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Council approves partnership agreement with Ivins Inspired after tightening donor protections
Summary
After debate about donor intent and city discretion over donated funds, Ivins City Council approved an amended agreement with Ivins Inspired (a volunteer 501(c)(3)) that adds mutual termination rights, requires donor disclosures and removes language that gave the city unilateral discretion to reassign donated funds.
Ivins City Council on June 19 approved an amended voluntary agreement with Ivins Inspired, a local 501(c)(3), to facilitate fundraising for targeted public-art projects including the Whitaker statues. The Arts Commission (represented at the meeting) supports using the nonprofit as a fundraising conduit for projects the commission and council authorize.
City counsel (S13) outlined two principal risks: donors who assume they're donating to the city rather than a nonprofit, and the small but possible risk of misused funds if the nonprofit were to mismanage donations. The draft agreement was intended to reduce those risks through disclosure language, record-keeping expectations, insurance (including errors-and-omissions coverage), and clarifying that donations to Ivins Inspired create a relationship with that nonprofit and not the city.
Councilmembers expressed concern with one sentence in paragraph 1 that said the city would retain full discretion to direct donated funds; members asked staff to strike that sentence and add mutual termination rights. Several members also asked for accounting clarity (separate project accounting, refund processes if a project fails to proceed) and an annual report from the Arts Commission on the partnership's activities. Ivins Inspired representatives (S19/S20) said the group's platform provides donation receipts and that the organization intends to pass 100% of project-designated donations through to the city for the named project.
Council moved to approve the agreement as amended (mutual termination, strike the discretionary-use sentence, require appropriate insurance and disclosure language). The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote. Council asked the Arts Commission to present an annual update on the partnership as part of its yearly report to the council.
