The Divinity School welcomes gifts for specific purposes, either one-time cash gifts, pledges (to be paid over up to five years), or future gifts through an estate or trust. A gift of any size can be directed to a specific purpose, such as international student support, ministry program support, faculty or research purposes, or facilities improvements. To direct a gift, you may contact our staff or note your desires directly on the online form, in a letter or note attached to your mail gift, or over the phone to our representatives.

Designated gifts can be expendable, e.g. intended for immediate use, but one of the most impactful ways to designate a gift is to direct it towards an endowment. Endowments are permanent funds managed by the University’s investment office with the goal of preserving and increasing the principal while at the same time supporting the Divinity School. A portion of the income is set aside for the designated use, with the remainder added back into the principal so that the fund continues to grow. Endowments are intended to support the school in perpetuity; we have endowments over eighty years old that continue to provide significant resources for student scholarships and faculty support.

We welcome gifts to endowment funds that have already been established, especially those that honor distinguished faculty and alumni of the Divinity School.

Some of these funds support important pedagogical programs at the Divinity School:

• Jerald Brauer Seminar
• Martin Marty Dissertation Seminar

Other endowments provide financial aid for students:

• Langdon Gilkey Scholarship Fund
• Benjamin E. Mays Scholarship
• Nathan and Charlotte Scott Dissertation Fellowship

If you are interested in making a major gift to fund a new endowment, please reach out to our office to discuss how your gift may be designated to most impact and sustain the area you are called to support.