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Augsburg Fund Allocation

The higher education landscape is changing rapidly. A critical piece of Augsburg’s sustainable future is the ability to respond quickly when new challenges and opportunities arise. 

As of November 1, 2024, Augsburg will allocate 5% of all restricted philanthropic gifts to the Augsburg Fund.  

The Augsburg Fund supports the resources and infrastructure needed to accomplish the purpose of any restricted gift. Supporting the university as a whole is critical to investing in the future of Augsburg. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Augsburg Fund support specific areas of interest to donors?

Today, a majority of philanthropic gifts to Augsburg are directed toward a specific purpose, like a new scholarship, an athletic team, or a capital project. Accomplishing the purpose of a restricted gift requires a number of essential activities that typically are not covered by the gift itself—things like finance and business operations, fundraising, IT, and facilities maintenance. The Augsburg Fund Allocation helps to offset these costs, allowing Augsburg to sustain its exceptional programs within the setting of a thriving university.

What’s changing?

Starting November 1, 2024, Augsburg will implement a new policy that directs 5% of all restricted philanthropic gifts to the Augsburg Fund. In practice, the Augsburg Fund Allocation policy means that 95% of a restricted gift will go to support the specific program or fund to which it is targeted. The remaining 5% will be allocated to the unrestricted Augsburg Fund.

For example: a $1,000 gift to support a biology student scholarship would provide $950 to the scholarship fund and $50 to the Augsburg Fund.

If you wish to donate a specific round-dollar amount to a particular program or fund—for example, $1,000—you can divide the dollar amount by 0.95 to come up with the total gift amount needed to accomplish this goal. In this example, $1,000 divided by 0.95 equals $1,052.63.

What’s staying the same?

No matter how it is allocated, 100% of every gift supports Augsburg. The Augsburg Fund Allocation does not change how your gift is treated for tax purposes. 100% percent of every gift will be documented as a charitable contribution on the gift receipt.  

Donors who give directly to the Augsburg Fund will see no change under the new policy.

Will the Augsburg Fund Allocation apply to future payments on gift agreements or pledges made before November 1, 2024? 

Payments made toward pledges documented prior to November 1, 2024, are not subject to the Augsburg Fund Allocation policy. However, at their discretion, donors may opt in to direct 5% of future payments on preexisting pledges to the Augsburg Fund in support of the allocation policy. Please contact Amy Alkire, vice president for institutional advancement, at alkirea@augsburg.edu for more information.
 

Will 5% for the Augsburg Fund Allocation be taken out of my fund distribution/award? (Examples of a “fund distribution” include: scholarship awards from both endowed and current-use funds, distributions for programmatic support from endowed and current use funds, etc.)

The Augsburg Fund Allocation policy applies to incoming gifts received, not to outgoing awards and distributions. All new gifts made to these funds after November 1, 2024 will have the Augsburg Fund Allocation applied. Distributions and awards from endowed and current-use funds will not have an AFA taken.

Are there any exceptions to the policy?

In rare cases, certain gifts will be exempt from the Augsburg Fund allocation. 

These exceptions are limited to:

  • Payments made on documented pledges executed before November 1, 2024.
  • Payments made pursuant to a Gift Instrument that by its terms does not permit such an allocation.
  • Gifts from large private foundations where the governing board prohibits the assessment of such an allocation as an established and documented organizational policy. 

These exclusions do not apply to donor-advised fund transactions.