Creating an Endowment
create your legacy at the university of vermont
Why Create an Endowment?
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Endowments at the University of Vermont provide a vital source of funding that supports scholarships, faculty positions, research, and innovative programs - ensuring long-term financial stability and academic excellence.By create new endowments or contributing to existing endowed funds, donors play a crucial role in sustaining UVM’s mission to deliver high-quality education and foster a vibrant, dynamic learning environment for future generations.
How an Endowment Works
An endowed fund provides perpetual funding for your philanthropic priorities. It is the best way to ensure your legacy at the University of Vermont and to ensure the vitality of the University.
When you make an endowment gift, your generosity is invested for the long-term. Your endowment will earn investment return as part of a diversified investment pool, administered in a uniform and prudent manner.
A portion of investment return provides annual funding for your endowed fund (currently 4.5% of the value of your endowment). To help ensure the value of your endowment over time and to provide a cushion in down markets, investment returns in excess of spending distributions are reinvested in your endowment.
Currently, the minimum commitment to create a new endowed fund is $50,000. We also have many donors that contribute to already established endowments with no minimum gift requirement.
Not only do you get to see your endowment benefit the area you love on campus each and every year, but we will also send you annual reports that illustrate how your endowment is growing from investment performance.
The Process
We'll help get you started and answer all of your questions. Start by choosing an area to support at UVM, like a scholarship, professorship, or program. An endowment is forever, so the purpose needs to be sufficiently broad to last hundreds of years.
1. Get in touch
Name the endowment after yourself, in memory of a beloved family member or friend, or in honor of a loved one or an important campus figure, like your favorite faculty member.
2. Name Your Fund
Tell us your motivation for creating the endowment or give us a history of the namesake. It can be as short or as long as you see fit. Your legacy will be carried through your words to generations of students, faculty and alumni.
3. Write Your Intentions
You can fully fund a new endowment right away with a gift of $50,000 or more. You can make a pledge over 1-5 years. Or you can create your endowment through an estate gift - like a gift in your Will.
4. Make Your Pledge
Let's explore what's possible together.
Talk to someone who can help.