International Stewardship Award Spotlight

University of Florida's Welcome to the Endowment Communications

Patrick Sell
Director of Stewardship
University of Florida Advancement

2019 ISA Winner
Click here to view original submission

2020 Update: Improved Faculty Engagement and Spending Rates

The University of Florida launched its “welcome to the endowment” communication project in February, 2019. The goal of the project is to set stewardship expectations for first-time donors to the endowment, and for new faculty holders of endowed funds, while also addressing common misunderstandings about the endowment.

In 2019, we mailed over 70 welcome to the endowment materials to first-time endowment donors. Relationship managers are notified prior to distribution, a step that has strengthened the relationship between Donor Relations and Development staff. Several development officers have commented about the value that this piece provides, and some have begun to take the welcome to the endowment materials with them on donor solicitations. In addition, this communication offers a new touchpoint for middle-of-the-pyramid endowment donors who would not have not been stewarded beyond receiving an annual endowment report (AER) in the past. Now these donors receive a welcome to the endowment booklet one month after their first endowed fund is created. The booklet explains the annual endowment reporting process in greater detail, which enhances the effect of the AER once it arrives later in the year.

For the launch of the faculty version of the welcome to the endowment project, we mailed over 500 copies to every fund administrator, faculty holder of an endowment, and dean. This communication built upon the implementation of a mandatory online fund administrator training that was rolled out in 2018. We have seen clear indications that faculty across campus are improving their stewardship practices as a result of these initiatives. The faculty return rate of narrative impact reports for the annual endowment reporting process increased from less than 80%, prior to the launch of the project, to 97% this past year. The number of endowed funds with minimal spending rates continues to decrease as faculty increasingly understand the stewardship problem that unspent funds can engender. With increased understanding of how stewardship can bring additional funding to their departments, we are seeing improved engagement between Development and faculty as a result of these initiatives.