Take the Mystery Out of Your Endowment
What do your donors and prospects need to know about your nonprofit organization’s endowment?
More than you might think. Endowments are often misunderstood.
They can even be a barrier to fundraising instead of a reason to give. That’s why endowment education should be part of your advancement communications strategy. Here are some recommendations to get you started:
Target Audiences
While all stakeholders will benefit from endowment education, start with the board, the staff, and current donors and volunteers. They will help to get the message out to a wider audience of prospects, alumni, students, ticket buyers, patients, and other constituents.
Channels and Content
Create a webpage to serve as a “home base” for all things endowment. This will be both an internal resource for development staff and a public page you can drive people to through your print and email newsletters, donor reports, and social media.
The site should include:
Explanatory copy
Charts and graphs
Frequently Asked Questions
Testimonials from endowment donors
Endowment fund impact stories
Bonus points for an explainer video. Remember, some people learn better watching and listening rather than reading.
Topics
Endowment education covers a lot of ground, including:
General information
What an endowment is (a pool of funds invested for growth over the long term)
What an endowment isn’t (a savings account)
Sources of revenue (gifts, investments, allocations, etc.)
Finance
% of operating budget distributions account for
How distributions are allocated
How investments are allocated
Annualized rates of return with benchmarks
Value of original gifts vs. current market value
Law
Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA)
For colleges and universities subject to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, include that and note how it affected your endowment
Organizational policies and practices
Who manages the endowment and what are their roles
Spending rate and policy
Ethics
Donor intent
Intergenerational equity
Why there’s a cap on spending
We can partner with your organization to create an endowment communications strategy and content that will increase transparency and trust with stakeholders. Contact us to learn more.