President Heckler is Retiring(?) What kind of impact does this have on Athletics

[vu72]

For these "pledges" are they just verbal agreements or these documented in legal paperwork (trusts) that University is going to get this $ at the time of someone's death (and partners passing).

Cut that pledge number in half of it's just a verbal agreement, because people saying they'll do something and actually following up is another thing.

Some have been announced as "cash" as in "from the estate of", meaning it was in their will.  Others may be in the form of Will inclusion or in Trust, who knows.  Obviously, things can and sometimes do change.  There are other gifts as in the form of Charitable Remainder Trusts, wherein the donor receives a life time income stream with the "Remainder" at death going to the designated Charity (Valpo).

Here are a couple from the website:

Valparaiso University has received a gift of $1.8 million from the estate of STEPHANIE E. UMBACH '59,

Valparaiso University has received more than $1.1 million from the estate of Dale F. Kempf '62,

While others say something like this:

Along with his wife, Jan Sievers '59 Schrage, Paul recently committed $2 million to establish the Paul D. and Janet C. Schrage Endowed Recruitment Fund for Men's Basketball. When fully funded, the endowment will provide a permanent source of support for the program's recruiting activities.

Valparaiso University alumni Peter '65, '70 M.A. and Bonnie Thalacker '70 Raquet have generously committed $3 million to establish the Endowed Director's Chair for the Institute for Leadership and Service. When fully funded,

[crusader05]

Pretty much everything is going to have some legal document behind it. Obviously people can change their wills but it's pretty rare.

One other thing I know they have been doing is working with people who have endowed things or donated to the law school to see if they can legally move the money over to the rest of the university so they are often working with family members who manage the estate.

[wh]

The endowment was north of $200 million when Harre completed his term in mid-2008. 

For all of these many years of "Forever" we hear big talk about endowment.  But what is the endowment worth as of June 30, 2018?

The endowment was $199,045,000 at the end of 2008.  It was $235,200,000 in the 2017 report, which wouldn't, in all likelihood, include any of the pledged $217,000,000 currently intended for the Forever Valpo campaign. 

In all likelihood, the 2017 report would have included returns through fiscal 2016. The average endowment return for colleges and universities in 2016 (Obama's last year) was -1.2%. 2017 and 2018 earned 12.2% and 8.2%, respectively. If Valpo did nothing to grow its endowment other than let it sit and earn average returns, it should have grown to $285 million, an increase of $50 M.  Add in the current Forever Valpo campaign, and they should be killing it right now.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/31/college-endowments-returned-82-percent-2018-annual-survey-adds-some-insight-how

[vu72]

The endowment was north of $200 million when Harre completed his term in mid-2008. 

For all of these many years of "Forever" we hear big talk about endowment.  But what is the endowment worth as of June 30, 2018?

The endowment was $199,045,000 at the end of 2008.  It was $235,200,000 in the 2017 report, which wouldn't, in all likelihood, include any of the pledged $217,000,000 currently intended for the Forever Valpo campaign. 

In all likelihood, the 2017 report would have included returns through fiscal 2016. The average endowment return for colleges and universities in 2016 (Obama's last year) was -1.2%. 2017 and 2018 earned 12.2% and 8.2%, respectively. If Valpo did nothing to grow its endowment other than let it sit and earn average returns, it should have grown to $285 million, an increase of $50 M.  Add in the current Forever Valpo campaign, and they should be killing it right now.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/31/college-endowments-returned-82-percent-2018-annual-survey-adds-some-insight-how

I think what is missing is that Universities don't do nothing with their endowments. They spend the income at a minimum.

[wh]

I don't know how Vslpo's works, but most endowments I am aware of have a cap. 5% is pretty typical. To spend all your earnings in rare banner years like 2017 and 2018 would be foolhardy.

[crusader05]

Most endowments are going to be a conservative investment so I believe Valpo was in the top 25% of colleges in regards to earned investment over the last year but I wouldn't be surprise if that meant a return of 5-6 percent vs the 8 or 12. They strive for consistency since the returns are often used to pay for professors salaries and give aid consistently.

[wh]

Most endowments are going to be a conservative investment so I believe Valpo was in the top 25% of colleges in regards to earned investment over the last year but I wouldn't be surprise if that meant a return of 5-6 percent vs the 8 or 12. They strive for consistency since the returns are often used to pay for professors salaries and give aid consistently.

'05 - The info I posted and referenced is specific to colleges and universities. The survey was conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the financial services company TIAA. There were 802 participating institutions, both public and private:

https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/research/2018-NTSE-Public-Tables--Number-of-NCSE-Participants--FINAL.ashx?la=en&hash=E6CC2031AAA4C76FDA90837736AB20B49B5832EB

Valparaiso University is among the respondents. They are No. 283 on the list, meaning Valpo's endowment size is 283rd of 802 respondents:

https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/research/2018-Endowment-Market-Values--Final.ashx?la=en&hash=31CF91E74EAAB91288E53E2BCD629C35710C1C03

Clarification from my previous post: "The change in market value does NOT represent the rate of return for the institution's investments. Rather, the change in the market value of an endowment from FY17 to FY18 reflects the net impact of:
1) withdrawals to fund institutional operations and capital expenses; 2) the payment of endowment management and investment fees;
3) additions from donor gifts and other contributions; and
4) investment gains or losses."

