Endowments
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The Gift that keeps giving
Establishing an endowment is the best way to create a legacy with your giving. Endowments are invested and grow in value over time. While the initial gift (as well as any additional gifts made) remain untouched, the funds generated by those investments are put towards scholarships, programs, facilities, or any other area for which each endowment has been designated.
How It Works
When an endowment is created, the principal is invested and remains untouched. Additional gifts can be made to the fund and will also remain untouched. Each year, Cottey takes a Board of Trustees-approved draw from the endowment (currently 4.5% of its value) to support its designated cause. Therefore, the more we have in our endowments, the more funds are available to us each year. If an endowment does not have a designation, the funds go towards the operations of the college.
Endowments make it possible for us to keep costs low for students, provide them with financial support, and bring new and innovative programs to our institution. With an endowment, a gift of $25,000 in the year 2024 to be worth $140,000 in 2075, leading to indefinite support for students for generations to come!
Amount to Start an Endowment
In order to keep current with the today’s standards, in January 2025, the minimum required to start an endowment will be moving from $10,000 to $25,000. This change will ensure that each endowment will be able to make the substantial impact for which it is designed. To start an endowment before this minimum is increased, reach out to advancement@cottey.edu.
Additional Information
Anything can be endowed! From scholarships to professorships, to academic or athletic programs, to equipment, you can designate your endowment to whatever you would like.
If your endowed funds are not generating enough income for us to withdraw the board approved draw, we will hold off on utilizing withdraws until the fund recovers, ensuring that your principal balance remains untouched.
Every year, Cottey will send you a Donor Report, showing you how your endowment is doing and the impact that your gift is having on students, programs, and Cottey as a whole.
The decision to increase the minimum amount for an endowment was based on a recommendation provided to Cottey through an audit of our Institutional Advancement Office. This audit was conducted by Gonzer Gerber who works with advancement offices at colleges and universities around the country. They indicated – and further research on our part supported this assertion – that $10,000 was considered low by today’s standards, and $25,000 was much more in line with common practice.
You will work closely with a member of our Institutional Advancement team when creating and maintaining your endowment. If you have a current endowment and are not sure who to talk to about redesignating your gift, reach out to our team at advancement@cottey.edu.