Endowment Giving

The Importance of Endowment

Earnings from endowments provide the great majority of the philanthropic support sustaining W&L each year. When you give a gift to establish or build an endowment, your gift:

  • Provides annual revenues that support the chosen purpose of your endowed fund
  • Helps W&L keep tuition increases to a minimum
  • Contributes to the financial strength that allows W&L to remain true to its mission

W&L has established specific funding priorities and endowment sizes so your investment in an existing or new endowment will be helpful and effective.

Your Gifts at Work

How Giving To Endowment Works

When you give to an endowed fund, the university invests your gift as part of its overall endowment portfolio. Each year, a portion of the value of your endowed fund is paid out to support the fund's purpose (a scholarship, a professorship, etc.) Any remaining earnings are used to build the endowment's value. In this way, an endowment fund can grow and provide support for its designated purpose in perpetuity.

List of Endowed Funds

Washington and Lee's endowed funds ensure talented students have access to a W&L education, provide faculty with opportunities for research and academic enrichment, support university programs so that they thrive, and sustain the beauty of the historic campus.

Contact Us

Endowment Giving
Office of University Development
Washington and Lee University
Development Building
Lexington, VA 24450

Contact a Gift Officer

If you are interested in establishing an endowment, please start a conversation with a member of our Leadership Giving team.