Ways to Give | UW College of Arts & Sciences

Impact for Generations

There are as many ways to give as there are donors, students, and research breakthroughs happening every day in the College of Arts & Sciences. Our donor community fosters success for our students, supports faculty in their cutting-edge research, and empowers the next generation of workforce leaders in Washington State and beyond. They help us remain at the leading edge internationally. Philanthropic gifts represent a partnership between the College and a donor, where the donor’s generosity is aligned with our strategic priorities, resulting in transformational change. Philanthropic gifts have the most impact when they are broad and flexible enough to meet the rapidly changing needs of the College and our community.

Your gift helps the College of Arts & Sciences meet the challenges of today and will make an impact for generations to come.

Broad, flexible funding

Broad, flexible funding enables the College of Arts & Sciences to remain nimble and excellent in the face of an ever-changing world. Also called “discretionary funds,” these gift funds have broad parameters for distribution and may be used to meet a variety of challenges that arise for the College over time. From supporting shifting student needs, to seeding new programs, to aiding vital research efforts, flexible funding helps Arts & Sciences remain strong and steady amid an era of immense change.

Make an Immediate Impact

CURRENT USE GIFTS

Current use gifts can be used to support pressing departmental needs, and are especially beneficial for starting new, innovative programming, faculty research projects, and learning opportunities. These types of gifts can be deployed immediately to support our students, faculty, and research enterprise. Current use gifts enable us to remain nimble in the face of turbulence in higher education and shifting department needs.

Giving to an existing fund that provides broad, flexible support means that your gift doesn’t need to meet a minimum threshold, and it will be pooled with other gifts designated for the same purpose to make an even greater impact. 
When you create a new current use fund, you may name it and place preferences on how funds may be used (remember, the less restrictive a gift is, the more potential it has to impact the College broadly!) To create and name a new current use fund, minimum gift thresholds must be met. The University will partner with you to craft a gift agreement that will define the terms and duration of the new fund.

Make an Impact in Perpetuity

ENDOWED GIFTS

Endowed gifts support the College in perpetuity, providing a permanent, reliable source of income year after year. Endowed gifts are invested in the University of Washington’s Consolidated Endowment Fund (CEF).  Our endowment calculator can help you get a sense for how your initial investment will grow.

Alternatively, giving to existing endowed funds such as the Arts and Sciences College Fund for Excellence allows your contribution to make an immediate impact on the College’s most pressing needs.

Giving to an existing endowment that provides broad, flexible funds means that your gift doesn’t need to meet a minimum threshold, and it will be pooled with other gifts designated for the same purpose to make an even greater impact. By growing the principal of an existing endowment, you will help to increase the quarterly distributions disbursed to the benefiting department over time.  

Gifts to existing endowed funds are invested on the first quarterly investment date after the gift is received.
New endowments can be created if a fund facilitating the impact you’d like to make doesn’t yet exist, or if it’s important for you to be able to name the fund or apply preferences on how it may be used. When you establish an endowment, you create a permanent legacy at the University of Washington.  

 In order to create and name a new endowed fund, the current minimum gift thresholds must be met. The College of Arts & Sciences will partner with you to craft a gift agreement that will define the terms of the new fund, and it will be invested on the first quarterly investment date after the fund minimum has been met.

Planned Giving

When you include the University of Washington in your planned giving, your generosity supports the preservation, advancement and sharing of knowledge. From including the College of Arts & Sciences in your estate to establishing a Charitable Remainder Trust that pays out while you’re alive, there are many ways a planned gift can benefit the College while enhancing your financial legacy. Read on for more information about types of planned giving:

Other ways of giving:

Frequently Asked Questions