achieve the following goals.

A. To support programs and activities benefiting students in the Richfield Public Schools, funded by the Richfield Public Schools Dedicated Fund (RPS Fund) and the Spartan Foundation; 

B. To better serve the needs of human health and welfare in the District, the State of Minnesota, and across the country;

C.   To provide employees of the District with a convenient mechanism for giving;

D. To minimize disruptions in the workplace caused by uncoordinated, inharmonious or redundant contribution campaigns; and

E. To ensure that contributions are used responsively.

II. Guidelines for Participation as Federated Fundraiser

In order to achieve the goals outlined in Section I, the District will conduct one federated charitable giving campaign annually.

A. In conjunction with the annual campaign, employees will be provided with an opportunity to contribute to the RPS Fund and / or the Spartan Foundation via payroll deduction.  The request must be submitted to the Business Office on a form supplied by the organization designated to receive the donation.  

B.  The District will designate one federated funding organization to conduct the human health and welfare component of the annual charitable giving Campaign.  In order to qualify to conduct this component of the Campaign, the Organization must satisfy all of the following criteria:

1. It must be governed either by a local, independent, voluntary board of directors, or by a national board of directors that has a local advisory board, 90 percent of the members of which live or work within the District or surrounding counties;

2. More than half of the agencies represented by the Organization receiving funds from the Campaign must:

a. provide a significant portion of their services within the District or surrounding counties; and

b. maintain a staffed facility or office dedicated exclusively to the Agency, available to members of the public seeking the Agency's services, and open at least 20 hours per week;

3. It must have an ongoing relationship with the Agencies that involves a review and monitoring process to ensure financial, managerial, and programmatic responsibility;

4. The Organization must receive donations from at least 5% of the total number of donating employees in the District in the first year, and from 10% in each subsequent year;

5. The Organization must have qualified in the previous years as a "registered combined charitable organization" in accordance with Minnesota Statutes §309.501 et. seg; and

6. The organization must operate a 24-hour information and referral service accessible to the general public.

B. In addition, both the Organization and each of the Agencies must:

1. Provide direct health and human welfare services which:

a. directly benefit children, youth, adults, the aged the ill or infirm, or the mentally or physically handicapped;

b. consist of care, non-monetary assistance, or education in the field of health, social adjustment, or rehabilitation;  disaster or emergency relief; or support for the poor, hungry, or homeless; and

c. are not primarily directed towards:

(1) political or legal advocacy, other than legal representation on behalf of the poor, children, or vulnerable adults;

(2) religious activities;

(3) the preservation of wildlife or natural resources; or

(4) the support of institutions of post-secondary education.

Note:  An organization that provides one or more of the services listed in c. (1-4) will not be disqualified from consideration if its provision of these services is incidental to its provision of direct health and welfare services, and is not the primary focus of the organization.

2. Be a private, nonprofit, philanthropic organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code of 1986, as amended or be a political subdivision of the State of Minnesota to which contributions are deductible under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.

3. If no organization satisfies all of these criteria, or if more than one organization satisfies all of the criteria, the District will select the single organization meeting the greatest number of criteria to the greatest extent, provided that the organization selected is willing to receive and redistribute donations intended for another Federated Fundraising Agency and/or other nonprofit health and human services organizations which fall outside the umbrella of the Federated Fundraising Agency selected by the district. 

Dated: 12-3-96

Reviewed:

Revised: 11-6-06