1. A foreign government, including an agency of a foreign government  
2. A legal entity, governmental or otherwise, created solely under the laws of a foreign state  
3. An individual who is not a citizen or a national of the US, trust territory or protectorate thereof 
4. An agent, including a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign legal entity, acting on behalf of a foreign source.  (20 U.S.C. §1011f(h)(2)) 

• U.S. citizens with dual citizenship are not considered foreign entities 
• Depending on the circumstances, a foreign government could also include a foundation, or sovereign wealth fund of a foreign government or a person acting on its behalf.   
• Includes subsidiaries and affiliates of a foreign legal entity acting on behalf of a foreign source. While there may be circumstances in which a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign entity is not acting on behalf of that foreign entity, for ease of reporting and consistency, all affiliates and subsidiaries of foreign legal entities should be treated as foreign sources for reporting purposes. 
• Units must make a reasonable effort to obtain donor’s identity.  The “reasonable standard” is well established by law.  While a reasonable effort is fact-dependent, efforts should entail the care and attention that a reasonable person would expect to be undertaken in the circumstance. 

Because the institution must report any contract between a legal entity and a foreign source when the institution receives the benefit of a contract, the domestic party may be the institution or another legal entity.  The question is designed to make Section 117 reports clear as to whether the gift from or contract with a foreign source was received directly by the institution or through an intermediary. 

Any gift of money or property.  The value of property is the fair market value. (RPC 30 day) Gifts do not include services.  Contributions of services should be reported as contracts. 

Any institution, public or private, or, if a multi-campus institution, any single campus of such institution, in any State, that is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary school; provides a program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree (or provides not less than a 2-year program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree) or more advanced degrees; and is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association and to which institution Federal financial assistance is extended (directly or indirectly through another entity or person), or which institution receives support from the extension of federal financial assistance to any of the institution’s sub–units.

For purposes of Section 117 reporting, an intermediary is an entity other than an institution that receives a gift originating from or enters into a contract with a foreign source and then passes to an institution part or all of the benefit of the gift from or a contract with a foreign source. Where an institution receives part or all the benefit of a gift from or a contract with a foreign source, the institution, regardless of whether it is through an intermediary or not, must report the transaction if the $250,000 threshold is met. The institution has a duty, before it accepts the benefit of the gift or contract, to exercise due diligence and to make a good faith effort to understand the source of the gift or the identity of the contracting party.  This includes any campus or affiliated association, foundation, or entity that operates substantially for the benefit of or under the auspices of the institution; all aligned associations, foundations, or other entities whose purpose is to assist, aid, or support the institution; legal entities that “exist for the purpose of serving as an intermediary for certain gifts or contracts,” such as affiliated foundations that fundraise for the benefit of the institution. 

The recipient of a gift is the institution as well as all intermediaries.

Any endowment, gift, grant, contract, award, present, or property of any kind which includes provisions requiring: 

• the employment, assignment, or termination of faculty; 
• the establishment of departments, centers, research or lecture programs, or new faculty positions; 
• the selection or admission of students; or 
• the award of grants, loans, scholarships, fellowships, or other forms of financial aid restricted to students of a specified country, religion, sex, ethnic origin, or political opinion. 

Most contracts and gifts to the University are unlikely to meet these conditions.  An example of a contract that does meet this definition is one that requires the establishment of an institute as a condition of funding, as opposed to generalized support for a variety of research projects or students.