Facilities Naming Policy and Guidelines - Administration Policy - 10220

Germanna Community College (hereinafter referred to as “College”) possesses many valuable tangible and intangible assets, which may have impact in building resources for the institution.  Significant funds are required to enable the College to continue to construct and renovate its facilities to ensure student access and the delivery of a high quality teaching and educational programs.  Private donors’ contributions play an important role in receiving these necessary resources.  The intent of the Naming Policy and Guidelines is to preserve the integrity of the College’s assets ensuring that if they are named, they are done so in a manner consistent with the College Mission, Vision Values and Strategic Directions and with consideration of the appropriateness of the value to the College and/or the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, Inc.

Germanna Community College seeks to provide appropriate recognition to donors for their generosity.  Although such recognition may take many forms, the Naming Guidelines seeks to establish guidelines for the naming of facilities and programs and serves as a guideline for the Germanna Community College Board, herein referred to as the “Board”, the President of the College, herein referred to as “President”, the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, hereinafter referred to as “Foundation”, the Foundation Executive Director and staff and  volunteers who assist in the solicitation of gifts.

The Naming Guidelines are established to ensure an appropriate reflection of the history of the College as well as consistency, fairness, fitting recognition and good value in exchange for the honor or privilege of name association with a program, fund, or physical aspect of the College.  As gifts can encourage others to give, the Naming Guidelines is intended only as a guide and allows for flexibility on a case-by-case basis.

1. Gift. A “gift” is a voluntary, philanthropic transfer of assets received from an individual, a corporation, a foundation or other organization. A gift may be made through a number of vehicles, including but not limited to: cash, stocks, estates, trusts, in-kind and real estate.
2. Institution. The term “institution” in these guidelines refers to the Germanna Community College.
3. Naming. The term “naming” in these guidelines refers to the conferral of an individual’s, group’s (such as a family) or organization’s name to a building, room, endowed chair, or other initiative or property to honor the philanthropic support and/or distinguished contributions of that individual, group or organization.
4. Facilities. Facilities include tangible assets, including, but not limited to: campuses, outreach centers, buildings, outdoor facilities (ex. courtyards, lakes, parking lots, trails, walks, structural components of outdoor settings of the College) laboratories, classrooms, and conference rooms. Intangible assets include, but are not limited to: programs, college-wide centers and institutes, departments, campus centers and institutes, academic chairs, teaching chairs, and scholarship funds.
5. Programs. Programs include but are not limited to academic or student support programs, institutes, academic chairs, teaching chairs, and scholarship funds.

1. Gift Related Naming. A gift-related naming occurs when a donor makes a charitable contribution to the College or the Foundation and is recognized with a naming.
2. Honorific Naming. An honorific naming may be bestowed in recognition of the dedication or meritorious contribution of a person or family. A person being recognized by an honorific naming must have exhibited values consistent with the mission and vision of the institution, must have an established relationship with the institution, and must have contributed measurably to the good of society. When an individual or family is considered for an honorific naming, the proposal shall be reviewed and approved by the Foundation Executive Director and the President’s Council prior to being submitted to the President and/or Board for final approval. Donations may be (but do not necessarily have to be) solicited by others in the name of someone they wish to honor.

Guidelines

Naming opportunities that are not otherwise set forth in these guidelines must be recommended by the Foundation Executive Director to the President.   The President’s decision is final except for the following which require additional approvals:

Naming opportunities shall extend to both tangible and intangible assets. Tangible assets include, but are not limited to: campuses, outreach centers, buildings, outdoor facilities (ex. courtyards, lakes, parking lots, trails, walkways, structural components of outdoor settings of the College) laboratories, classrooms, and conference rooms. Intangible assets include, but are not limited to: schools, departments, campus centers and institutes, academic chairs, teaching chairs, and scholarship funds.

