Endowment Overview

GW's Endowment includes approximately 1,150 individual endowment funds that are pooled for investment purposes, as well as separately-managed endowment vehicles.  Through the generosity of GW alumni and friends, and prudent financial management, GW's Endowment assets have grown more than eight fold since 1985 to $1.331 billion on June 30, 2011. 





The Endowment provides stable financial support to a wide variety of programs and activities in perpetuity, playing a critical role in enabling the University to achieve its mission. Programs supported by the Endowment include scholarships, chairs and professorships, fellowships, research activities and libraries.



Approximately 60 percent of GW's Endowment benefits the University overall, while the remaining funds are earmarked for individual schools and other entities. In fiscal year 2011, nearly $64 million in earnings was distributed from the Endowment, representing approximately 7.2 percent of the University’s operating expenses.



The vast majority of endowment funds are commingled for investment purposes and tracked with unit accounting much like a mutual fund. New endowment gifts purchase units in the investment pool at the prevailing market price per unit. Each individual endowment fund receives its pro rata share of earnings, and distributions are made in accordance with the Endowment spending policy. A pooled approach enables endowment funds, collectively, to take advantage of the diversification and economies of scale that are available only to large institutional investors.
 
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