CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Gift Card Purchase Guidelines for Usage on Grants
Revised July 1, 2014
SECTION I:
GENERAL
General Purpose:
To provide some general guidelines on how to process gift cards within a College awarded
Grant where the gift cards are being used as incentives or supplements for grant participants.
Authorization Required on Gift Card Purchases against a Grant:
 Per OMB Circular A-21, costs of promotional items including models, gifts and souvenirs are
unallowable for federally sponsored grants, unless clearly allowed per the provisions of the
sponsored agreement in written form.
 Non-federally funded grants must include written authorization that it allows or approves the
purchase and distribution of gift cards to grant participants as incentives or supplements within
the grant program.
 The Tri-C Grant BUL/Fund Manager also needs to approve the actual use (as an approver of
the PO) and is responsible to insure that the grant team has a person assigned to manage
and track the gift card process so that there is compliance to these guidelines and oversight
for financial and audit purposes.
Authorized Options Available to the Grant Team for Gift Card Purchases:
1. Barnes & Noble Gift Cards through Barnes & Noble
(Processed through Metro Bookstore Location for College-wide purposes)
2. Visa Cash/MasterCard Cash Cards or Tri-C Gift cards through Barnes & Noble
(Processed through Metro Bookstore Location for College-wide purposes)
3. Store gift cards or direct supplies from stores such as Target / Wal-Mart / Giant Eagle.
4. Food gift cards from restaurants such as Chipotle/ Five Guys.
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SECTION II: Planning and Process Steps when ordering Gift Cards
General Gift Card Guidelines for Grants:

Options 1 and 2 above require processing of a My Tri-C Buy Purchase Order to Barnes &
Noble by the department that is authorized to order on behalf of the grant fund. The
department should allow 2 – 3 weeks for the entire process. See Gift Card PO Steps
below for more detailed instructions.

Options 3 and 4 above require processing on a College Purchasing Card. However, in
order to properly comply with the College Purchasing Card guidelines, it requires advance
approval from the cardholder and the Accounts Payable Manager. The Accounts Payable
Manager has to contact the bank to open up authorization to the specific store, for the gift
card purchase or for direct supplies it is purchasing for the grant, for a very short defined
set of days and then it closes down the authorization. All receipts and purchasing card
monthly report and uploads should be followed as part of the normal Pcard process. It is
up to the BUL/Fund Manager to go in the VISA system and make sure the funding is
correct before posting of the charges (this needs to be done by the 25th of the month)
Gift Card PO Steps and Instructions:
1. Create a Non-Catalog requisition/PO against Barnes & Noble (S00921606-PO1), Metro
Store Location.
2. The following should be put into the requisition – the quantity of cards, the type of cards,
and the dollar increment of the gift card(s) (25 Visa cash cards at $ 15.00 /each value) be
sure to budget for a Service Activation Fee from B&N to be included within the requisition
that you are preparing.
3. The authorized requisitioner for the grant fund will reference the grant Index –which then
details the organization/fund/account/program/location combination for financial tracking
purposes.
4. Attach as an internal attachment in the requisition, a list of students and their
corresponding S numbers for the student who will be receiving the gift card(s) and an
estimate of how much each student will be receiving and the timeframe.
a. If at the time of the requisition, you do not yet know the names and S numbers of
the students then you must attach an estimate for the quantity of students and list
the milestones/timeframe that will be the trigger for the distribution of the gift cards.
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b. At a later date, when the names are known– the Names of students and S numbers
should be added to the PO as an uploaded attachment for reference purposes by
either that requisitioner or request the purchasing buyer to upload the document
to the PO file.
c. The list of Students receiving the cards must also be provided to the Accounts
Payable Manager for their files. It is the responsibility of the grant program
manager to insure the student list gets attached appropriately in the system for
compliance as well as sent to the AP manager.
5. Once the PO is approved and after you have a P15 XXX number, then email Lorraine
Felan in the Tri-C email system the PO number so she is aware of the order. Email the
actual PO to Lorraine Felan and the Metro Store Manager, Sarah Verba. It will take
4 - 6 business days for Barnes & Noble to process the order and get the cards ready.
a. Also email Lorraine the department contact person that is to receive all of the gift
cards at the college and the address / campus location they are to be delivered
to. The cards will be activated before they are delivered and each individual
card will have a unique number/ identifier that can be tracked to that card.
SECTION III: Responsibilities when Handling Gift Cards
The grant manager has the following responsibilities:
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Have all gift cards and associated tracking sheets locked up at all times.
Log every card number for each and every individual card received, list on a tracking
sheet.
As cards are distributed, a student name and s number and signature has to be
captured and reconciled to the unique corresponding card number before a gift card
is fully released to that student. The grant manager is responsible for all gift cards
and compliance surrounding these gift cards.
All tracking sheets with student information and signatures must be kept on file and
be ready and available for audit purposes (one set of originals sent to Accounts
Payable in accordance with the College’s Confidential Information policy– attn. K.
Mrak at District Office).
These cards are not to be used for employees or for any type of College expenses.
If the grant ends up with an unused card or several unused cards, they can use it for
supplies for a grant program (like robot competitions) –but they must copy and show
all of the receipts that total to the amount of the card and track it on the spreadsheet
to reconcile with the card. This should be a rare exception.
Any exceptions to these guidelines must be approved by the EVP who the using department
reports to.
Main Contacts in Accts Payable & SMS Departments for Additional Question
 karen.mrak@tri-c.edu or 216-987-4738
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
cynthia.leitson@tri-c.edu or 216-987-3510
(Revised 7/1/14 cl)
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