Endowment FAQs
Endowment gifts are essential elements of supporting UD now while ensuring its future. The endowment includes hundreds of gifts from generous friends and alumni who want to ensure that they support UD’s highest priorities for generations to come.
There are two types of named funds at the University of Dayton. The first type is a current use fund. With current use funds, the University generally commits to spending every dollar within two years of receipt. Some donors think about current use gifts as having a greater impact in a shorter period of time.
The other type of fund is an endowed fund. Endowment gifts are held in perpetuity in the University’s long term investment pool. A percentage of the fund is distributed each year to be spent in accordance with the donor’s intention and the rest is reinvested so that the value of your gift will grow year over year. In contrast to current use funds, endowed funds are intended to spread out impact over a longer time.
An endowment is a source of funding that supports the long-term needs of the University in accordance with the donor’s wishes. Endowment gifts are pooled and invested together. The University then distributes a percentage of its endowed fund annually to support its important work.
Endowed gifts are intended to exist in perpetuity. By setting aside funds for the future, the University of Dayton can be assured of a stable and reliable source of support. In turn this ensures that the University will continue to support the exceptional education and student experience for which it has become so well known, regardless of the ups and downs of the economy.
Endowments also allow UD to be innovative, nimble and adaptable to the ever-evolving landscape of higher education. With endowment support, the University can undertake cutting-edge research, pilot exceptional experiential learning opportunities for its students and offer competitive financial aid packages.
Endowed funds can be set up with an outright gift (cash, stock, donor-advised fund) or with a gift from your estate (will, trust, retirement account, etc.). Additionally, many donors enjoy establishing an endowed fund during their lifetime and adding to it with a gift from their estate.
The University of Dayton requests that donors sign a gift agreement to establish an endowed fund. The University has a standard gift agreement that includes a summary of the donor’s relationship to UD, a listing of any restrictions for the gift and outlines policies for how your gift will be managed. With the gift agreement, you can be confident about how your endowed fund will be used well into the future.
Yes. However, the most powerful gifts are unrestricted gifts. Unrestricted gifts allow UD to address its most pressing needs — and those needs shift over time.
Yet, there are reasons you may want to add restrictions to your gift, such as supporting a specific area on campus (a particular academic unit, athletics, student development, etc.), a specific priority (e.g. scholarships, hands-on learning, faculty innovation), or a combination of the two.
If a gift has too many requirements, it can be difficult for the University to identify specific students or areas to benefit from your giving and your fund may go unspent as a result. No one wants that. So, if you are thinking about adding restrictions, you should determine the most important thing to you first, and think of other restrictions as preferences.
Our team are experts in helping you think about impact. Please contact us, and we would be delighted to talk to you more about the impact that you want to have at UD.
The University of Dayton takes donor restrictions seriously. As previously mentioned, UD requests that donors wanting to set up an endowed fund work with us to draft a gift agreement that outlines what your intentions are in making your gift. When you sign a gift agreement, the University is required by law to follow your intentions.
In some rare instances, the University may no longer be able to use your gift in accordance with your original restrictions. This most often happens if there is a change in the law or if the University makes the difficult decision to eliminate a program. When that happens — and it does happen very rarely — it is important that the University has the flexibility to adjust the fund’s use, otherwise it will not be spent.
If the University must adjust a restriction, the law still requires that the new use be as close as possible to your original intent when you make the gift. And, in the rare event when this does occur, UD makes every attempt to talk with you or a loved one to guide us in what the best use for your gift would be.
No. The University does not currently assess fees on endowed funds.
The University’s endowment is overseen by the University of Dayton Board of Trustees. The board of trustees has an investment committee that includes experienced investment and finance professionals who provide ultimate oversight and guidance on various investment strategies and asset allocation.
The investment committee utilizes a discretionary investment management approach where it has engaged a third-party investment firm to manage the portfolio by selecting and terminating investment funds, managers and other investment vehicles.
The University’s Office of Finance and Administrative Services provides day-to-day oversight of the portfolio in partnership with the third-party firm as well as administrative support to the investment committee. It formulates and implements policies and controls to ensure the successful stewardship of University assets, including the endowment and long-term investment pool.
Endowed gifts are invested in the University's long-term investment pool. The long-term investment pool is designed to grow in perpetuity, provide reliable income and support to UD, and absorb volatility in the capital markets.
The University assumes a conservative inflationary factor in its long-term asset allocation assumptions. This allows for the income from your gift to be the same or more in the future as it is right now.
UD allocates the endowment value to individual funds on the last day of every calendar year. Afterward, the University's board of trustees votes on the next year's endowment distribution, which varies each year between 3.75% and 5.75% so that the University can ensure that the long-term investment pool provides sustainable support.
UD generally estimates the percentage distribution to be around 4.5%. This means that for every $100,000 in your fund, approximately $4,500 in support will be distributed each fiscal year for impact.
Yes! Unless you specify otherwise, you, your family and your friends may add to your endowed fund at any time and for any amount. Any new gifts will be added to your fund and will be subject to the same restrictions that you outline in your gift agreement.
If you are ready to start exploring an endowed gift to UD, please contact our University Advancement office. We would be delighted to connect you with a member of our team who can help you think about what type of gift and impact you want to have at UD.
Annually, donors will receive an Endowment Report with their fund balances and percentage distributions. If the endowed fund is a scholarship, the student recipients will also be shared.
How Big Should an Endowment Fund Be?
It is important to think about the impact that you want to have at UD when deciding how large your gift should be to create, or add to, an endowed fund.
The University currently requires a minimum gift of $100,000 to establish an endowed fund. You can make a pledge and pay it over as many as five years. If you are planning a future gift, remember that the minimum amount required to create an endowed fund may increase over time. If you intend to endow a fund with a gift from your estate, you should plan so that the size of the gift will be sufficient to create the impact you desire when the gift is realized.