Achieve Financial Sustainability
Strategic Priority 5
Under the leadership of President Frederick and the Board of Trustees, the university has made great strides in improving its financial standing and outlook. The university’s endowment has doubled in the past decade, consistently outperforming peer institutions and allowing the university to support more student financial aid, teaching, research, innovation, public service initiatives, a growing campus, and other strategic initiatives. This and other improvements to Howard University’s finances resulted in a credit rating upgrade in 2022. We also continue to outpace the national average for alumni giving rates.
Initiatives
Endowment Growth
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Elevate the endowment to $1 billion to increase support for student scholarships and infrastructural investments.
Development
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Build infrastructure for sustained corporate and private philanthropy in order to launch a robust and successful capital campaign.
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Promote top fundraising priorities that are aligned with the academy’s priorities and objectives.
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Implement strategies to increase alumni engagement, and increase alumni giving rate to 20%.
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Increase the number of private donors to Howard University by 10% annually.
Increase Growth of Revenue Streams
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Demonstrate high return on investment for federal funding to increase Howard’s allocation of federal appropriation.
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Develop and execute real estate partnerships that reduce institutional risk and increase revenue that includes monetization of edge and non-core properties to reinvest in the core mission.
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Ensure proactive and long-term planning efforts with affected local governments and constituencies to optimize the university’s investments, enhance community relations and leverage local, state and federal funding.
Academic Program Financial Performance Review
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Develop a set of comprehensive and transparent academic program financial performance reports to inform strategic decisions, balancing student success and financial sustainability
Enhance Fiscal Management
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Support internal audit and compliance functions to ensure adherence of operating budgets and business processes to achieve excellence in fiscal operations, resulting in less audit findings.
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Employ revised fiscal management procedures to promote effective university-wide financial planning and budgeting practices.
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Clarify institutional roles and responsibilities related to budget and finance to facilitate effective collaboration and communication between responsible parties and appropriate monitoring of performance and accountability.