Notice that the average annual spend for the past 10 years is always between 4 and 5%, regardless of ROI:

https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/research/2018-NTSE-Public-Tables--Spending-Rates--FINAL.ashx?la=en&hash=10AE26AFAA91E4337B2DCE51F188F5C9266FC923

[vu84v2]

From some personal experience with Valpo, let me offer some detail regarding how I believe endowments work at Valpo. From my experience, Valpo is looking for any donation that is endowed to operate, more or less, in perpetuity. While this does not mean that the principle cannot be drawn down (and perhaps there are cases, such as major capital spends, in which it is), they try to always retain the original principle.

Let's say someone donated $1 Million as an endowment gift with an intended $50K annual benefit (towards scholarships or some other program). My understanding is that Valpo would not start using/paying that benefit until the additional amount earned from investment allowed them to be confident that they could pay $50K per year for each year moving forward. If the investment returns in the first years were not sufficient to create confidence that the $50K benefit could be paid each year going forward, Valpo would delay starting to pay the benefit.

The point here is that Valpo manages endowments in a risk averse manner. This can be frustrating if a donor wants to get money toward specific people or programs as fast as possible, but it does enhance the sustainability of the university.

[FieldGoodie05]

From some personal experience with Valpo, let me offer some detail regarding how I believe endowments work at Valpo. From my experience, Valpo is looking for any donation that is endowed to operate, more or less, in perpetuity. While this does not mean that the principle cannot be drawn down (and perhaps there are cases, such as major capital spends, in which it is), they try to always retain the original principle.

Let's say someone donated $1 Million as an endowment gift with an intended $50K annual benefit (towards scholarships or some other program). My understanding is that Valpo would not start using/paying that benefit until the additional amount earned from investment allowed them to be confident that they could pay $50K per year for each year moving forward. If the investment returns in the first years were not sufficient to create confidence that the $50K benefit could be paid each year going forward, Valpo would delay starting to pay the benefit.

The point here is that Valpo manages endowments in a risk averse manner. This can be frustrating if a donor wants to get money toward specific people or programs as fast as possible, but it does enhance the sustainability of the university.

Thanks for sharing.  Good insight as to the thought process behind the decision making that undoubtedly goes into debt load and spend from Valpo board and Prez.

[valpo95]

The FY 2019 NACUBO report on University endowments was released on Feb 4, 2020.

https://www.nacubo.org/Research/2019/Public-NTSE-Tables

Valpo's endowment is up to $259M, which ranks 279 on the list. For reference, I'll highlight a few schools with noted basketball programs that have a similar endowment. VU is behind Gonzaga and St. Joseph's (at $294M), Wichita State ($273M), Seton Hall ($264M). Valpo is ahead of Belmont ($252M), Providence ($234M), Loyola MD ($232M), Drake ($226M), Xavier ($199M)

[ValpoOki]

Why can't Valpo be more like Providence? The universities are about the same size. Providence has a smaller endowment, but a much more successful athletic program in an infinitely better league in the Big East. Vey simple solution in my eyes, get rid of meaningless football. The team may bring in a few extra student-athletes, but I am sure that the team expenses negate this benefit. Bring back men's soccer and why not add lacrosse to Valpo's sports offerings. There are so many options in college athletics for schools that do not sponsor football.

[NativeCheesehead]

Ug. Do we really have to explain it again? Football is non scholarship. Meaning that's 100 students paying to be here. Sure, some get financial aid, but that's still millions of tuition dollars on that field. I haven't been to a football game in 20 years. Couldn't care less how they do. But I understand why they're there.

As far as Providence, I don't even know where to go with that. My guess is Providence isn't the fourth most popular DI school in their own city, or have a high school in town with top to bottom better facilities and more community support.

[vu84v2]

Providence is in a top 40 metropolitan area with 1.6 Million people (akin to Milwaukee). Valparaiso is a town of 35,000 people.

My understanding is that Providence does not offer scholarships in some sports, despite other Big East schools doing so (women's volleyball is an example). They get crushed in every match.

[FieldGoodie05]

Why can't Valpo be more like Providence? The universities are about the same size. Providence has a smaller endowment, but a much more successful athletic program in an infinitely better league in the Big East. Vey simple solution in my eyes, get rid of meaningless football. The team may bring in a few extra student-athletes, but I am sure that the team expenses negate this benefit. Bring back men's soccer and why not add lacrosse to Valpo's sports offerings. There are so many options in college athletics for schools that do not sponsor football.

This sounds like OklahomaMick . . .I smell deception! 

[oklahomamick]

haha, I promise that's not me.  Although I'm for bringing back soccer and discontinuing one of the sports that's not sponsored by the MVC. 

You can tell that ValpoOki is not me.  There were no misspellings or incorrect grammar......

[oklahomamick]

Hopefully ValpoOki is from Oklahoma though, I could use someone to help going up against ValpoTex. 

ValpoTex, I sent you a DM. 

[usc4valpo]

I think the mean reason we have football is bring in male students and revenue. Regarding the current student/alumni experience, the football contribution is negligible.

[crusader05]

Football Alums are pretty connected to the university and they do well during donation drives both for the team and other programs so I definitely think there's more to it than just bringing in bodies. Also as one of the longest running programs and the largest team it's alumni base is larger and deeper than many others.

[JD24]

Football Alums are pretty connected to the university and they do well during donation drives both for the team and other programs so I definitely think there's more to it than just bringing in bodies. Also as one of the longest running programs and the largest team it's alumni base is larger and deeper than many others.

Can this post and others with similar content to the top of the page so the next poster who wanders in and doesn't get it can be immediately directed to it?