Making a Gift

Endowed and Annual Gifts

An endowment is an investment of permanent funds, a portion are available for annual spending. For example, a $25,000 adult learner scholarship endowment might generate 10 percent annual growth in the current market and pay out 5 percent annually to be used to award a scholarship; the remaining 5 percent would be added to the principal to adjust for inflation. The idea is that the funds donated are permanent, and only the earnings on them are available for spending by Penn State Outreach.

Annual gifts are raised and spent in their entirety each year.

Naming Opportunities and Endowment Specificity

Endowments provide exceptional opportunities for donors to name gifts and to specify projects or programs that are of interest to them. All endowed gifts can carry the name of the donor or loved one. In addition, the focus of an endowment can be specific. For example, if John Smith wants to support a Public Broadcasting programming initiative for children and honor his wife Jane, he could endow a fund that might be called "The Jane Smith Fund for Excellence in Children’s Programming." Listed below are some of the naming opportunities available and the corresponding required funding levels.

Endowment Opportunity and Amount

• Naming of Dean's Chair—$5 million
• Naming of Department Head's Chair—$3 million
• Naming of Chair—$2 million
• Naming of Professorship, Curatorship, or Fellow—$1 million
• Naming of Graduate Fellowship—$250,000
• Naming of Undergraduate Scholarship—$50,000
• Naming of Program Support Endowment—$50,000
• Naming of Student Aid—$20,000

For more information about becoming a donor to Penn State Outreach, please contact:

Spencer Lewis
Director of Development
Penn State Outreach
The Pennsylvania State University
405 Keller Building
University Park PA 16802
Phone: 814-863-8792
E-mail: ssl2@psu.edu