Research Participant Payments
Research and survey participant payments compensate those individuals who participate in VCU research/survey projects. These payments may be made through petty cash, direct pay or gift cards. A substitute W-9 form is required to accompany all payments. These payments are made as appropriate and may be approved by a fiscal administrator. The policy surrounding research and survey participant payments is the same for VCU employees, non-employees and students. Review the Summary of Payment Methods for Non-Employees and Employees 
for additional clarification of the policies for Research/Survey Participant payments.
If a gift card is issued as payment for participation in a research study or a survey, there are several rules to bear in mind. Gift cards must not be charged against grant or state funds when purchased in advance of the services being rendered. This requires that the purchase order or journal voucher (JV) used to purchase the cards in advance must be charged to an index of 2-9 or an unrestricted local fund. If a JV is used to charge the grant, it must be completed within 60 days or the JV to move the charges will not be approved. Therefore, the service must be completed in this timeframe since the grant cannot be charged until the service is performed.
Only three methods may be used to procure gift cards: Treasury Services, purchase order or petty cash. Substitute W-9s should be completed for all gift cards issued and submitted to the manager of Accounts Payable once the service is performed. An inventory of cards cannot be kept in the department, so only the number of cards that will be used in the current phase of the study should be purchased. Gift cards are considered monetary in nature and require that a written monthly reconciliation of cards and receipts or log should be prepared for internal records. The total of the documented receipts or log plus cards on hand must always equal the original disbursement amount.
For complete guidelines, the gift card and bank card policy should be reviewed in full.