A Letter From the Board of Trustees
DEAR DICKINSONIANS,
Thank you for your continued support of Dickinson through your generous philanthropy. Your commitment to our institution plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our students, who are poised to become the leaders of tomorrow.
This report not only showcases inspiring donor stories and heartfelt messages from grateful students but also provides a comprehensive update on the college’s endowment. The endowment serves as a critical component of Dickinson’s mission, acting as a perpetual resource that enhances the educational experience we offer.
We are delighted to share that Dickinson’s prudent management of the endowment has yielded positive results, ensuring stable long-term growth while enabling us to expand our investments in student programs and services. Our endowment has now reached $675 million (as of June 30, 2024), a testament to our dedication to responsible financial stewardship. In the past year, we achieved an impressive 8.7% rate of return, showcasing our ability to navigate the complexities of today’s financial landscape. Moreover, our 10-year average annual rate of return stands strong at 8.1%, consistently meeting or exceeding our strategic objectives.
In 2006, Dickinson hired Investure, LLC, to manage the portion of the endowment that the college controls. Investure was a pioneer in, and continues to be a leading provider of, outsourced chief investment officer services, managing the endowments of colleges and other nonprofits. Investure provides Dickinson with expertise across markets, access to a broad array of underlying investment managers, operational excellence and a large investment staff that would be prohibitively expensive for Dickinson in a stand-alone scenario. Dickinson and Investure work hand in hand to ensure that the college’s endowment is performing according to the goals of maximizing returns with managing risks.
This strategy and the financial success it supports reinforces the endowment’s lasting impact, ensuring that the resources available to current students will continue to benefit future generations of Dickinsonians. As you can see in the following pages, the endowment has increased by more than $200 million over the last decade, and spending from the endowment now accounts for roughly 15% of Dickinson’s annual budget. In this way, the endowment’s effective management underpins every aspect of the Dickinson experience, and your support of it makes you an integral partner in our mission.
As endowment donors to the college ourselves, we are focused on the financial management of your donations and believe that our gift dollars are very well invested by Investure, our committee, the Board of Trustees and the administration of the college. As you peruse this report, we hope you feel a sense of pride in your partnership with Dickinson and the lasting impact of your investment.
Your generosity is truly transformative, and we are deeply grateful for your continued faith in our institution. Thank you once again for your unwavering support and philanthropic commitment to Dickinson.
Sincerely,
Gretchen Brigden ’89
Partner and COO
Macro Intelligence 2 Partners, LLC
Chair, Dickinson Board of Trustees Committee on Investments
Holcombe T. Green III ’92
Managing Director
Lazard Freres
Vice Chair, Dickinson Board of Trustees Committee on Investments