What Are Endowments?

An endowment is a gift or bequest of money or property that is given for permanent support of the college. Such gifts to Dickinson become endowment, invested by our Board of Trustees to produce income, which supports and improves scholarship opportunities or the educational program. A portion of the income is reinvested to help the fund grow.

Dickinson 's historical commitment to provide educational access for the best and brightest as well as to promote active pedagogy is sustained by the investment of our donors and by Dickinson 's wise investment practices. Increasing the endowment ensures that Dickinson continues to generate income to promote educational excellence and provide a stable source of financial support for student aid, faculty support, and the preservation, upgrades, and maintenance of campus buildings.

Whatever a donor's particular area of interest, the college's endowment policies allow each vision to become—and remain—a reality.

How Endowments Work

Endowed gifts are held in perpetuity. The college invests the initial gift and spends only a portion of the average annual investment return. The remaining income is added to the principal as protection against the eroding consequences of inflation. Thus, the benefactor who makes an endowment gift today may be confident that it will grow and continue to support its intended purpose far into the future.

Types of Endowments

Endowed Chairs

An endowed chair reflects a benefactor's abiding commitment to Dickinson 's academic mission and stature. The generosity of these benefactors provides distinguished faculty -- and Dickinson -- with support, stature, and renown. Benefactors' names are linked in perpetuity to the accomplishments of the scholars supported by their gifts. Being named to a chair is the highest reward for academic achievement. Those so honored are respected throughout the world as leaders in their fields.

A minimum of $1.5 million will endow a chair at Dickinson College . Income from the endowment supplements the chair holder's salary and provides funds for course development, essential equipment, scholarly travel, and secretarial assistance.

Endowed Programs

Many distinctive opportunities are available to support endowed funds for academic initiatives. Student/Faculty Research; funding for a particular academic area; or to provide support for a program on campus such as the ALLARM program, Community Studies, International Fieldwork program, etc. are but a few of the ways your support might assist the College.

Endowed Scholarships

To ensure that the most qualified students -- regardless of their economic circumstances -- can experience Dickinson , requires a substantial and relatively stable source of funding. Such funding typically is defrayed by donors who choose to endow scholarships at Dickinson .

Like most institutions, the scholarship component of our annual operating budget continues to rise. Studies show that today's brightest high school seniors worry that they will not be able to afford all four years of college. Your support will allow us to continue to admit these most deserving students, without endangering other elements of our program.

A minimum of $50,000 is required to endow a scholarship at Dickinson . Scholarships at this level are considered to be general scholarships, meaning that they will be awarded in the donor's name to a student with demonstrated need.

For a gift of at least $100,000, a scholarship may be named for the donor or in commemoration of a friend or loved one. You may decide to focus your fund's support for students from a particular geographic region, or for students in a specific academic program. Although fewer restrictions make scholarships more accessible to all deserving Dickinson College students, Development staff can tailor scholarships to meet the individual specifications of every donor.

Depending on your wishes and the needs of eligible students, your endowed fund can provide full or partial scholarships to students. Endowed funds also can support other scholarly pursuits, such as internships, summer study or study abroad.

Experienced financial aid officers or other senior administrators manage the selection of scholarship recipients, carefully matching the scholarship criteria with the needs and characteristics of student applicants.

Annual Scholarships

Named annual scholarships are designed to encourage scholarship support at levels of $2,500 and above. Because most of the annual fund directly supports financial aid, the annual scholarship program does not divert unrestricted income from other areas of the college. In addition to providing much needed financial relief, this program allows donors to build personal relationships with students. It also gives students a first-hand look at the importance of philanthropic support.

First preference for annual scholarships is given to students who have financial need and who have done well academically. Recipients are nominated by the financial aid committee. Scholarships established during the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) will be awarded the follow academic year.

Gifts may be made in $2,500 increments, allowing donors to name each successive increment. For example, a gift of $10,000 allows a donor to name four annual scholarships of $2,500 each. Donors may name scholarships for themselves, their businesses or organizations, or in memory of or in honor of someone.

Each annual scholarship donor is recognized as a member of the John Dickinson Society at the appropriate level and receives all benefits associated with that level of membership.

Donors and Scholars Together

Dickinson is proud to host an on-campus event each spring honoring our Endowed and Annual Scholarship donors. During the “Building the Future Together” luncheon donors can meet their scholarship recipients and witness the results of a "Distinctively Dickinson" education first-hand. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to correspond annually with their scholarship sponsors.

Ways to Give

Payment of gifts can be designed in a multitude of fashions unique to your own personal situation.

• an outright gift or multi-year pledge;
• a planned gift, such as a gift annuity or charitable remainder trust, which provides income to you and/or another beneficiary for life;
• a bequest;
• a combination of the above

Assets that can be used include:

• cash;
• appreciated securities (which provide the best tax benefits);
• real estate;
• IRA or qualified retirement plan

Contact Us

For more information about becoming a donor, contact a staff member of the Dickinson College Office of Development.

Use our toll-free telephone number, (800) 543-3809, or contact the Development Office via e-mail at giving@dickinson.edu . For a list of Development Office staff, please go to the Contact Us section of this site.

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