Scenario
We have an internal research funding program whereby a PI submits a
proposal to the "program" while also getting a commitment of support
from an extramural sponsor (usually a commercial entity) who will, if
the proposal is funded, share the costs of the research.  So, for
example, Prof. Smith submitted a proposal to this program with a budget
of $300K.  The University awards $200K to Smith for this research and
the private sponsor kicks in the other $100K.

The University receives the $100K via a research agreement as opposed to
a gift.  This research agreement, among other things, includes a
standard termination clause (any advanced funds not expended at the time
of termination after considering all commitments and uncancelable
obligations shall be returned to the sponsor) and intellectual property
clauses that only grant the sponsor limited rights to use copyrightable
works and which obligate us (to the extent we are legally able to do so)
to enter into licensing negotiations with the sponsor should any
patentable  inventions result from the work.

After we executed the research agreement and received the check for
$100K, the sponsor sent us a "receipt of a charitable contribution" form
which we're supposed to sign and return.  The form asks us to indicate
how much we received and what, if any, goods or services were provided
in return.

Question

Should we sign/is there any harm in signing this form and sending it
back to the Sponsor?

Since we are a 501(C)3 organization, and since the $100K was for
scientific research, and since the sponsor wasn't getting anything of
real value from the "donation", I'm thinking that the IRS may in fact
consider this a charitable contribution, even though INTERNALLY, we did
not treat it as a gift.  However, my gut feeling is that we can/should
sign and return the form, because in any event the burden is on the
Sponsor to prove that this payment meets the IRS's requirements for a
"charitable contribution", and all we're doing is providing formal
information.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated and may be sent to the list or
privately at xxxxxx@srnet.ucla.edu.

Thanks,

Lesley
Lesley K. Cephas, Industry Contract Officer
UCLA Sponsored Research
Los Angeles, CA  90095-1406
Voice: (310) 825-1431
Fax:    (310) 206-3619
E-Mail: xxxxxx@srnet.ucla.edu
http://www.research.ucla.edu/sr.htm