304 Endowment Management Program

18%

Status

In Process [In Process]

18% complete, updated on Thu 12/18/25 3:17 PM by Julie Force

Changed Percent Complete from 13% to 18%.

Summary
The team is making great progress in defining and planning the work and processes required to make this project a success. The planning for standing up the Balance software will be completed in advance of planning for provisioning the reports and Endowment related processes that make up this work.    
 
Please note the next report will be sent January 87, 2026.  
Activity This Period
  • Project charter has been sent to the executive sponsors for sign -off. Due 12/14/25.
  • Developing the Reversion process post L2104.
  • Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
    • Populating the data load template.
    • Advancing the Data Mapping, Reversions, Spending Policy WBS detail
    • Detailing Definition of Done for major buckets
    • Planning SSO provisioning.
  • Planned Fiscal Officer meetings.
Activity Next Period
  • Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) –Continue adding detail
  • Advance understanding of Definition of Done for major work buckets in the WBS.
  • Hold Fiscal Officer Meeting
  • Officially move to the Planning phase of the project.  
 
Milestones – The draft milestones have been further developed.
Milestones Status Draft Timeline
  Post RFP Select Software Complete Apr-25
  Contract with vendor Complete Oct-25
  Plan work In-process Jan-26
  Upload Financial Data to Balance In-process Feb-26
  Build Organization Reporting   Jun-26
  Communications and Training   Jun-26
  Implement   Jun-26
  Retire L2104   Sep-26
 
                       
Cause Mitigation (active)
N/A
Issues (active)
            N/A
Risks (active) 
  • Complexity of L2104 language does not facilitate extraction. Mitigation: Reverse engineer reports. 
Current Spend
$0
 

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)
Created
Mon 7/15/24 2:28 PM
Modified
Thu 12/18/25 3:17 PM

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
Student Success
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
Large

2. Funding

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 Moore, Chelsea Roe
Other Associated Organizations
Do you have buy-in from key leaders and the wider organization?
Finance, University Advancement, Financial Aid/scholarships

4. Approvals

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