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Tools
Are you ready to build your endowment? Click here to access our assessment checklist. Careful assessment of several key issues is needed before implementing or adding to endowment funds. These include:
- Determining the appropriate legal form, policies and procedures for the endowment fund that best suits the organization;
- Determining the appropriate Board oversight ,governance and financial management model for the endowment fund;
- Deciding whether to develop an awareness campaign or actively seek initial gifts for the newly launched endowment fund;
- Determining the appropriate staffing and/or contractual resources needed to manage the endowment marketing and planned giving process; and,
- Identifying the potential audience within the organization’s family who are Interested in supporting potential endowment funding.
More tools coming!
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ENDOWMENT ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST
GATHER INFORMATION
- Strategic plan
- Annual Report – income sources, percent 3rd source income
- Development plan – donor base size, number of consistent donors
- Existing Organizational Endowment documents
- Existing gift acceptance, endowment fund or spending policies
- Existing organization & development marketing
EVALUATE YOUR STRENGTH
- Years in existence
- Size of Board/participation
- Fundraising Success
- Balanced budget for how many years?
- Major gifts effort
- Board recruitment
DETERMINE YOUR STRUCTURE & PURPOSE
- Form of Endowment/Trust /Foundation
- Incorporating documents
- Existing funding resources
- Future funding needs
- Strategic purposes
- Percent dependence on endowment
- Timeline for Endowment Establishment
- Current Board support/involvement for Endowment
- Volunteer leadership involvement
POLICIES & FUND MANAGEMENT
- Value of current funds
- Current gift policy
- Current spending policy
- Current investment policy
- Minimums on restricted funds
- Restricted funds pooled
- Fund manager/or current bank
- Designated or non-designated cash reserves
- Payout approach preference – income only, total return, or income with invasion of principal for set purposes
- Funding projections
FUNDRAISING & MARKETING
- Potential goal
- Marketing approach – major gift, deferred gift, campaign goal, challenge gift
- Prospect identification
- Fundraising strengths
- Case statement development
- Existing stewardship – thanks & recognition process
- Marketing evaluation
- Board capacity for endowment efforts
- Donor history
- 10 and 30-year organization projections
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