Fisher Follies Fund Policies & Procedures
I.
Purpose
The Fisher Follies Fund (“FFF”) provides support to eligible students within the Fisher Community (“Fisher”)
who experience a qualifying event or emergency. The FFF shall strive to accomplish that purpose by:
• Encouraging supporters of Fisher to voluntarily support the FFF;
• Providing a mechanism for such support; and
• Providing nominal financial aid and support to eligible students.
II.
Source of Funds
The Fisher Follies Auction (“Auction”) held in the fall of each academic calendar year shall be the primary
fundraising event for the FFF. The Fisher Follies Show (“Show”) held in the spring of each academic calendar
year shall be considered a celebration of the success of the Auction. Net of all expenses associated with the
Auction and the Show, the total amount available for distribution in the academic calendar year will be
calculated as detailed in Appendix A.
III.
Distribution of Funds
A. The FFF
The FFF makes direct gifts to students within the Fisher community who are in need. As such, the FFF is
not defined as a tax-exempt entity by the Internal Revenue Service. Donors to the FFF should be advised
that gifts may not be considered tax deductible by the donor.
B. The Graduate Programs Office Fund
In conjunction with the FFF and in order to provide anonymous financial assistance to students who selfidentify a need, the Graduate Programs Office (“GPO”) has established The Graduate Programs Office
Fund (#310712), which is a tax-exempt restricted fund within The Ohio State University Foundation.
This fund is wholly administered by the GPO.
In years when lack of need results in distributions from the FFF amounting to less than 50% of the
available annual funds, 50% of the remaining funds shall be transferred to The Graduate Programs
Office Fund. The amount is not to exceed the greater of $2,000 or 10% of the distributable amount for
the academic year. See Appendix A. In this way, the FFF will also provide support for those students
wishing to have complete anonymity when seeking financial assistance for an otherwise qualifying event
or emergency.
From time to time, and in an effort to minimize redundancy, the Fisher Follies President may inquire as
to disbursements that have been made from the Graduate Programs Office Fund to students in need.
IV.
Determination of Grants from the FFF
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A. Criteria for Selection
Gifts are available to students who are suffering from extreme and unexpected hardship and may be
received in the form of either cash or a gift-in-kind. Extreme and unexpected hardship is defined as a
sudden and unforeseen happening that was wholly beyond the student’s control. The event must
directly impact the student. Events or emergencies directly affecting family members of the applicant,
with only an indirect effect on the applicant, are not considered to be qualifying situations.
Examples of situations that could be considered as a basis for assistance include, but are not limited to,
fire or flood resulting in severe damage to primary residence; death of an immediate family member;
life-altering accidents; or debilitating illness.
Neither longstanding financial distress nor common life occurrences, such as routine home and car
repairs or monthly bills, qualify for assistance. Financial assistance is neither intended to replace all
losses resulting from the event nor is it intended to necessarily restore the recipient to the same
economic situation as prior to the event.
In order to qualify for a gift from the FFF, the recipient must be a graduate student currently enrolled at
the Fisher College of Business. In the most extreme cases, for which the hardship has forced the student
to temporarily withdraw (e.g., medical emergency) such that (s)he is not currently enrolled, exceptions
may be made.
B. Application and Nomination Process
Confidential applications may be submitted to the Fisher Follies Committee either directly by the eligible
student or indirectly via the nomination of two (2) classmates. See Appendix B.
All decisions made by the Committee will be determined based only on the information submitted. The
Committee may request additional information or documentation from the applicant before making a
decision. To maintain anonymity, such requests may be communicated by the President or his/her
designee. When the committee requests information in addition to what an applicant has provided, the
applicant has two (2) weeks to provide the requested information or to explain why it cannot be
provided. If the applicant does not provide the requested information in the two (2) week time period,
the application will be denied.
Recommended documentation may include, but is not limited to, proof of expenses. Additional
information may be requested based on the circumstances described in the application. Different cases
may require different types of documentation.
C. Selection Committee
The Primary Selection Committee (“Primary Committee”) shall consist of the Fisher Follies Faculty
Advisor (“Advisor”), President (“President”) and Treasurer (“Treasurer”), as registered with the Ohio
Union for the academic calendar year in which the application is submitted.
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A Secondary Selection Committee (“Secondary Committee”) shall consist of members of the Fisher
Follies Steering Committee (“Steering Committee”). Voting members of the Steering Committee will be
appointed once per year during the period between the Auction and the Show.
D. Approval Process for Recipients
Upon review of the request, the President and Treasurer shall submit a recommendation to the Advisor
as to approval or denial and, when appropriate, award type and amount.
If the Advisor agrees with the recommendation, the application is considered approved.
If the Advisor does not agree with the recommendation, either in part or in toto, the President and
Treasurer may choose to bring the matter to the larger Selection Committee.
E. Review Standards
Should either the President and Treasurer recuse him/herself due to a conflict of interest, the Primary
Committee will consist of the remaining members. In the event that the Primary Committee consists of
the Advisor alone, he/she may determine whether the application should be brought before the
Secondary Committee for review.
