Foundation executives and staff have a new tool to examine their IRF's activities to ensure compliance with laws, standards and best practices. The updated CASE Management and Governance Checklist for Institutionally Related Foundations (IRFs), reviewed and approved by the National Committee for Institutionally Related Foundations, covers compliance, governance and policies and procedures. It can be used by both new and experienced foundation leaders to conduct internal self-assessments of foundation programs and policies. In addition, IRF staff can use the Management and Governance Checklist Grid to track their progress.

USM Foundation President and CEO Leonard Raley chaired the National Committee which spearheaded the effort. Foundation Counsel Pamela Purcell also helped update the checklist.

For more information on the checklist, contact Brian Flahaven, CASE's director of government relations and institutionally related foundations, at flahaven@case.org or (202) 478-5617.

Billion-Dollar Campaigns Maintain Momentum in Tough Economy
Marts & Lundy Special Report

Despite the tough economy, billion-dollar campaigns in higher education are making "sufficiently strong monthly progress" and are on track to meet their goals. That's according to a new report that analyzed campaigns launched right before and after the onset of the recession. The Marts & Lundy Special Report notes that billion-dollar campaigns are generally maintaining momentum. Those launched before the recession, however, appear to be performing more strongly. Among other findings:

· Megagifts, defined in the study as $50 million or more, have not disappeared although a continued weakness persists in these gifts.

· The dramatic decline in giving predicted by some industry experts is not happening.

· The level of monthly progress should be sufficient to at least achieve, if not surpass, goals.

· Implications for new campaigns are that gifts can be, and are being, raised during the recession but that the current bull market has not yet had a measurable impact on giving. The report is available on the the Marts & Lundy Web site.

Slight Rebound for Endowments
Inside Higher Ed, 12/10/09

It appears that college and university endowments have begun to rebound from the economic downturn according to a preliminary report from the annual endowment study conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund. The report, which included responses from around 500 of the 800 institutions expected to complete the survey, found an average endowment return decline of 19 percent. While not good, it is much better than the 22.3 percent average endowment return decline predicted in an earlier NACUBO Commonfund analysis. The report also confirms that endowments at smaller institutions tended to fare better than endowments at larger institutions in fiscal year 2009. View full article.

Tags: January 2010

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 2:31 pm