Endowment and Gift Accounting

Email endowment@uky.edu or call  Astri Karniani  (859) 257-7394 for assistance.

Endowments are gifts from generous donors or grants from the Commonwealth of Kentucky that support the mission of the University through scholarships, professorships, basic research, or other purposes as defined by a formal agreement. The funds are invested in perpetuity in order to generate a reliable and steady stream of income for those goals.

• Quasi endowment (071* funds) – A fund established by the Board of Trustees with current unrestricted or restricted resources that are otherwise expendable. A quasi endowment fund may be liquidated and returned to operating funds for expenditure with approval of the Board of Trustees.
• Term endowment (072* funds) – A fund established by an external donor or other outside party with the requirement that the principal be held and invested until the passage of a specified period of time or the occurrence of a particular event.
• True endowment (070* funds) – An endowment fund established by an external donor or other outside party with the requirement that the principal be held and invested in perpetuity.

Endowments are invested per the University’s Endowment Investment Policy.

Refer to the FY 24-25 Spending Rate calculation.

An annual management fee is assessed on the current market value of the endowment to support the administrative costs associated with carrying out the purpose of each endowment. This fee is processed monthly.

Refer to BPM E-22-1 Policies and Procedures for Soliciting, Receiving, Recording, and Acknowledging Gifts.

Refer to BPM E-22-2 Pledge Process Manual.

Refer to BPM E-22-3 Planned Gifts.

Refer to BPM E-22-4 Fundraising Events.

Complete and submit an Endowment Fund Create and Change Form.  For your reference, here are instructions to complete the form.

Refer to the Special Endowment Form Change Hints for examples and directions.

• FM5M – Index of Funds – Used to view the data elements of multiple funds
• FM5S – Display Fund – Used to view the attributes of the endowment fund
• FMRP_RFFMEP1AX – All Postings – Used to view line items posted to the endowment fund
• FMSC – Display Funds Center in FM Area – Used to view the attributes of the cost center
• GR55 – Execute Report Group – Used to view budget for cost center
• KSB1 – Cost Centers Actual Line Items – Used to view revenue and expenses post to the cost center
• ZGL_TRBR1_CUM – Endowment Trial Balance – Used to view the cumulative screen of the endowment fund
• ZGL_TRBR1_FUND – GL Trial Balance by Fund – Used to view current fiscal year trial balance of the endowment fund

The GL Hierarchy contains all endowment related GL codes categorized by contributed value and market value.

Refer to this listing of Common JV Transactions, contact endowment@uky.edu or call Astri Karniani (859) 257-7394 for assistance.

Open transaction ZGL_TRBR1_CUM – Endowment Trial Balance. Input the current fiscal year, reporting period and endowment fund number and then click execute. At the bottom of the Trial Balance screen, look for the credit amount on the line for “Spending Distribution Reinvested Available to Spend”. An amount up to this figure can be transferred via journal voucher to the spending distribution cost center associated with the endowment. See the listing of Common JV Transactions for the appropriate general ledger account combination to be used on the journal voucher.

The percentages should be based on the requirements of the organizational unit to meet the terms of the endowment agreement and to plan for future endowment spending goals. Changes to these percentages can be made by submitting an Endowment Create and Change Form.

The waiting period ensures that the endowment has had time to receive investment earnings that will build a spending reserve. This policy takes into account potential market fluctuations so that adequate spending distribution income will be available to better meet the donor’s objectives.

Open Transaction Code FM5S: Display Fund. Enter your endowment fund number and select Add UK Endowment Fields. The distribution percentage is at the bottom of the screen and will list the percentage of the spending distribution that is being distributed to the cost center and/or to the fund.

Refer to the Historical Endowment Returns document.

Refer to the Historical Endowment Values Bar Graph.