In certain rare circumstances, direct financial assistance or a gift in kind may be considered that is in
excess of the maximum amount for standard gifts as outlined in Appendix A. Approval of any outsize
request requires the affirmative vote of a supermajority of a quorum of the Secondary Committee
without exception.
This policy defines a quorum of the Steering Committee as no fewer than two-thirds (2/3) of eligible
voting members of the Steering Committee.
This policy defines the minimum affirmative vote required for approval of a request by the Secondary
Committee, thereby overruling the decision of the Primary Committee, to be a supermajority of no
fewer than three-quarters (3/4) of eligible voting members of the Steering Committee.
When necessary the application will be presented to the Steering Committee for review in such a
manner that the identity of the applicant is not known to the Steering Committee. Circumstances may
occur in which an anonymous review is impossible or impractical, in which case the identity of the
applicant may be revealed to the Steering Committee.
After a student receives notification of an award, no fewer than six (6) months must pass before the
student can be considered for additional assistance resulting from the same event. The Committee may
consider the amount of the previous award when making its determination on an additional award.
Committee decisions are final, and no appeals process is available. No application that was previously
denied will be reconsidered.
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F. Notification of Grant Determination
The President will communicate with the applicant as to whether the request has been approved or
denied. The President and Treasurer will coordinate transfer of either the financial award or gift in kind
to the applicant.
The Treasurer is responsible for communicating the award type and award with the Steering Committee
following the distribution of each award.
V.
Fiduciary Standards and Responsibilities of the FFF
A. Budget
The President shall approve all Committee requests for funds related to the Auction and the Show.
B. Record-keeping
The President and Treasurer must maintain confidential records to show that any distributions have
furthered the FFF’s charitable purposes and that the persons served are needy or distressed in the
manner described in these Policies and Procedures. Generally, documentation should include:
• Complete description of assistance provided including copy of check, if applicable;
 Complete description of costs associated with providing the assistance, if any;
• Purpose for which the financial assistance was given;
• Original application for financial assistance as submitted by the recipient or his/her two peer
nominators;
• Copy of communication either via email or post from the President to the recipient indicating the gift
has been approved; and
• Description of any conflict of interest or relationship between a recipient and any Committee
member(s).
Furthermore, adequate records must be maintained on all applications that were not approved
including the original application and reason for denial.
C. Due Diligence
The Committee shall make its determination as to approval or denial of a request based on the
information provided in the application. As the individual(s) completing the application certify the
veracity of the information provided therein via the Fisher Honor Statement, the Committee is not
required to investigate the claim further. Should it be discovered that the application was falsified in a
deliberate attempt to defraud the FFF, the GPO will be notified to take appropriate measures.
D. Audits
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No less than once per semester, the Treasurer will make available to the Fisher community at large,
either via email or public website, the number of gifts and dollar amount that has been distributed from
the Fund.
No further details of any gift shall be made public beyond the Steering Committee without the express
consent of the award recipient.
Each year, upon transitioning members of the Committee, the FFF will submit to an internal audit to be
completed by an Independent Third Party.
E. Statement of Business Practices
The FFF’s activities and operations will be carried out in strict compliance with the Fisher College of
Business Honor Statement and with the highest ethical standards.
F. Conflict of Interest
Committee members must exclude themselves from voting on any request in which they have also
served as a peer nominator.
Any member of the Committee who has applied for financial assistance or who otherwise knows (s)he
has a conflict of interest due personal associations shall refrain from voting on such matters.
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Appendix A
The total amount of funds available for annual distribution shall be calculated as follows:





A: Base amount is equal to the net funds raised at the Auction
B: Less 50% to be held in reserve for the following year’s expenses
C: Remaining 50% available for distribution, with a maximum standard distribution per award defined as the
greater of $1,000 or 10% of the total distributable amount
D: If at the end of the academic year less than the originally calculated 50% (Line C) has been distributed,
50% of the remaining funds not to exceed the greater of $2,000 or 10% of the distributable amount for the
academic year shall be gifted to Graduate Program Office Fund.
E: Any remaining monies at the end of the academic calendar year shall be rolled over for use the following
year.
Example
A:
$20,000
Funds raised at the 2013 Auction net of all expenses associated with events
B:
$10,000
50% held back for 2014-2015 events
C:
$10,000
Available for distribution in 2014-2015
D:
$8,500
$1,500
$750
Distributed to eligible students in 2014-2015
Funds available for distribution not used in 2014-2015
50% of the available funds not used given to Graduate Programs Office Fund
E:
$750
Rolled over for use in 2015-2016
Appendix B
Application
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Name of recipient
Program
Name of persons completing application, if different from recipient
Description of qualifying event including date it occurred
Monetary consideration if any
Gift in Kind consideration if any
Description of supporting documentation if any
Description of recipient’s contribution to Fisher community
Type Fisher honor code
E Signature certifying veracity of information provided. Please be advised that falsified information contained
within this application will constitute a violation of the Fisher Honor Statement.
11. Anonymity requirement [provide brief description of Committees]
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