Endowed scholarships are long-term investments that live on for perpetuity, allowing donors and alumni to provide a legacy in their name or the name of someone else in support of North Dakota State University and Bison student-athletes.
 
NDSU Athletics has two primary endowment funds – one for student-athlete scholarships and one for program operations. Annual distributions from these funds provide critical support for all 16 NDSU sports in addition to the record-setting dollars generated annually by the NDSU Team Makers Club.
 
The athletics endowment fund started in 1984 and has since grown to 174 named scholarships, which were awarded to 223 student-athletes representing majors housed across all colleges of North Dakota State University during the 2019-20 academic year. Donors may choose to support an existing endowment fund or start their own named fund.
 
"An investment in endowed scholarships is the greatest gift a donor can make," said NDSU director of athletics Matt Larsen. "The opportunities these endowed scholarships provide for our student-athletes are endless, and allow them to play the sport that they love at a really high level while preparing for and pursuing a career that will serve them for the rest of their lives."
 
Private donations are the sole source of funding for student-athlete scholarships including the full cost of attendance at North Dakota State University. For the upcoming 2020-21 academic year, the athletics endowment fund will provide $1.5 million of the $5.8 million scholarship bill payable to the university.
 
"Quite simply, an endowment gift provides scholarship support for perpetuity," Larsen said. "Our annual endowment distribution is a significant revenue stream in meeting our operating budget, and in particular, the growing cost of scholarships."
 
As a top priority for the recently launched "In Our Hands" campaign for North Dakota State University, the athletic department set a goal to grow the scholarship endowment to $50 million during the time of the campaign. The fund topped $38 million in 2019.
 
NDSU's athletic program endowment fund grew to over $11 million with disbursements supplementing sport-specific budgets in areas such as team travel, recruiting, equipment, and other expenses that enhance the student-athlete experience. As costs continue to rise, endowments provide a long-term solution to keeping pace with these expenses.
 
"So much of our success, both on and off the fields of competition, is due to the ability to attract the best and brightest to NDSU," Larsen said. "We strive to be one of the best comprehensive athletic programs in the country, and this endowment support goes a long way in helping us achieve that goal. A sincere thank you to all of our endowment donors."
 
Donors may establish criteria for how their endowment funds are used, such as supporting student-athletes from a specific college department or major, setting GPA requirements, specifying a number of recipients, or designating a preferred sport. Such criteria help ensure that the donor's philanthropic goals are achieved.
 
All donations made to the NDSU Athletics endowment fund are 100 percent tax-deductible charitable gifts. North Dakota residents may take an additional 40 percent state income tax credit.
 
For more information, please visit NDSUAthleticFund.com or call the NDSU Athletics development office at (701) 231-7447.