Many donors to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) have chosen to support the University by making a gift with the intention of transforming the faculty and student experience. Gift funds can make a tangible impact for benefiting units. In the last fundraising campaign (Be Boundless, 2010-2020), we established:
- $590M overall for CAS
- $56M for direct support to students, including 76 scholarship funds & 67 fellowship funds
- $68M for faculty support, including 22 new endowed professorships and 10 new endowed chairs
With this influx of gifts comes a large number of budget numbers to manage. This set of pages is intended to help Unit Administrators understand the basics of how these gift funds work. If you already have a working knowledge of these but are hoping to understand the gift funds already available for your use, please navigate directly here.
Gift Fund Lifecycle
Back to TopThe gift fund life cycle typically involves three major phases. For further details, click on the associated link under each section.
Fund Establishment
- The unit, donors, and Advancement collaborate to craft a gift agreement.
- Less commonly, the unit creates a fund to fundraise into.
- This page outlines the steps involved in establishing a new fund and/or a gift budget.
Fund Usage
- The administering unit spends the fund in accordance with donor intent and university regulations.
- This page discusses the basic steps of understanding the allowable expenses on a fund, as well as other important considerations such as stewardship.
Closing the fund
- As balances dwindle, administering units close out gift funds and clear them from their budget lists.
- This page outlines the required steps in closing out a gift fund. It also provides recommendations in cases where full spend-down is difficult or impossible.