Throughout 2016, NC State’s endowment fund increased, despite the fact that Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill faced considerable decreases in their endowment funds. A report by the National Association of College and University Business Officers showed that NC State saw an increase in funds in 2016, with the total now valued at more than $1 billion.
Mike Dickerson, the director of Information and Accounting Systems at NC State, felt this increase could be due to Chancellor Woodson’s focus on endowments and capital campaign fundraising. An endowment is a donation made to the university by an individual or a company that usually goes toward scholarships, fellowships and research. The amount of endowment funds a university receives is affected by multiple factors.
“The endowment value depends on three factors: new gifts, less endowment spending that endowments provide and plus or minus investment market performance,” Dickerson said. “For fiscal year ‘16, compared to fiscal year ‘15, we have an increase of $50 million.”
According to Brian C. Sischo, the vice chancellor of University Advancements, endowments tend to be long term and provide an alternative to less stable sources of revenue such as state appropriations.
“The university’s endowment provides ongoing, significant support that impacts our students’ experience,” Sischo said. “Scholarships, fellowships, professorships and chairs, study abroad, library collections, programs, research and facilities, among so many other things that donors wish to support at NC State.”
The endowment’s donors include individuals, many of whom are alumni and friends, companies and other organizations. Their donations, large or small, goes toward whichever cause the donor chooses.
Many of the programs impact students, which is part of why Sischo and Dickerson find the money from the endowment so important.
“There is a direct benefit to students, which is why there is a focus on increasing the size of the endowment,” Dickerson said.
Ashley Scoville, a junior studying nuclear engineering, is one of the students who sees the increasing size of the endowment as a benefit.
“I know that the endowment is over $900 million and that it goes to funding the library, faculty research, professorships, scholarships and fellowships,” Scoville said. “I think these are all great resources for the funds to go to, especially scholarships for students.”
As NC State continues to expand, Scoville believes the money from the endowment can be used to improve the university for future students.
“NC State is looking to widen its engineering campus and resources,” Scoville said. “I think funding for these buildings, resources for undergraduate labs and current research going on at NC State will help the university to continue to be a leader in innovation.”
The Think and Do the Extraordinary campaign, which was started in October 2016, is ensuring that the upward trend of the university’s endowment will continue. This campaign encourages private support from individuals and organizations and has a goal of raising $1.6 billion by 2021. $800 million of this amount will go toward endowments.
“To date, we’ve raised $1,066,386,690 through the generosity of more than 55,500 households and 4,000 organizations,” Sischo said. “Since the public launch, Chancellor Woodson and I have met with more than 1,500 alumni and friends across the country to discuss why philanthropy is so important and invite them to be a part of the campaign.”
In all, Sischo credits Woodson and faculty for this improvement in endowments NC State has seen throughout the past year.
“Their ongoing ability to engage constituents and share where the university is going and the resources needed to get there resonates with alumni and friends,” Sischo said. “It’s also important for donors or prospective donors to know that their collective support — gifts at any level — make an impact and allow NC State to do the extraordinary.”
