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Endowments

Graceland Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

By accepting gifts of endowment funds, Graceland University assumes the responsibility for ensuring that the gift will be held in perpetuity to provide for the intended purpose.

Graceland has over 300 endowments that support the university in four areas: faculty, institutional support, program support and scholarships. The largest of these areas in funding and in distribution is for scholarships, which means that by preparing for our future, we are helping Graceland students to better theirs.

Graceland’s endowment assets are invested in a balanced portfolio containing diverse stock and bond investments chosen to balance risk versus return. The investment objectives and guidelines are under the supervision of the board of trustees.

Endowment Policy

Due to administration costs and the need to provide a meaningful distribution, Graceland University requires a minimum investment of $50,000 to establish a named endowment. Naming opportunities for gifts between $10,000 and $49,999.99 are available and are pooled into a general fund of interest to the donor. Endowments can be for purposes such as scholarships for students in a particular discipline, or program needs such as academic resources, equipment or technology.

Endowments to support faculty positions, such as a professorship or chair, range from a minimum of $100,000 for a fellow to a minimum of $1,500,000 for a chair. The distributions from an investment of this size are needed to provide for salary and/or discretionary support for the faculty position.

Gifts of any size can be made to Graceland’s General Endowment or General Scholarship Endowment. Established named endowments can receive additional contributions at any time.

Give To An Endowment

Distribution of Endowment Earnings

An annual distribution from each endowment fund is made available to spend for the purpose of the fund. Based on the university’s longterm total objective, the distribution is equal to 5% of the average of the last three Dec. 31 market values of each fund. If endowment income received is not sufficient to support the total return objective, the balance is provided from accumulated gains. If income received is in excess of the objective, the balance is reinvested in the endowment to ensure the value of the endowment will keep pace with inflation and continue to provide meaningful annual distributions in the future.

If the market value of a specific endowment drops below the amount donated to the endowment, or if the application of the spending formula would result in the endowment falling below the donated amount, the board of trustees will consider the prudence of distributing funds from the endowment in compliance with the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA).

Naming Endowments

Donors have the opportunity to name their endowment after themselves, their family, or after someone they would like to honor.

Financial Highlights

Endowment Market Value

in thousands as of May 31

	Includes net assets of subsidiary,* market value of investment portfolio and other endowment assets
Year	Total Assets
2019	$51,342
2020	$42,371
2021	$53,301
2022	$58,073
2023	$52,580

*The Graceland College Center for Professional Development and Lifelong Learning (SkillPath)

Endowment Distribution Uses

in 2023-24

Total Endowment Distribution	$1,968,443	100%
Use	Amount	Percentage
Institutional Support	$72,142	3.66%
Faculty Support	$395,029	20.07%
Program Support	$403,119	20.48%
Scholarship Support	$1,098,153	55.79%

Interested in establishing an endowment?

Speak with a member of our advancement team.

Call us toll-free: 800.645.3582
Email us: development@graceland.edu

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