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An endowment at an educational institution is typically a permanent endowment in which the principal is preserved in perpetuity and a percentage of the value is spent on an annual basis for support as designated by the donor.

Endowments can be created with a one-time gift, installment gifts for up to five years, a planned gift, or created through a bequest or beneficiary designation.

A professional member of our staff can guide you through the various options in creating an endowment and discuss the minimum levels for endowments. Please contact us for more information.

Yes, you may continue to add to the principal of an endowment.

Endowments can be created for almost anything! Examples include scholarships, faculty positions (including department chairs), academic programs, athletics, student support, and the Shaw Historical Library.

Yes, you can!

The ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ Foundation's Investment Policy sets the spending percentage for endowments. Currently the rate is 4% of a sixteen quarter trailing average. The rate used is a reflection of the returns expected on investments, the cost of administering the funds, and the ability to provide growth of the endowment to allow future generations to receive a similar financial benefit of those today.

The minimum amount to create an endowed fund is $10,000.

Foundation operations are funded through a combination of revenue including disbursements from a quasi-endowment established from a planned gift, endowment management fees, an administrative/gift fee, a portion of unrestricted gifts, and direct support from ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ.

The OTF is committed to efforts which result in private support to ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ and a part of funding those efforts comes from a five percent administration/gift fee. Like a large percentage of foundations affiliated with public universities, an administrative/gift fee helps support fundraising efforts and the costs associated with fundraising and administration of gifts.

Like the vast majority of other foundations, the OTF charges an annual fee to manage endowed funds that are invested in perpetuity. The administrative fee helps pay for programming support, such as scholarship recipient profiles, annual scholarship banquet, annual endowment statements, and staffing to manage funds. Because we want to maximize our endowment’s growth over time, we keep this annual management fee to a minimum, currently 1% of the market value of the endowment.