Create an Endowment

Endowments and memorial gifts provide an opportunity to commemorate your particular area of interest while making a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one. There are a variety of special gift opportunities to allow donors to support a particular program of the college, including scholarships, faculty research, athletics and numerous other programs.

Here’s how one kind of endowment – an endowed scholarship – can work:

1. An alumna makes a $50,000 gift* to the School of the Arts to establish a named endowed scholarship in memory of her father.

2. A gift agreement is drawn up between Geneseo and the donor, guaranteeing that her gift will be added to the general endowment fund to be used solely for its stated purpose.

3. The donor's named scholarship fund buys units in the College's larger endowment pool, much as one buys shares in a mutual fund.

4. The Geneseo Foundation Board's Investment and Endowment Committee prudently invests the donor's gift across major assets in the College's portfolio to maximize return.

5. As predetermined by the Investment and Endowment Committee, a portion of the annual income generated by the named fund's investments is used to provide a scholarship for one music student per year – the fund's principal remains intact and is never spent.

6. The remainder of the earned income, minus the payout, is returned to the named fund's principal, hedging against inflation and ensuring growth.

7. The named fund continues to grow, thereby ensuring that the current scholarship support is the same or greater in the future.

* $50,000 is the minimum amount required to establish an endowment.

This is just one example of how an endowment gift can have a lasting impact. In addition to scholarships, donors have a wide range of endowment gift options.. They can endow faculty chairs and professorships, academic programs, student activities, or initiatives of the library, athletics, or other programs or departments. Whether given as an outright gift, pledge or bequest, an endowment gift is a win-win for all concerned.

Questions?

Please contact Lynn Myers, Director of Advancement Services, at (585) 245-5518 or myers@geneseo.edu or the Office of the Vice President for College Advancement at (585) 245-5519.