Just give us a third of the eggs.

1/4/2011: From Charles Clotfelter – an economist – in the Washington Post:

With the exception of the 80 percent rule for gifts that enable a donor to buy tickets, all these donations are subject to the same tax subsidy we reserve for charitable and educational institutions like hospitals, food pantries, arts organizations and universities. When a taxpayer at the 35 percent tax rate makes a donation of $10,000, he ends up shouldering only $6,500 of the cost, since his tax bill is trimmed by $3,500. That savings to the taxpayer amounts to reduced tax collections by the Treasury. Considering that the top college athletic programs collected a total of more than a billion dollars in 2008, the revenue hit from making these gifts tax deductible is not inconsequential.

But why wait for the Feds to get their act together? President Lariviere could institute this policy on his own, at UO, by requiring that the athletic department pay 35% of all donations towards support of the teaching and research mission of UO. He already has this power, as explained in this UO Foundation document:

POLICY:
The Foundation will accept gifts for the benefit of the University, provided that such
gifts are (i) acknowledged by the University to be consistent with the mission of the
University and (ii) do not obligate the University or the Foundation to violate any
applicable law or regulation.

We don’t want to pluck the duck, just give us a third of the eggs.