The University endowment increased 17.6 percent over the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year, and a seven percent increase is projected for the 2013 to 2014 fiscal year, according to data provided by Chief Investment Officer Nicholas Warren in an email to the Justice. Warren wrote that updates on the current state of the University endowment were presented at the Oct. 31 Board of Trustees meeting.

According to the data, the endowment for FY2013 reached $767.7 million, with $13.8 million donated. The projection for the 2013 to 2014 fiscal year is at $785.4 million, and $10 million in donations are anticipated. The five-year forecast projects that the endowment will be at $881.9 million, including expected donations of $35 million.

Warren wrote that the donations listed were only those that were invested in the endowment and do not include annual fund donations.

According to Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Marianne Cwalina, annual gifts are not invested, but are designated for current use in the University budget. Cwalina wrote in an email to the Justice that annual funds can either be temporarily restricted for a particular purpose or unrestricted so that they may be used "for any of the University's priorities."

Permanently-restricted gifts are gifts that increase the endowment and "are subject to donor-imposed specifications that do not expire with the passage of time and must be used for the purpose that the donor specifies, for example for scholarships, a professorship, or to support a particular program or department," Cwalina wrote.

According to Cwalina, the University endowment is composed of several restricted funds. These endowed gifts are unique from annual gifts in that they are invested. Although a certain percentage of the endowment is distributed "to benefit the University," according to Cwalina, the remaining funds are re-invested.

"When you raise money for endowment, you're raising money from people who want to give you a gift that will be there in perpetuity," said Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship in an interview with the Justice.

According to Winship, the University has pledged to raise $210 million in endowment to support the operating budget of the University, a lot of which, she said, will be allotted toward financial aid.

Brandeis is relatively young compared to peer institutions and this means that the University endowment has not had the chance to grow for as many years, according to Cwalina.

Cwalina wrote that one of the University's goals under the strategic plan will be to grow the Brandeis endowment through a fundraising campaign "in order to provide a predictable, long term source of funds for the University's needs."

"We have a goal to get the endowment above a billion and we will do that. ... That's what this campaign is for," said Winship. "The campaign we're going into now will get the endowment at a billion or over."

-Andrew Wingens contributed reporting