Event payments

Rebecca MacLean:
We are putting on an event for our alumni and the cost is going to be

 If what you are charging for the event just covers your costs for the event, I do not believe any of the money should be recorded as a gift.  At least that is the way it works in the US.

Melissa Graves:

Not COSTS -- only VALUE!

In the US if you establish the value of the ticket to be $65 but sell the tickets for $100 then $35 would be a gift. You would enter the $100 in gifts and add the benefit of the number of tickets recieved which changes the receipt amount to $35 (which you actually do not put on the receipt per IRS publication 1771 - but Blackbaud still records this number this way).

Value and cost are NOT interchangeable as you could get free items donated (no cost) that are given to participants but they still add Value to the ticket. Venue can change value even if the meal, speaker, etc. are all equivalent simply because it is more popular - not becaue it costs more. You have to look at the entire event as a whole and determine what would a willing participant pay to come (exclusive of it being a fundraiser) to enjoy this evening. That is your value. If your costs are more or less than this number that is irrelevent.

Additionally you likely also want to divide what part is a "gift" from what part is "benefits" which is best done by splitting the gift into two funds (and likely also two campaigns depending on your campaign structure). But minimally your finance office (via funds) wants to know how much was an exchange transaction and how much was a contribution.