How to Track Endowment Gifts in Eleo

An endowment is a fund where the principal is typically invested long-term, and only the earnings are used to support the organization's mission.

While Eleo does not manage endowment investments, earnings, or distributions, it can be used to track gifts that are designated for an endowment.

Most organizations use Eleo to record donor intent and gift history, while investment activity is managed separately within their accounting or financial systems.

Recommended Options for Tracking Endowment Gifts

Depending on your organization's needs, there are several ways you can track endowment gifts in Eleo:

Use a Campaign

You can create a campaign specifically for your endowment, such as:

• General Endowment
• Scholarship Endowment
• Building Endowment
• Smith Family Endowment

This makes it easy to report on all gifts given toward a particular endowment initiative.

Use a Fund

If your organization uses Funds to track how donations are allocated, you may wish to create a dedicated fund for endowment gifts. This can help distinguish endowment contributions from annual operating or program support.

Use a Custom Field

For organizations with multiple named endowments or unique reporting requirements, a custom field may be a good option.

Examples include:

• Endowment Name
• Endowment Category

• Restriction Type

  
  

Use Gift Source

Because Gift Source values are customizable, some organizations may choose to use this field to identify endowment gifts or specific endowment programs, depending on their internal processes.

Need Help Deciding?

The best approach will depend on how your organization currently tracks and reports on endowment gifts. If you have questions or would like guidance on which option makes the most sense for your workflow, please contact our support team.