Over the last 10 years, the NDSU Foundation’s endowment has skyrocketed in value and impact on North Dakota State University’s students, faculty, programs, and facilities. How does this happen? Two primary ways.

First, new gifts from you as a donor, supporting an endowed fund that you care about. Student scholarships continue to be a huge driver of our endowment – which shows in the number of endowments that go directly to student support. Without new gift investments from benefactors, the overall endowment would not grow at the rapid rates we have recently seen. For that, we say THANK YOU!

Second, a solid investment strategy that was put in place by the Foundation’s Investment Committee and outsourced chief investment officer, SEI. This team works closely with Foundation leadership to develop investment allocations and respond to emerging needs of NDSU and changing markets over time.

It’s the resulting impact of gift giving and investment strategy that delivers maximum value to campus. In 2014, the endowment produced $5.7 million in spending to campus and in direct support of the Foundation’s people and operations. In 2023, that figure was $20.1 million. Another way to look at the value is taking the endowment value and averaging it against student enrollment. In 2014, the endowment value per student was $8,753. At the end of 2023, it was $38,837.

At the end of the day, the Foundation’s greatest value proposition is support to campus. These are the dollars transferred to campus, according to donor intent, to support students, faculty, programs, and facilities. Over the last decade, more than $223.3 million has been delivered to campus!

On behalf of the Foundation staff and Trustees, we are thankful for your vote of confidence in the value proposition of our mission. We are committed to being excellent stewards of your gifts and always striving to ensure donor intent.

As always, we are transparent about our work and welcome your feedback. Please contact us via email at Office@NDSUFoundation.com or by calling 701.231.6800. Thank you for your continued confidence in and support of NDSU.