Financial endowment

Engraving of Harvard College by Paul Revere, 1767. Harvard University's endowment was valued at $53.2 billion as of 2021.[1]

A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors.[2] Endowments are often structured so that the inflation-adjusted principal or "corpus" value is kept intact, while a portion of the fund can be (and in some cases must be) spent each year, utilizing a prudent spending policy.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation headquarters complex in Seattle as seen from the Space Needle

Endowments are often governed and managed either as a nonprofit corporation, a charitable foundation, or a private foundation that, while serving a good cause, might not qualify as a public charity. In some jurisdictions, it is common for endowed funds to be established as a trust independent of the organizations and the causes the endowment is meant to serve. Institutions that commonly manage endowments include academic institutions (e.g., colleges, universities, and private schools); cultural institutions (e.g., museums, libraries, and theaters); service organizations (e.g., hospitals, retirement homes; the Red Cross); and religious organizations (e.g., churches, synagogues, mosques).

Private endowments are some of the wealthiest entities in the world, notably private higher education endowments. Harvard University's endowment (valued at $53.2 billion as of June 2021)[3] is the largest academic endowment in the world.[4][5] As of 31 December 2022, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the second wealthiest private foundation, with an endowment of $67.3 billion.[6]

  1. ^ Ma, Virginia. "Harvard's Endowment Soars to $53.2 Billion, Reports 33.6% Returns". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Kenton, Will. "Endowment". Investopedia.
  3. ^ "Harvard's Endowment Soars to $53.2 Billion, Reports 33.6% Returns". The Crimson. 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
  4. ^ "Ivy League Endowments 2015: Princeton University On Top As Harvard Struggles With Low Investment Return". Ibtimes.com. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  5. ^ "Is Taxing Harvard, Yale and Stanford the Answer to Rising College Costs?". Wall Street Journal. 4 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Consolidated Financial Statements December 31, 2017 and 2016". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-04.