What do you call a gift that lasts forever? It has a name: Endowment

Create an endowment and your gift will go on giving in perpetuity, which is just another way of saying forever! Your endowment can help you achieve your philanthropic goals and create a legacy at Mizzou.

How Endowments Work

Your endowment is a way to give a gift that benefits the University in perpetuity. A fund is created from your gift, and each year, a distribution is made from the fund based on a formula that makes sure the endowment sustains its buying power over time.

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An Example From Mizzou

Cathy Dean, BA '70, JD '82The law careers of Cathy Dean, BA '70, JD '82, and her late husband Kenneth Preston Dean, BA '68, JD '71, spanned nearly 40 years and left an indelible mark on the legal landscape of Kansas City, the state of Missouri and the Midwest region.

In 2003, the couple established the LSF Preston and Cathy Dean Scholarship Endowment Fund. When asked what motivated them to set up their endowment, Cathy said, "People helped us when we were going to school to get an education."

Preston's grandparents founded the Dean Drugstore in Mexico, which his father took over. When Dean was 16, his father was killed in an armed robbery. His mother, Mildred, continued to work at the drugstore and later worked at a radio station raising Preston and his younger sister and putting them both through college. When in law school, Preston got a scholarship that enabled him to keep going. Cathy said, "When the law school dean gave Preston the scholarship, he encouraged Preston to do the same for others someday." After he graduated from law school, he put Cathy through law school as he worked at the attorney general's office.

Cathy's reasons are even more personal. Early in her teaching career, Cathy asked another teacher who did not have any children, "'What will we do if we do not have children?' Her answer has become one of my mottos: 'We help those who do have children.' For me, this is my way of fulfilling my motto.

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Next Steps

  1. Contact The Office of Gift Planning at 1-800-970-9977 or 573-882-0272 or giftplanning@missouri.edu to discuss endowed gifts.
  2. Seek the advice of your financial or legal advisor.
  3. If you include Mizzou in your plans, please use our legal name and federal tax ID.

Legal Name: The Curators of the University of Missouri
Address: 302 Reynolds Alumni Center, Columbia, MO 65211
Federal Tax ID Number: Please call 1-800-970-9977 for our federal tax ID number.

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