How endowed is well-endowed?
This article, by Ken Hoffman, originally appeared in Third Sector on October 19, 2000. One approaches the UK charity world with suggestions from the US very delicately. But the time has come to speak in favour of permanent endowment funds, and the fewer restrictions on their use the better. Charity is better for having access to income from endowments. Consider the amazing disparity in endowment values among leading charities. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, for instance, had annual operating expenditure of 42m in 1999. This compares with its US cousin, the National Audubon Society, which had a 36m budget, and the much smaller Massachusetts Audubon Society – a separate organisation – which had only 7m in operating expenditure. Yet their respective endowments are in the opposite order. The RSPB had 9m; the National Audubon Society 77m; and the runt of the litter (if that is appropriate to birds) had an astonishing 89m in its permanent endowment fund. Put a different way,
