What is an endowment?
An endowment is a charitable donation in the form of real property, assets, or funds, usually given to an institution to support a specific goal. Common endowment recipients are libraries, universities, and hospitals. Generally, an endowment is quite large, and an institution often receives multiple endowments which are pooled in a common fund. Typically, the principal of the endowment is invested, and the interest is used to fund projects. The practice of investing the principal, rather than spending it, allows an endowment to grow over time, rather than diminishing by being spent all at once. For universities especially, this practice allows the university to accrue large amounts of wealth which can be used to keep pace with other, competitive universities. Usually, part of the interest is reinvested every year, allowing the principle to grow more sizable. Most institutions leave the management of their endowments to private consulting firms which specialize in handling large account
Endowments, “the gifts that keep on giving,” are permanently invested by the Stony Brook Foundation, and a portion of the income generated by that investment is used for the purpose you wish to support, such as undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, supplemental salary support for faculty, research, libraries, lectureships, programs, and much more. Another portion of the income is reinvested each year, enabling the endowment to grow and provide a permanent stream of income – and a permanent impact – over time. There are basically two types of endowment – a “pure” endowment and a “quasi-endowment.” Pure endowments are those funds that have been given to the Foundation by an individual, group of individuals, or organizational donor with explicit instructions, or other language indicating the donor’s intent, that the value of the gift be invested and held in perpetuity. With a pure endowment, only Board-approved distributions from the endowment are spent to support the Universi
An endowment is a pool of funds held by a charity and invested over time for the purpose of achieving a positive return. The endowed principal remains intact, while the income from the investments are used to support McNeese State Universitys mission through funding of scholarships, professorships and chairs, or other projects linked to the universitys interests.
You can make a difference this year with your current gift. When you build an endowment you make a difference in perpetuity. To create an endowment, you make a gift which is held as principal by the University of Massachusetts Foundation. A portion of the interest is spent each year for the purpose you have designated. Foundation policies are designed to increase the value of the endowment so that the actual spending power of your fund grows over time. You can create and name an endowment to benefit students or academic programs . Endowed funds range from $25,000 to several million dollars, which may be paid over 3-5 years. Endowments are most frequently funded through cash or securities, but can also be established through gfts of property, insurance, retirement assests or bequest. For more information, please contact: Meredith Feltus, Director of Development Commonwealth College 408 Goodell University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA 01003 413-577-0149 mfeltus@urd.umass.
An endowment fund is built through gifts of financial assets that are given with the stipulation that only the income earned by the assets can be used. Since an endowment’s principal is never spent, these funds create financial stability, allowing UNLV to be less dependent on unpredictable sources of revenue, such as government support or research grants. UNLV’s endowment funds are professionally invested and managed by the Foundation. Each spring, the Foundation’s Finance and Investment Committee meets to review the endowment management policy and determine the amount of money to be disbursed to each of the 146 separately endowed academic and athletic scholarships and programs maintained by the UNLV Foundation.
