FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING ENDOWMENTS

WHAT IS AN ENDOWMENT?
An endowment allows donors to establish a legacy, by providing permanent support for the donor's specified University program, scholarship or any other initiative. This is made possible by investing the corpus of the donated gift, with the intention of achieving long-term growth, allowing for a portion of it to be distributed to the University each year. Endowments grow over time, enabling them to provided distributions which also grow and eventually exceed the value of the original gift. 

WHO MANAGES THE ENDOWMENT?
The USF Foundation Board is the fiduciary for endowments. The management of endowments is carried out by the Board's Investment Committee, which is responsible for such matters as asset allocation, investment manager selection and spending. The Investment Committee is supported by its investment consultant and Foundation investment staff.

HOW CAN I ESTABLISH AN ENDOWMENT?
Newly-named funds are established by the Board of Trustees upon receipt of a gift of $25,000 or more for an unrestricted endowned fund. Endowment descriptions are approved by the donor, the University department that is proposed to administer the fund and the Board of Trustees.