(Note: OLPM sections on this page may be cited following the format of, for example, "BOT.IV.G.1.1". These policies may be amended at any time, do not constitute an employment contract, and are provided here only for ease of reference and without any warranty of accuracy. See OLPM Main Menu for details.)
G. Quasi-endowments (also known as Funds Functioning as Endowments)
- Trustee Delegation of Authority
- The Board of Trustees delegates to its Financial Affairs Committee responsibility and authority for final approval of all interfund transfers, including transfers of current, loan and plant funds to establish or add to quasi-endowment funds.
- The Financial Affairs Committee delegates to the Treasurer responsibility and authority for approval of transfers to quasi-endowments in amounts of $1,000,000 or less upon request from a President or the Chancellor with respect to their institution's identified funds. It is the intent of this policy to aggregate like transactions when determining the applicable approval procedure.
- Definition of and Accounting for Quasi-endowment Funds
- Quasi-endowments are funds that have been transferred from another source to be retained and invested in the Consolidated Endowment Pool (CEP) with the true endowment at the direction of the Financial Affairs Committee (or in the case of amounts under $1,000,000 at the direction of a President or the Chancellor). Quasi-endowments differ from true endowments, which are amounts received by USNH subject to a requirement by a donor or other external provider that the funds be invested in perpetuity.
- The original source of quasi-endowment funds may be current restricted, current unrestricted, loan, or plant funds. If the original source of funds was restricted as to purpose by a donor or other external resource provider, the quasi-endowment will be classified as restricted and the use of the annual distribution of endowment earnings will be similarly restricted.
- Ordinarily the Treasurer will not authorize the establishment of a quasi- endowment of less than $25,000 unless there is a plan to build the fund to at least $25,000 through future transfers or a commitment to reinvest the annual earnings in the fund until it reaches a $25,000 balance.
- Revocation of Quasi-endowment Funds
- Because a quasi-endowment results from an internal designation as opposed to a legally binding external requirement, a quasi-endowment may be revoked in the future. A revocation of a quasi-endowment of any amount requires the vote of the Financial Affairs Committee.