For a long time. The first college and university foundation – KU Endowment – was established in 1891 to support the University of Kansas. Since that time, thousands of public colleges and universities have established college and university foundations. Foundations affiliated with 4-year public colleges and universities were typically established in the first half of the twentieth century while community colleges began to establish foundations in the 1960s-70s.

While all college and university foundations are separate legal entities from their institutions, their level of independence varies. Some foundations are completely independent, employing and paying for their own staff, office space, computer systems, etc. Most foundations, however, share staff, office space, and systems with their institutions. Many foundation chief executives also serve as vice presidents or vice chancellors of advancement or development at their college.

Regardless of their degree of independence, all college and university foundations exist to support their institution.

Some donors feel more secure in making major gifts to a foundation governed by individuals with specialized legal, business, and financial management expertise. Unlike public college and university regents or trustees, who are typically politically appointed or elected and have primary responsibility for institutional governance, foundation trustees are recruited for their ability to raise and manage private support for the benefit of those served by the institution. They also have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that gifts are managed and spent in strict accordance with donors’ wishes.

In many instances, foundations can also protect the privacy of donors who wish to remain anonymous or do not want the details of their personal finances to become a matter of public record.

Like other charitable organizations, college and university foundations are governed by an independent volunteer board. In addition to serving as fiduciaries for the foundation, foundation board members support the college or university in a variety of ways. They typically contribute personally, serving as leaders and examples for other donors. Foundation board members also help staff with prospect identification, solicitation, and stewardship. And they may also serve as representatives and/or advocate on behalf of the foundation with the media and lawmakers.

Typically, the president/chancellor of the college or university and/or other senior institutional staff sit on the foundation board. In most cases, the CEO or executive director of the foundation also holds a senior, cabinet-level position within the educational institution, such as vice president/vice chancellor of advancement. These arrangements help maintain open communication between the foundation and the institution it serves.

As public charities, college and university foundations are accountable to their donors and to the students, faculty, staff, and trustees of the institution they support. They are also legally accountable to

the Internal Revenue Service and state agencies that oversee charitable organizations (typically attorneys general). Foundations must file an annual IRS Form 990 information return, which is a public document. Additionally, foundation annual reports, gift and endowment reports, investment performance summaries, audit summaries, and financial statements are routinely made available on foundation websites or are available upon request. Most foundations also honor requests for other information that does not compromise the privacy or financial information of their donors.

College and university foundations are established to support students, research, and learning. They are not a vehicle for shielding information from the public. CASE encourages foundations to be as open with information as possible, especially as it pertains to expenditures and uses of funds, while recognizing that donors often consider and request that their gift information remain confidential.

No. College and university foundations are public charities as defined by the Internal Revenue Code. As such, they receive funds from many different donors in the form of charitable contributions. In contrast, private foundations are distinct from public charities in the Internal Revenue Code. Most private foundations:

• are established by a single donor (typically an individuals or corporation),
• do not solicit funds from other donors, and
• are governed by boards controlled by donors, family members, or representatives of donor corporations who make decisions about how to spend and invest foundation funds.

A small number of private colleges and universities have established separate foundations. These institutions typically establish foundations as a way of focusing attention on private fundraising and as a means of capitalizing on the talent and interest of prominent and successful alumni and other friends of the institution. Most private institutions, however, do not have separate college and university foundations.

In the early 1990s, CASE convened a group of about thirty college and university foundation executives, many of whom were members of the Society of Institutionally Related Foundations, or SIRF. SIRF, an independent organization based primarily in the New England states, was formed to encourage information sharing among college and university foundation chief executives. Following this convening, CASE established the National Center for Institutionally Related Foundations and the National Committee for Institutionally Related Foundations to demonstrate the association’s commitment to serving the unique needs of college and university foundations.

In 1993, SIRF and CASE partnered on a meeting in San Antonio for college and university foundation executives. The meeting was so successful that leaders of both organizations decided to make the convening an annual event. A few years later, the meeting was formally re-named the CASE Conference for Institutionally Related Foundations, an annual conference that continues to this day.

In 2020, CASE replaced the “institutionally related foundations” label with “college and university foundations.”