304 Endowment Management Program

75%

Status

In Process [In Process]

75% complete, updated on Thu 10/1/26 10:22 AM by Julie Force

Changed Percent Complete from 73% to 75%.

Summary
The Balance implementation initiated in mid-2025 is complete. Project work continues with a focus on report development (includes gift agreement access), the automated reversion process, and process updates.  Data uploads to the EDW and ETL creation establish the reporting foundation. Development of reports formerly in L2104, will begin in late October. The team is focused on establishing the priority and sequence of each reports development. An outsourced report, FY 26 Donor Endowed Financial Report format has been approved. In parallel, the team continues to synchronize communications between the Endowment Teams channel and the Endowment Center of Excellence SharePoint site, providing fiscal officers, development officers, and other stakeholders with timely guidance, updates, and resources.
 
Activity This Period
Balance 
  • Export #2 loaded to PROD.
  • Implementation complete.
  • Planned transition from EverTrue implementation support to their help desk support.
Reporting
  • Gift Agreement roles and security and Cognos roles and security interplay – in discussion.  
  • Develop identifier crosswalks linking gift agreements, principal accounts, spending accounts, and designation codes to support future reporting and integration needs. Ongoing
  • Develop new SharePoint Gift Agreement location. In process.
  • FY ‘26 Donor Endowed Financial Report confirmed by Finance leadership. Data preparation continues.   
Communications & Training  
  • New unfunded gift tracking – nearly complete.
  • Endowment Center of Excellence – DO video resource added. FO video resource under consideration.    
Technical  
  • FY ’27 Impact Report development – priority level established. Planned for Aug 2027.   
  • Reversion Process – Required date in June 1, 2027. Conceptualizing.
 General
  • Fiscal officer meeting – updated project Financial Workbook to carry over to FY 27 unused FY 26 report development funding.
  • Steering Committee focused timeline and workstreams for EDW data, reports, the reversion process, and Gift Agreements.
Activity Next Period
  • Balance - transition to support team.
  • Reports- development prioritization, data, and ETLs.  
  • Reversion process – continue solution conceptualization.   
  • Continue to develop updated Gift Agreement SharePoint site and test.
  • Communicate with FOs and DOs interim resources.
 
 
Current and Upcoming Milestones
Milestone  Planned Date  Actual Date  Status 
EDW Integrations  7/30/26  10/20/26   In-progress
Reversion Process Tested – Manual 05/22/26  5/22/26  Complete
Ascend field additions- Phase 1 6/30/26  6/30/26  Complete
Implement Balance    06/30/26  9/30/26 9/28/26 Complete
Migration of other L2104 data and archive decisions                           08/30/26 9/22/26 Complete
Add historical Endowment Purchase Quarterly 8/30/26 9/22/26  Complete
Balance EDW fields to production 10/20/26   In-progress
Reports – Top 4 08/30/26 11/30/26    In-progress 
FY 26 Donor Endowed Financial Report - data to Vendor 10/31/26 11/15/26   Planning
Endowment Activity Report in Cognos 11/30/26    
 Retire L2104  4/30/27     
 Note: Italics indicates a change this report cycle.                              
Cause Mitigation (active)
N/A
Issues (active)
  • Timeline for Report Development: Insufficient time to develop all user reports. Mitigation – Prioritize reports and provide interim solution for users.  
Risks (active)    
  • Internal report delays negatively impact fiscal officers and development officers. Mitigate: Create and communicate resources mapping the data locations in existing tools.  
Current Spend
$100,000 - no change.
 

Details

Dates
Mon 7/15/24 - Mon 11/30/26
Acct/Dept
VICE PRESIDENT UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT | 10069864
Type
General / Enterprise Project
Health
Green - On track
Portfolio(s)
Program(s)
Created
Mon 7/15/24 2:28 PM
Modified
Thu 10/1/26 10:22 AM

