On Dec. 11, the University of Portland announced a $20 million gift from an anonymous family with a 65-year connection to the institution, marking one of the largest single gifts in its history.
The funds are currently being invested in the University’s endowment in accordance with the donor’s instructions and will be allocated for spending once a gift agreement between the University and the donor family is finalized.
According to Vice President for University Relations Gregory Naleski, the funds are expected to support three key institutional priorities: enhancing student engagement, promoting academic excellence and expanding access to scholarships.
The protocol for accepting and spending a gift is complex. According to Naleski, donors retain the final authority to decide how and where their funds are allocated, and legal repercussions may arise if this is not followed.
Once the donor has made the decision as to how they wish to allocate the funds, honoring their intent is key to maintaining a healthy relationship with the donor as the funds begin to be spent, according to Naleski.
“Donor intent is very important because what we do is we just act as the conduit for the donors to be able to say, ‘We want to invest in the university. Can you help us understand where we can have the best impact with our gift?’” Naleski said.
Currently, the anonymous donor family has chosen to keep the funds in the University’s endowment while they deliberate on how to spend the funds, allowing the University to utilize an “endowment spinoff.”
Typically, the University moves funds from its institutional endowment to its operating budget and uses that money — along with tuition revenue — to pay the cost of running the school, from maintenance to salaries to scholarships.
But, when a donor endows a gift — as the donors have done in this case — the gift acts like a mini endowment: the school can draw from the gift, not the budget, to allocate funds to things such as scholarships.
“The endowment spin-off is what helps offset the operating costs of the budget,” Naleski said. “We're in an enrollment-driven school when it comes to our revenue, so the more we can grow the endowment, the less we're depending on enrollment revenue to hit the bottom line and to make this place run.”
According to Naleski, the anonymous donor family may choose to keep the money in the endowment or withdraw some of it for immediate use to support programs such as student health and wellness, financial aid, athletics, academic programs, student and faculty recruitment and the future Welcome and Engagement Center.
While the potential use of the funds is still under deliberation, Naleski believes the gift sends an important message that encourages others to donate.
“The family that made this gift, they have not decided where [or] which one of those funding priorities they want this [gift] to impact,” Naleski said. “What they do know is that now is the time for them to make this gift because they thought it was important for them to basically show the rest of the university and the rest of the community that these kinds of transformational gifts are really important.”
Several other members of the administration are also looking forward to what will come out of the historic gift.
For Director of University Relations and Strategic Initiatives Shelly Davidson, having conversations with the donor and working towards implementation marks a big step for the university.
“It's just an exciting time because it's one thing to receive the gift to know it's coming, and then it's another to start having the conversations about where the donor wants to have the impact,” Davidson said. “To start going through these projects that we've been talking about for a couple of years now and saying: ‘Which ones speak to you? Which ones are you passionate about and [which ones] do you want to see happen?’”
President Robert Kelly has also expressed how the gift signals huge support for the University’s mission.
“We are deeply grateful to accept this extraordinary gift from a proud Pilot family deeply committed to the University’s mission,” Kelly said in an email to the Beacon via Director of Public Affairs Dan Christopherson. “Their generosity will support our priorities of enhancing student access, supporting academic excellence, and strengthening student formation. Among the largest single gifts in University history, this donation is a testament to the strength of our institution and the brilliance of our students, staff, and faculty.”
Riley Martinez is a member of the editorial board. He can be reached at martinri24@up.edu.
