Endowments

Endowed gifts are a wonderful way to demonstrate your support and enthusiasm for Horry-Georgetown Technical College. Endowment funds are funds established to provide ongoing support for scholarships or other designated funding recipients through the use of interest earned on endowments, rather than the expense of the endowed funds themselves.

You can establish an endowment with a minimum gift of $30,000 or more. The Foundation Office can help you draw up a plan for your gift that is best suited to your financial profile. There are several options for planning an endowed gift, including testamentary or estate planning, gifts of appreciated stocks, and/or a bequest from a retirement account.

Endowed funds may be created for a variety of purposes, including faculty support, student scholarships, and program enhancement. Once you and the College have agreed on the purpose of the fund, you can be confident that HGTC will follow your expressed wishes throughout the life of the endowment. You will also have the opportunity to name the endowed fund. Donors often use such occasions to honor and memorialize loved ones.

To establish an endowment, specific minimum amounts are required, depending upon the type of endowment being created. To learn about specific endowment opportunities and minimum financial requirements, please contact Teresa Bartelotte at 843-477-2174.

How an Endowment Works

Each endowment account retains its own identity but is commingled with other accounts to ensure prudent and efficient investment management. The Horry-Georgetown Technical College Foundation, on behalf of the College, holds endowed gifts in perpetuity, investing the principal and using a portion of the annual return on investment to fund the designated purpose(s). 

The College administration, in conjunction with the HGTC Foundation, adheres to a policy that limits spending from unrestricted endowed funds to a percentage of that fund's market value. We have identified a spending rate not to exceed 5% of the endowment's market value over a three-year rolling average. In order to award scholarships during a fiscal year, the funds must have been deposited with the Foundation one full year in advance of the beginning of our fiscal year (July 1^st) . The HGTC Foundation Investment Committee, in conjunction with the Foundation's endowment manager, monitors investment returns.

Management of the endowment attempts to balance two sometimes conflicting objectives. First, the portion of investment return that is retained in the principal should at least equal the rate of inflation. Second, the portion of funds available for distribution must be sufficient to meet the needs of the endowed programs. Within acceptable risk levels, the task is to maximize the difference between inflation and the endowment's total return so that maximum earrings are available for program support. 

General Program Endowments

Library acquisition funds, special academic program funds and endowments for facilities, equipment and technological enhancements are among the many types of general endowment funds that can be created.

Departmental enrichment endowment funds are used in a discretionary manner to improve our academic offerings. Typically, these funds support visiting lecturers, special presentations, special departmental needs, or student and faculty travel to professional meetings. The flexible nature of these funds can provide the margin of excellence between a good program and an outstanding one.

The amount of the initial principal required to establish an endowment depends on the nature of the program or initiative that is to be supported. We look forward to negotiating practical minimums with you.

Creating a Named Endowment

We invite you to share our vision of taking Horry-Georgetown Technical College to the next level academically. As we build on our tradition of excellence, we will gain a stronger reputation as a top-rated, comprehensive two-year community/technical college. We are poised to become the destination of choice for undergraduate occupational and transfer education, with emphasis on quality teaching and a student-centered environment, and named endowments provide you the opportunity to have your name or the name of someone you wish recognized

Once you have decided to create an endowment, the HGTC Foundation will work closely with you in defining the features of your endowment that will meet both your wishes and the needs of the College. A Gift Agreement will be created outlining the terms of the endowment, signed by you and an officer of the College. After the endowment's initial year of interest accrual, you will receive periodic reports on the status of your endowment and how it is serving HGTC. We will recognize your generous gift of endowment in our annual Honor Roll of Donors and in other appropriate ways.

For more information about named endowments or to initiate the process to create a named endowment, please contact us at 843-477-2174.