Building an Endowment Takes Trust

“The money that comes in for annual giving goes immediately to current operations. An endowment is basically a savings account in perpetuity from which you draw the interest and earnings, so to speak,” Adams says.

It also can be challenging to get donors to give to both the annual fund and the endowment. There often is the fear that you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. The goal is to get annual-fund givers to give to the endowment above and beyond their annual gifts, as opposed to splitting it or diverting a portion of the amount they give yearly.