Giving to the University of Montana
Giving Opportunities
- Academic Programs |
- Endowments |
- Facilities |
- Faculty Support |
- Opportunity Funds |
- Contacts by School |
- Scholarships and Fellowships
Endowments
"You cannot have great societies without great universities; you cannot have great universities without philanthropy." – President George M. Dennison
Endowed funds are permanently invested in the Foundation's pooled investment portfolio to provide spendable income for donor-designated purposes. The investment goal for endowment is based on the total return philosophy, where investment returns are sought from both market appreciation and from dividend interest. The endowment portfolio is diversified between fixed income and equity holdings. In keeping with the total return philosophy, the endowment pool has a spending rate – currently 4.25 percent of a three-year moving average of the value of the endowment pool – established and reviewed annually by the Foundation Board of Trustees. The objective of the spending rate is to provide a predictable stream of income to the program while allowing the growth of principal to equal or outpace the rate of inflation.
The Montana Endowment Tax Credit offers incentives for Montanans to make a planned gift to endowed funds.
Minimum Naming Levels for Endowments
- Chair: $2.5 million
- Distinguished Professorship: $1.5 million
- Professorship: $1 million
- Artist / Scholar-in-Residence: $1.5-2 million
- Distiguished Faculty Fellowships: $625,000-700,000
- Faculty Fellowships: $200,000-300,000
- Graduate Fellowships: $250,000-500,000
- Presidential Scholarships: $120,000-180,000
- MUS Honor Scholarships: $85,000
- Scholarships (Need-based and Other) begin at $25,000
- Distinguished Lectureships: $500,000
- Opportunity Funds: $20,000
- Capital Projects begin at $25,000