The Germanna Community College Board (Board) and College President (President) authorize the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, Inc. (Foundation), as its direct support organization, to recommend the naming of facilities or programs of the College in recognition and acknowledgment of philanthropic gifts from individuals and other entities

• Campuses: The naming of campuses requires approval of the College Board and then final ratification by the State Board for Community Colleges.
• Buildings, new or existing: The naming of entire buildings requires the final approval of the College Board. The naming of wings, auditoriums, and large atria or other significant (that is prominent and large) facilities also requires final approval of the College Board.

The Foundation may make recommendations; however, ultimate authority to accept or decline any proposal to name at Germanna Community College rests with the President and/or the Board.

The Foundation will be responsible for setting and recommending minimum gift amounts required for naming of each type of asset subject to approval by the GCCEF Governing Board and final ratification by the Germanna Community College Board. Event sponsorships, bricks, and special artistic, entertainment or educational public programs do not fall under these guidelines.

1. Relevance:  A gift-related naming opportunity requires that the gift amount significantly advance the College, endowments, scholarships or other projects or must be reasonably related to the facility, place, position or item being named, as approved by the President.
2. Determination of Current Value:  For the purposes of the Naming Guidelines, the current value of buildings and other major facilities and of donated real property shall be determined by the Virginia Bureau of Capital Outlay Management, Virginia Community College System and/or an independent appraisal.   In all other circumstances where current value is required to be determined under these guidelines, the determination shall be made by the institution through the President’s Office.
3. Gifts of Monies, Securities, Real Estate, Personal Property and Other Types of Gifts:  The President has the authority to consider various types of gift arrangements other than cash, securities, real estate and personal property to be gifted in consideration of a naming, in accordance with gift acceptance policies established by the Foundation and recommended by the Foundation Executive Director as approved by the College Board. These arrangements may include, but are not limited to, charitable trusts, charitable gift annuities, life estate gifts, life insurance, irrevocable beneficiary designations and gifts of less than the entire interest in a property. The President shall determine whether it is in the best interest of the institution to accept or reject the gift.
4. Duration of a Naming/Permanency of a Naming:  A naming in recognition of a gift shall be for the life of the building, other facility, program or endowment, or item being named unless otherwise agreed to in the gift agreement.   Where a building or part thereof has been named and a gift from an individual, family, organization or foundation is involved, a facility receives a designation that shall last the lifetime of the facility, unless otherwise stipulated in a written, signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), at the time of gift acceptance, subject to the provisions specified below.  Where a building or part thereof has been named and a gift from a corporation is involved, the corporation shall be given the opportunity to substitute another naming opportunity of similar value with the name subject to approval by the Board for a period of time to be negotiated between the Institution and the donor. This may occur, for instance, as a result of corporate mergers.  Provisions: Any legal impropriety or other act which brings dishonor or disrepute to the Institution or the community at large on the part of the donor, the individual bestowed in an honorific naming, or a corporate donor, shall make the gift and naming subject to reconsideration by the Board.  Should an existing facility be demolished or repurposed and replaced by a new facility, the preexisting name may be transferred but does not have to be transferred to the new facility. The transfer of said name will require the same approvals as the original naming.
5. All Naming:  All Namings must be in accordance with the requirements of Germanna Community College and the College Naming Guidelines as well as consonant with all applicable VCCS and Commonwealth laws and policies.
6. Fundraising, Development Campaigns, and Marketing of Naming Opportunities:  All fundraising and development campaign efforts related to naming opportunities and the marketing of naming opportunities must be coordinated with the President and the Foundation Executive Director. The President shall be responsible for obtaining required approvals from the Board related to naming when required. The President may delegate responsibilities to the Foundation Executive Director or other named officers of the college for coordination of fundraising and development campaign efforts to secure gifts related to naming opportunities.  Upon approval by the Board, the President and Foundation Executive Director shall maintain a college-wide naming schedule listing required gift levels for naming opportunities.
7. Approval Authority:  Unless previously stipulated, as in the event of a Capital Campaign where such solicitations are planned, the President must approve all gift-related naming opportunities of $1,000,000 or more prior to solicitation of any prospective donor. No commitment regarding naming for such gifts shall be made to a donor or honoree prior to recommendation by the Foundation Executive Director and approval by the President and/or the Board.   Each proposal shall be made in writing in accordance with the requirements of the Naming Guidelines. A gift agreement stating the terms of the gift-related naming must be signed by both the donor and the President and Foundation Board Chair when applicable. The proposal and gift agreement shall be maintained by the Foundation and Alumni Relations office in accordance with Federal and State Records Retention Requirements.
8. Exceptions:  The President may recommend to the Board a naming opportunity that does not fall within these guidelines.

