Written by Erin Delehanty.
This month’s Finance Division Knowledge Base spotlight is on how endowment spending budgets are calculated.
Foundations Accounting & Investments (FAI) calculates spending budgets for endowments held by the foundations and the University Endowment Fund annually and communicates those budgets to the benefiting colleges and units as appropriate. FAI is currently calculating endowment spending budgets for Fiscal Year 2025. Budgets will be communicated to the appropriate colleges and units in December, prior to the winter break.
As a reminder, budgets for the next fiscal year are communicated prior to winter break to assist colleges and units with budgeting activities and scholarship commitments in the spring. Endowment spending budgets for Fiscal Year 2025 will become available for expenditure on July 1, 2024.
The spending budget communication will be sent by email from Chris Lemons, FAI Endowment Accountant, to the following individuals in each college or unit, as applicable:
- Dean/Provost/Vice Provost/Program Director/etc.
- Assistant Dean for Finance
- Foundation President/Executive Director of Development
- Business Officer(s)/Coordinator(s)
- Others, as appropriate
Colleges and units will be asked to give special consideration whether to spend into corpus to fund budgets for Fiscal Year 2025. Due to the current market environment, FAI strongly encourages units not to spend into corpus unless there is a valid and necessary business reason to do so. Additional information and instructions for response regarding expenditure of corpus will be provided in the email communication.
For additional information about the Endowment Spending Policy and how endowment spending budgets are calculated, please view the following training videos: