Athletic Endowments
Limestone Society
Endowments & Planned Giving
Invest in the Jayhawk Tradition of Excellence
There is no better way to create a lasting legacy with Kansas Athletics than to establish an endowment perpetually supporting something you are passionate about in Kansas Athletics. With cost of attendance at KU prohibiting some access to a Jayhawk education, and a desire to be as competitive in the Big 12 as possible, your support is more important now than ever. Currently, Kansas Athletics spends over $15.5 million dollars, annually on scholarship aid for our 500 student-athletes. Of that $15.5M, over $1.5M is currently covered by Athletic Endowments. Kansas Athletics has enjoyed a long, proud tradition, but we are continually striving to strengthen our athletic and academic legacy. With your support, Kansas Athletics can further endow our scholarship, operational, coaching and programmatic costs, further enhancing our financial stability while providing educational opportunities for our student-athletes, now and forever.
How Can I Create an Athletic Endowment?
You may establish an Athletic Endowment in many ways! With a minimum commitment or pledge of $50,000, you can establish a named, endowed athletic fund over a period of years. When you endow a fund, you may name it after yourself, or you may name it to honor and pay tribute to mentors or loved ones. You may establish an endowment with gifts of:
Establishing a planned gift such as a bequest in your will, a charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder trust or by utilizing IRA or retirement assets
Any combination of these options
Scholarship Endowment
Gifts to our Scholarship endowment program directly supports our student-athletes in their academic endeavors and provides financial assistance in covering scholarship costs such as: tuition, books, room and board.
Program Endowment
Similar to scholarship endowments, a program endowment can provide perpetual support for recruiting and associated software, team travel, equipment, nutrition services, student-athlete support services, etc. These dollars benefit our coaches and student-athletes alike and offer budget relief annually.
Coaching Endowment
Recruiting and retaining the very best coaches is competitive, with costs increasing over time. A coaching endowment provides the means to reduce costs associated with salary and other related expenses for a particular coaching position
How do Endowed funds work?
With the expertise of KU Endowment, your gift is invested in a highly-diversified, long-term investment program. The principal remains permanently invested and each year distributes support for the purpose you direct. Investment returns above the distribution rate help the value of the endowment increase over time. We invest endowed funds with the objective of generating a stable source of funding both now and in the future. For example, a gift of $100,000 given in 1988 would have provided over $250,000 in support to date, and a current principle of over $230,000. (See chart) For more information on Athletic Endowment, please contact our Williams Education Fund team by email at: wef@ku.edu.