Interim System President and Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins said “fundraising is more important now than ever before,” following the LSU Foundation’s plan to double fundraising and endowment.

The foundation, as a private entity, raises money from donors for the University. Its “Road to 2016” plan is meant to double fundraising from $30 million per year to $60 million and to grow the foundation’s endowment from $330 million to $430 million by 2016. In the longer term, the plan aims to raise the endowment to $680 million by 2022.

“Endowments support faculty work and students’ financial access,” Jenkins said. “Fundraising invests critical funding in LSU’s infrastructure that keeps LSU resources nationally competitive.”

Endowed money is invested money, said Sara Crow, director of Communications and Donor Relations for the LSU Foundation.

The money generates earnings – like interest in a savings account – and the earnings are the money that is used, Crow said.

“For LSU’s long-term financial viability, the endowment is particularly helpful because it’s a source of perpetual funding,” Crow said.

Director of External Affairs Jason Droddy said the endowment is used for specific scholarship or fellowship programs or capital projects.

Endowed scholarships or fellowships are funds paid to the University for students, which means the endowment is used to fund student tuition instead of the University’s general budget, Droddy said.

A majority of the endowment is tied to endowed chairs and professorships, so it supports faculty and their research, Droddy said.

“And endowment is an indicator of alumni support and represents a stable funding source used to support faculty and students,” he said.

“Fundraising is more important now than ever before. Endowments support faculty work and students’ financial access.”