Cash, cash equivalent gifts, or irrevocable deferred gifts qualify for the naming of facilities.

Gifts committed through pledges or irrevocable deferred arrangements may qualify for naming, but will not be activated until at least 51% of the commitment has been received by the Foundation and documented in the financial records of the Foundation.  Final approval cannot be granted in gift naming opportunities until the donor’s name or the name of the person being honored is presented in writing.

If irrevocable deferred gifts are to be used for the naming gift (existing or planned facilities), the value of the trust will be considered to be the “Present Value of the Remainder Interest” at the time the trust is created.  Present value refers to the current value of the remainder interest of trust assets, as determined by Internal Revenue Code.  The Present Value of the Remainder Interest must be greater than or equal to the level of naming facilities set by the Institution.  The Foundation and the College are to be provided with copies of the duly signed and executed document designating the gift as irrevocable.

Irrevocable trust gifts will be considered on a case by case basis for naming new construction or facilities.

An approved Naming Opportunities List should be maintained in the Offices of the President and Foundation Executive Director, which outlines the available naming opportunities for new or existing facilities.

Donors of appropriate amounts may have their names submitted for consideration of naming a facility.

A decision to create new property or activities, or to renovate existing property, is to be made on the basis of established College operational criteria approved by the President.

Any artist’s renderings, construction models, or other plans should be identified as conceptual and not a literal depiction of what a new or renovated property will ultimately be.

Details of construction planning, furnishing, equipment, etc., rest solely with the President in consultation with the department managing facilities.  However, the donor may be invited to participate in planning dialogue where appropriate.

Cancellation of a program, termination of a chair, relocation or closure of a facility, demolition of a building or a similar happenstance may result in the termination of named recognition.  If appropriate, the Foundation may recommend that an alternative form of recognition be extended.

The Foundation will present a proposal to the President regarding the discontinued use of an existing name which will outline the reasons for termination and present an analysis of risks associated with this action.  The President’s recommendation for the termination of naming will be forwarded to the Board for consideration when the original naming required Board approval.

The Foundation is responsible for contacting the individual or group regarding termination of naming.  If the individual is deceased, the Foundation will take due action to contact next of kin, or personal representative.

Existing named property, with mutual consent of donor and Foundation, may be grandfathered under the Naming Guidelines.

All gifts to name buildings will be recognized with the appropriate name displayed prominently on the exterior of the building in accordance with Germanna Community College’s typeface and signage codes.  They shall be mounted, near the main entrance of the building.

All gifts to name facilities other than buildings shall be commemorated with a bronze or appropriate plaque or signage.

Donor wishes are to be taken into consideration with regards to unveiling the memorials and commemorative gifts and will be conducted in consultation with the Foundation Executive Director.

The designation of a naming shall not be publicly announced until final approval has been obtained as required under the Naming Policy and Guidelines.  Further, for cash or other liquid assets, a donor shall not be publicly recognized in regard to a naming until the institution has received at least 51% of any gift related to the naming and the remainder must be received within five to seven years unless recommended and approved by the President and/or Board.

The President and Foundation Executive Director shall maintain a uniform donor recognition plan for naming opportunities. (See Appendix A – Naming Opportunities and Levels)

Should the company, organization, or individual making a naming gift come into disrepute in the college or community at-large, the President may recommend to the Board that the use of the name be discontinued.

• Virginia Community College System Policy 2A
• Germanna Community College Naming Opportunities and Levels
• Approved: June 28, 2012
• Effective: July 1, 2012
• Revised: January 16, 2014

Naming Opportunities and Levels

In recognition of giving totaling the suggested amount specified, the following naming opportunities exist: