Lewis starts campaign to raise $500,000 for new endowment fund

Photo courtesy of Lewis athletics

Lewis is making a step to fully secure its financial future.

The Flyers announced earlier this week that they have launched a campaign to raise $500,000 within the next five years for the program’s new Legacy Endowment Fund.

Money for an endowment, unlike a traditional donation, does not go directly towards the program for expenses. Instead, the money from the endowment is invested and then each year the team receives a portion of the endowment’s interest and investment profits.

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“Doing something like this for our program will help the sustainability for future student-athletes,” coach Dan Friend said in an interview on Off the Block’s podcast. “It’s certainly a piece that shows our administration and supporters that we are doing some long-term investments to keep the program running where we want it.”

Lewis ended the shortened 2020 season at No. 5 in both the national coaches poll and national media poll and was on pace to win back-to-back MIVA regular season championships. The Flyers also have advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals twice in the last six years.

Friend said the financial goal is not to fully endow the entire men’s volleyball program. The endowment each year will be used to cover various annual expenses such as purchasing new equipment, travel costs and recruitment resources.

The Legacy Endowment Fund with the contributions from 85 donors has already received $125,000.

This is not the first time a MIVA program has started an endowment. Purdue Fort Wayne about 10 years ago under Hall of Fame coach Arnie Ball successfully formed an endowment for its program.