NOTE: The Chronicle of Higher Education has discontinued production of this annual project. Our sister publication, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, continues to publish it on its Web site (requires COP login).
BEYOND SECURITIES
Alternative investments — including private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, oil-and-gas partnerships, timber, and real estate — are all the rage among endowments' investment managers.
The Wildlife Conservation Society's John G. Hoare at the Bronx Zoo: "By being in hedge funds we didn't take a big hit" in the bear market. (Photograph by Chris Casaburi)
TALLIES AND TACTICS
How nonprofit endowments have fared, and how they are invested.
ACCOUNTS PLAYABLE
Over the last 20 years, fund raising at the Curtis Institute of Music has crescendoed to impressive effect.
THE TURNAROUND ARTIST
Finances at Dickinson College looked gloomy a decade ago. A new president brightened that forecast.
REDEEMABLE FUNDS
World Vision is one of America's largest charities, but for philosophical and religious reasons, it has only recently — and carefully — started an endowment.
Commentary
MONEY AND MISSION
When endowments grow huge relative to operating budgets, institutions' purposes can become distorted, says Mark B. Schneider, a physics professor at Grinnell College.
(Illustration by Tim Foley)
DUE DILIGENCE
Investing in hedge funds carries risks, but so does ruling out the possibility, say David M. Matteson and Jeffrey Blumberg, of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP.
BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPS
Many small private colleges thrive with modest endowments, writes Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges.
ABOVE AND BEYOND
With standard portfolios forecast to stagnate, endowment managers eye real estate, private equities, hedge funds, and other alternative investments to beef up performance.
Commentary
HERE AND NOW
Sometimes intergenerational equity is better served by spending than by investing in the market, say Henry Riggs and Timothy Warner.
(Illustration by Julie Delton)
WE'RE BACK!
Constant capital campaigns can leave donors, staff members, and volunteers weary and wary, warns Diana S. Newman.
ENDS AND MEANS
Organizations are finding their investment methods, not just their returns, under increasing scrutiny, write L. Robert Guenthner, Kathleen Nilles, and Sheldon E. Steinbach.
TIME TO DELEGATE
Christine K. Galloway thinks many investment committees are in over their heads and should seek help from outside managers.
BIG GIFTS AND RISING STOCKS
A Chronicle survey provides the first in-depth look at the performance and investment policies of 187 of the nation's wealthiest nonprofit institutions.
DATABASE
Information on endowments, including returns, market value, operating budgets, and grants awarded.
CAN AN ENDOWMENT BE TOO LARGE?
A growing number of critics are asking tough questions about how much nonprofit groups should save and spend.
FOUNDATION PAYOUTS
Philanthropic foundations face intense pressures to increase the amount they give to charities.
TARGET PRACTICE
Long-term fund-raising and spending strategies are more important than investment returns, a new study finds.
A GLOSSARY
Key investment terms.
PRO & CON: Moral Considerations in Investing
PRO & CON: Are Endowments a Good Idea?
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