An endowment is one of the most powerful tools a church, school or nonprofit can build to ensure long-term sustainability for the organization. Unlike typical annual fundraising gifts, an endowment is a sum of invested funds where the principal remains intact, while dividends provide an expected stream of funding for programs and operations. A healthy endowment signals commitment to mission, stability during annual fluctuations and gives donors a sense that their contributions will impact the mission into the future. For organizational leadership, strategic planning before attempting to build an endowment is essential. The endeavor requires assessing organizational readiness for endowment…
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For many nonprofits, raising money for an endowment is the ultimate dream. To have the resources and support necessary to increase an endowment beyond an organization’s operating needs seems like a challenging, yet desirable goal. When you think of an endowment campaign, you might generally think of large nonprofits with endowment funds in the hundreds of millions. While those large institutions are often the most prolific endowment fundraisers, more modest sized nonprofits can and should raise endowment dollars when they are able. Small nonprofits, those raising $5 million per year or less, should generally focus on expanding their general and…
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