Sure, there are a couple of ways a gift can be structured. An endowment is a perpetual fund that gets invested by University money managers and a portion of the annual dividend/interest is distributed for the named cause each year. The current minimum is $50,000 to start one and it can come from one person or group of people who raise it and it can be increased over time. I believe they distribute about 5-7% a year and skim a percentage to fund the fundraising call center. So a $50k fund would distribute about $2500-3500 annually to the named cause. This keeps the fund healthy in down market years and lets it still grow a little over time in step with inflation. There are many named scholarships that distribute smaller amounts like this. To fully fund something like a coach or professor position, you would need a lot more capital. Generically, UC Davis has an endowment of $1.66 billion held by the UC Davis Foundation, but this is made up of hundreds of funds, some very specific and some general.

The alternative to an endowment gift is a current use fund gift. This is spent in its entirety the year it is given and could be one-time or recurring. For example, if you want to give $2500 every year, but don't have the $50k for an endowed fund, you sign an agreement to give $2500 per year for x number of years and the award ends when you stop giving. Again they skim a percentage, so you actually have to give like $2750 for the recipient to get $2500.

There are also a few capital funds for specific projects, like there's one to fundraise for Baseball batting tunnels.

If you go to give.ucdavis.edu and search "athletics," you will get a long list of funds you could donate to, some endowed and some current use. They don't advertise how much is in any one fund. I don't know how forthcoming Athletics would be if you asked, but I know on other funds the University is coy about their investment details.

One thing to keep in mind is that there is always fine print saying that your gift is irrevocable and the chancellor can redirect to other uses without your permission if they see fit. Not common, but happens. For example, there was an Aggie Band endowment that was pretty clear in that it could only be spent on a student-run band and if such a band ceased to exist, the alumni band would direct its use. When the Band-uh got burned down, the university stole the endowment funds for unintended uses and said the chancellor could unilaterally do whatever he wanted without recourse. After much fighting, the University made a "one time exception" to allow donors to redirect their donation to a different endowment but categorically refused refunds. Again, this is not a common situation, but I was insulted enough that I cut off donating to any endowment funds. If it concerns you that some chancellor in 20 years might co-opt your gift for something you disagree with and you have significant funds, you would need to form a private foundation to carry out your wishes. The University hates that idea by the way, since it takes control away from them.

is this question inspired by the FCS Facebook page? There’s a moderator there constantly harping on our Ivy-like endowment and, hence, our huge cash buck for football. How we can just write a check to move to FBS. You know, just like the Ivy schools!

"...move to FBS. You know, just like the Ivy schools!"

Which are FCS, and play, I think, only a ten game schedule in a non-pandemic year, AND do not compete in football play-offs. Friend of mine was on an "olympic sport" team at an Ivy. School is now, AGAIN, threatening to cut the sport and the alums are reaching into their wallets.

I was being sarcastic. There are a couple guys on this FCS Facebook page always harping on our Huge amount of cash and how we can EASILY move up. Bring up our endowment constantly as if it’s all going into football.

To that Facebook poster-- while $1.6B is nothing to sneeze at, the annual report says that current year gifts and endowment income represent about 5% of UCD's revenue. Schools like Stanford or Harvard see 20-30% of their revenue from those sources. They also nab a great deal more money from federal grants and contracts than we do. We have similar expenditures to Stanford (and deliver 2x the degrees). We had a deficit last year but they and the ivies scored a surplus because of the bull market. Over the last 30 years, our philanthropic resources have not grown at the same rate that state funding has declined, so anyone who thinks there is a ton of discretionary cash sitting around would be mistaken. But even if we did have the cash, would it be a good ROI in terms of recruitment, revenue, or name recognition? Not likely in our market right now. Same for the Ivies. "I had never heard of Harvard until they bought their way to a semi-obscure bowl game, but now I might apply" said no one ever. But if you're South Alabama, investing heavily in peripherally-relevant FBS football may have reasonable ROI in their market. This isn't really directed at you DrMike, it's more just facepalm at that recurring thought line.

I tend not to comment on Facebook with solid information like this -> I think it might be forbidden!! Easier to just scroll on by. A week ago someone was wondering why our COVID numbers in Livermore were so much higher than the rest of the Tri-Valley. Usual non-fact finger pointing. I mentioned our Hispanic population is at least twice our neighbors and they are being infected at SEVEN times the rate as whites and Asians. Boy, I got some heated replies implying racism. I was just stating data.

Hi all,

It was just a general question that I had. I noticed our endowment number was over a billion, but feel like it should be much higher with how old our school is.

Do the posters who take shots at Davis indicate where they are from?

(I was not clear in my reply. I suspected you were being sarcastic. Wonder if the detractors suspected as much.)

A common occurence when simply stating facts.

Speaking of Latinos, have you been to El Chaparrito in Spingtown? I went when they just had 3 picnic tables. Great family run place.

EWU guy. I think a bit of an inferiority complex.

Movie - I have been there. Good food. I tend to forget about it even though it’s only 2 miles or so from our house. Golf course was a dump, but I could zip over there for a quick nine holes and not be missed at work!

Link or name of the FCS Facebook page?
Searching for "FCS facebook page" leads me to FCS or FCSfins - Outdoor & Sporting Goods Company.

FCS Fans Nation

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FCSFansNation/?ref=share


LOTS of Bison talk

Here’s an example of the endowment talk there (edited to California schools:

What each school is known for in the Big Sky for football

-Cal Poly- Academics (very smart football players)

-Sac State- yellow track around their football

- UC Davis- Rich Bastards


Pretty sure this list is solid but where am I wrong and right?


I pointed out we had 15 all academics at the 6th ranked public university while the smart guys at Poly had 5 (and they’re not in the top 100)

Yes...this!

Most public land grant universities of our size and prestige category have endowments between $1-3B. There are a few exceptions in the $4-10B range with a long history of donors. Many private schools have much larger endowments because they have been fundraising much longer. UCD didn't really kick endowment fundraising into high gear until the mid-2000s. Before the budget impasses of the Davis/Schwarzenegger years, state funding probably seemed more predictable. For future endowment building, I am aware that Mrak Hall is concerned that we have below average alumni engagement compared to similar universities and before the pandemic they were assembling a team to study this. Not coincidental that they cleaned house at the alumni association. I have my own hypotheses and I hope their study is revealing. The new guard at CAAA legitimately thinks the ticket to wider appeal is holding more Friday afternoon webinars about diversity and social justice.

Ugh.