What is an endowment?
An edowment is a fund that donors can establish to ensure a long-lasting source of support at Indiana State University. The endowed funds only use the income earned from investments to support University activities, saving the principal to gain interest in perpetuity. Indiana State University Foundation’s endowment funds are professionally invested and monitored by the Finance Committee of the ISU Foundation Board of Directors. The committee sets policies and reviews the fund activity, including disbursements made for program expenses. An endowed gift provides an outstanding legacy for any person giving to Indiana State University.
An endowment is a long-term investment in Auburn University that provides benefits to students, faculty or programs year after year, generation after generation. For endowed funds, the donor stipulates that the principal must be invested and all or a portion of the income be expended to carry out the donor’s purpose. To guard against the eroding consequences of inflation, the remaining portion of investment return is then added to the principal. The goal is to ensure that the principal maintains its purchasing power over time to support future generations.
Endowed funds differ from others in that they are the gift that keeps giving. Instead of the entire amount of the gift being spent outright, the gift is invested. Each year, a portion of the income earned is spent while the remainder is reinvested. An endowment is a perpetual gift because only the spendable income is used immediately to support the university, while the principal grows continuously.
Donors may establish an endowment fund to ensure a gift’s long-lasting impact for OSU, since only the income earned from investments may be disbursed. Since an endowment’s principal is never spent, your gift continues in perpetuity. Oklahoma State University Foundation’s endowment funds are professionally invested and managed by the Foundation’s Finance and Investment Committee. Each spring, the Committee meets to review the endowment management results and policies to determine the amount of money to be disbursed to each of the endowed academic and athletic scholarships and programs maintained by the OSU Foundation. Please visit the Endowments page for more information about gift opportunities.