1. Details

Project Requestor
Who submitted the request for this project?`
Justification
A description of why the project is necessary, the benefits that will be realized and any risks if the project is not completed. This should include any measurable long-term effects, as well as the magnitude and extent of the project.
Increase overall spending rate to its intended size. Approximately 3.5% is spent instead of the board approved 4.4%. This would add approximately $36-$56 million to the University’s budget.​ Reduce the cycle time of gift and endowed agreements, which can take weeks-to-months due to extensive routing processes currently. Increase the size of endowment gifts by 1.5x to 2.5x times the current average endowment gift. Increase the amount raised in the endowment from ~$70 million annually to ~$140 million annually.
Strategic Plan Pillars
The 2030 Strategic Plan pillars does this project aligns with. https://strategicplan.msu.edu/strategic-plan
Stewardship and Sustainability
Strategic Plan Alignment
How this project aligns with the 2030 Strategic Plan. https://strategicplan.msu.edu/strategic-plan
Student Success also Stewardship and Sustainability
Urgent or Critical Nature
A description of how failure to complete the project in a timely manner would expose MSU to increased risk, loss of productivity, out of compliance or loss of revenue. If this project is not urgent or of a critical nature, enter N/A.
Loss of opportunity for increased overall spending rate of endowments to its intended size. Loss of opportunity for reduced cycle time of gift and endowed agreements. Loss of opportunity for increasing the size of endowment gifts.
Urgency of Request
Project Manager Needed Immediately
Progress to Date
Any work or initiatives that have been explored prior to this request.
High level scope is defined, benefits are defined. The cost of the implementation has been estimated. No costs are associated with the RFP portion of the program.
Anticipated Project Duration
1 Year to Less Than 2 Years
Complexity
If this project requires process re-engineering, organizational change management or other complex enterprise initiatives, please describe.
Higher level of complexity - A change to new technology and enterprise organizational change of business processes.
Identified Risks
Are there risks if this project is not completed? Financial impacts, compliance, reputational or operational risks?
Implementation of new business processes around endowments
Relative Size
Extra Large

2. Funding

Fiscal Officer
Funding Organization
The organization is primarily responsible for funding this project.
MSU IT OFFICE OF THE ACIO | 40000401
Estimated Total Cost of Ownership
An estimation of the total of all project-related costs, both one-time and ongoing, including FTE dedication to support and operational/maintenance costs over a 5-year period.
$100,001 - $500,000
Funding Secured
Specify if funding has been approved for the project. If there is no associated cost for the project, enter N/A.
Yes
Funding Fiscal Year
The fiscal year the funding has been approved for. If there is no associated cost for the project or funding has not been approved yet, enter N/A.
N/A

3. Resources

Technical Sponsor
The technical sponsor/lead for the project.
Functional Lead
Identify the person from your department who will serve as the dedicated functional lead on this project.
Functional Users
List the functional users who are available to support this project and will be part of the project team.
Lane Adams, Beth Forbes, Chelsea Roe
Other Associated Organizations
Do you have buy-in from key leaders and the wider organization?
Finance, Investments, University Advancement, Financial Aid/Scholarships

4. Approvals

Senior Leadership Approval
Name of the Senior Leadership or Governance Representative that approved the request. Enter by email address or use the search feature.
Governance Review
05/19/2025

Description

Work across units at MSU to publish an RFP for endowment management software to replace the current software (L2104)​. This entails defining requirements, publication of the RFP, evaluating responses, selection, and contracting.
The expected outcomes of implementing the selected software include: reduced gap between reported performance and actual investment performance; implement a beginning of period unitization methodology​; reinvest earnings until a fund reaches endowment threshold​; centralize endowed donor financial reports​; and implement restriction “caps” on endowed fund agreements

Manager

JF
Julie Force

Alternate Manager(s)

RM
Roushell Mignott-Nesbitt

Sponsor

KT
Kim Tobin

Stakeholders (9)

BF
Beth Forbes
Consulted
Investment Office
Fri 8/16/24 8:26 AM
JN
Justin Norris
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed
Is a contracted executive on this project. Designed the Endowment Management and Gift Acceptance program.
Tue 8/20/24 1:10 PM
KT
Kim Tobin
Responsible
Sponsor
Fri 8/16/24 8:03 AM
LF
Lisa Frace
Consulted, Informed
Cp-Sponsor
Thu 9/5/24 1:46 PM
MU
Matthew Uebel
Informed
Procurement & Payment Services
Fri 8/16/24 9:09 AM
RC
Richard Czarnecki
Consulted, Informed
Co-Sponsor
Thu 9/5/24 1:47 PM
RR
Rosemary Ridsdale
Informed
informed for reporting only
Thu 11/13/25 4:26 PM
RM
Roushell Mignott-Nesbitt
Consulted, Informed
Alternate PM
Wed 7/17/24 1:58 PM
SK
Sara Kiszka
Informed
Core
Fri 9/6/24 10:18 AM