VI. Recipient of a Gift

You must look to the intentions of the gift’s donor to determine who is the gift’s “recipient.” If someone brings a gift and says it is “for the office,” then the gift will be considered a gift to everyone in the office who takes advantage of the gift. If someone brings a gift and says it is for a particular person, even if that person shares with others, the gift is a gift just to the original recipient.

Example. A constituent orders pizza for the office. The employees who eat the pizza are the gift’s recipients. See No Thank You Gifts and Exceptions to the Gift Rule for Permissible Gifts for whether staff can accept the pizza.

Example. An organization sends a box of its sample products to the Member. Even though the box’s contents can be separated, because the box was addressed to the Member, the Member is the recipient.