How Gifts are Managed

Since its founding in 1962, the University of Minnesota Foundation has been professionally managing and investing private gifts to the University. Accountability to the University, the public, and to private donors is imperative in maintaining a standard of trust and effectiveness. When gifts are received, the Foundation:

• Accurately records receipts for tax purposes, and acknowledges each gift.

• Distributes them to the University programs and colleges as donors have directed. (Stories showing The Impact of Private Support at the U are available online.)

• Invests endowed gifts to realize growth and to provide an enduring source of income to the designated program.

Endowment gifts are investments in the future of the University. The result of this long-term investment is a cumulative increase in the U of M's ability to attract top students, to recruit and retain world-class faculty, and to improve its teaching, research and outreach activities. With the addition of new gifts and investment performance, the Foundation's endowment grew to $1.4 billion on June 30, 2007, or more than doubled during the past ten years.

The University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors, a subsidiary organization, helps provide the highest level of stewardship for University donors through professional management and oversight of the University of Minnesota Foundation's assets by creating a focused investment environment with clarity of purpose, appropriate flexibility, and freedom to focus primarily on investment-related issues. For more information on how endowments are managed, please contact University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors.