Financial Services
Prizes, Awards, and Gifts
For procedural guidance and prior authorization please submit forms to Financial Services prior to announcing or presenting prizes, awards, and gifts. Completed form can be submitted to Financialservices@uwosh.edu. Once approved please include the approved form with the request for payment or attach to receipts of payment. Definition of prizes, awards, and gifts are listed below. We recommend that you read the entire UW-System policy for Prize, Awards, and Gifts.
Prizes
Prizes may be awarded only in situations where benefits are expected to accrue to the University. Examples include door prizes to persons attending athletic events and prizes awarded as incentives to encourage responses to customer questionnaires and other types of surveys. The anticipated benefits of awarding a prize must be documented, and the decision to award prizes must be approved in writing by the chancellor or their designee. In addition:
- No GPR may be used for prizes.
- The amount or value of the prize should be based upon the minimum amount reasonably required to achieve the objective of the promotion and should not exceed $200.
- No prize may be awarded to a UW System employee, except in situations where the individual’s employment is incidental to the basis on which the prize is awarded. For example, a UW System employee would be eligible to win a door prize awarded at random to those in attendance at an athletic event. If a cash prize is made to a UW System employee, the payment will be made through payroll.
- If an individual pays for the chance to win a prize, State raffle laws apply. Raffles must be licensed by the State Gaming Commission and conducted in accordance with Chapter 563, Wisconsin Statutes. Institutions may not award any prizes based upon rules of chance that would violate State gaming laws.
- Revenue-generating activities may award prizes funded from their own proceeds to encourage student participation. With the exception of vending proceeds, receipts generated from one activity should not be used to award prizes for an unrelated activity.
- In some cases, private, non-UW entities may award prizes directly to persons attending athletic events or other functions sponsored by the University. Prizes awarded directly by such entities may be beyond the $200 limitation established above as well as the “minimum amount reasonably required to meet the objective of the promotion.” However, in the award of such prizes, the institution should ensure that, both in substance and in public perception, the prize is clearly being awarded by the non-UW entity and not by the institution.
Gift Cards/ Small Cash Payments
Financial Services has been receiving requests for the reimbursement of gift cards and small cash payments for various events including surveys, incentives, and prizes,etc.
Gift cards are considered the same as cash and cash payments are a reportable item to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A gift card or small cash payment is only allowed in certain circumstances using specific types of funding and is not to be given away as a gift or award. General Purpose Revenue (GPR) funds from 102,104, and 402 cannot be used under any circumstances.
The IRS requires that we collect the name, permanent home address, and social security number of the individual receiving the gift card/cash. In addition, we highly recommend that the individual sign a form indicating the dollar amount received.
NOTE: Any gift card/cash in any denomination is reportable to the IRS. It does not matter if participant fees were paid or not. (e.g., if you give survey participant $5 each for filling out a survey, it is reportable and all of the individual information listed above is required to document the payments and meet IRS reporting requirements.)
Awards
Recognition or something of value conveyed as a result of competition, merit or in recognition of service to the institution on the part of the recipient.
- No cash awards are permitted
- GPR may be used only for awards such as certificates and plaques that have no intrinsic value of for the items of minimal value that bears the University’s logo.
- Awards to employees should not exceed $100 in cost; special cases must be approved by the Chancellor.
Gift
A voluntary conveyance of something of value as a gesture of goodwill or appreciation.
- No cash gifts are permitted (Gift cards are considered the same as cash)
- No GPR may be used for gifts
- Normally, all gifts should be items of minimal value that bears the University’s logo.
- Gifts can not be given to employees
- Approval and Documentation for Prizes, Awards, and Gifts