Endowment Funds
Design long-term capital structures for organizations that need durable funding.
Why this matters now
An endowment is the discipline of converting attention into permanence — a board moment, a sale, a capital raise, a major gift — into a vehicle that will still be funding the mission in twenty years. We help corporate foundations, universities, and large NGOs design endowment instruments that are credible to lawyers and donors, durable through governance turnover, and clear about what they will and will not fund.
What this includes
Vehicle design
The legal form (foundation, trust, donor-advised fund, university endowment), the jurisdiction, the relationship to the operating organisation, the tax position.
Investment policy statement
Risk tolerance, asset allocation, liquidity, ESG screen, return target, drawdown rules — drafted with the investment committee.
Spending policy
Distribution rules, the smoothing mechanism, the relationship between operating budget and endowment income, the rules for unrestricted versus restricted draws.
Donor and grant architecture
The naming policy, the named-fund template, the gift-acceptance policy, the grant-making process — all defensible.
What you receive
Strategy memo
One document that the board votes on — what the endowment is, what it is not, what success looks like in five years.
Founding documents
Charter, IPS, spending policy, gift-acceptance policy, conflict-of-interest policy.
Operating playbook
Investment cadence, donor cadence, grant cadence, audit and reporting cycle.
Year-one governance pack
Board calendar, committee charters, first investment review and first grants reviewed live.
How we work
Decision
Three weeks. Should this organisation have an endowment, in what form, and what the founding gift looks like.
Founding
Six to ten weeks. Legal set-up, IPS, board, custodian, first capital deployed.
Year one
Continuing. Quarterly investment review, annual donor and grant cycle, audit-grade reporting.
Maturity
Year two onward. Programme expansion, named funds, professionalisation of investment management.
Indicators of success
Capital deployed
Founding gift placed, IPS live, first distributions made on schedule.
Donor confidence
Named funds opening within the first 24 months — the credibility test of an endowment.
Audit-grade reporting
Independent audit clean; donors and the board see the same numbers.
Permanence
Governance survives a board change, a CEO change, and the first market downturn.
Common questions
Is an endowment right for us?
Often the right answer is a reserve fund or a donor-advised fund first, with the endowment as the second move. The decision is structural — once made, it is hard to undo.
How much capital is the floor?
The number depends on jurisdiction and on what the endowment is meant to fund. We answer this in the decision phase, with reference to comparable institutions.
Do you manage the assets?
No. We help select the custodian and the investment manager and stay on the board / advisory side. Independence is the point.
Discuss the next step
Describe the task, deadline and context. We will suggest the first practical route.