The Endowment Handbook

Up-to-date reference on building endowment, reserves, and enduring relationships in the modern world

The Endowment Handbook is a comprehensive overview of endowments and reserves, covering key changes brought about by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the pandemic, and calls for social change which have caused dramatic shifts in donor behavior, market performance, and society's perceptions (good and bad) of endowed funds and the rising popularity of strategic reserves. This new publication reflects these changes and provides examples for attracting new kinds of assets like Cryptocurrency and building relationships that will sustain a cause for the future.

Written by Laura MacDonald, Principal and Founder of Benefactor Group and frequent speaker at local, regional, and national conferences, Endowment Handbook covers every aspect of endowments and reserves from preplanning, to identifying, cultivating, and establishing prospective donors, all the way to marketing and measuring success. In this book, you'll learn about:



Technical information describing endowments, balanced with some of the emerging critiques of endowments and growing preferences for strategic reserves
Effective messaging strategies for endowment funds, such as the “follow-the-leader” effect and citing “donor agency”
Use of data screening and AI tools, social media outreach, and behavioral research to increase donor engagement

As interest in financial sustainability continues to grow, The Endowment Handbook is an essential resource for nonprofit organizations, healthcare systems, universities, and others seeking to leverage the enormous transfer of wealth from generations demonstrating high levels of philanthropy and civic engagement.