• nancy-d

    Member
    December 14, 2022 at 12:17 am

    I am the CEO of a nonprofit with a large endowment and a much smaller Board designated reserve fund, We have a Board investment committee made up of active and retired investment experts that hire several money managers. The results of each of the managers are compared and inform how much money is given to each of the money managers going forward. The Board investment committee members meet regularly with the money managers and provide consistent oversight without micromanaging. The full Board votes on the investment strategy annually and the Board investment committee members implement it. Equities generally make up 60-70% of the portfolio. The endowment is invested for growth with a set 4.5% payout for operations based on a five year average.of the funds. Using a five year average smooths out fluctuations of the payout. The smaller reserves come primarily from bequests or end of the year surplus. The reserve funds are invested but easily liquidated in case of an emergency or urgent need. In 1984, the endowment was about $8 million. It is now about $80 million. It is a true endowment with the majority of the funds donor restricted to using only interest and dividends. A smaller portion of the endowment has donor instructions to use interest, dividends and capital gains. The reserve fund is unrestricted.