
Dear Friends,
I have very exciting news to share: A five-year, five million dollar
fund-raising campaign for the Tunghai University Endowment Fund was
initiated and announced during the recent celebrations of Tunghai
University’s Fiftieth Year Anniversary in Taichung, Taiwan. Even more
exciting: A most generous pledge of one million dollars (US) toward the new
$5,000,000 goal has already been made by one of Tunghai’s alumni in North
America.
The Tunghai University Endowment Fund is a permanent fund of the United
Board that was originally established in 1998, thanks to the vision and
leadership of the Tunghai alumni chapter in Southern California. They
consulted with some individual alumni and the United Board about the terms
that would govern the use of the endowment, and their proposal for this
permanent fund was presented to and approved by the trustees of the United
Board in April, 1998. The trustees formally received the fund and endorsed
its terms by officially voting on April 28, 1998:
“to receive with appreciation gifts from alumni and friends of Tunghai
University in Taichung, Taiwan, to establish a permanent endowment fund to
be called “the Tunghai University Endowment Fund.” Remittances from the
endowment are to be used for academic activities at Tunghai including
joint programs with other universities within and beyond Taiwan. Within
one year of the establishment of the fund, Tunghai shall develop a
procedure, in accordance with the established practice of the United
Board, to [1] identify priorities for academic activities to be supported
by the fund, and [2] select recipients of the fund. An annual report on
the use of the fund is to be made to the United Board by Tunghai prior to
the Board’s release of each succeeding year’s remittance. In the unlikely
event that conditions make it impossible for the United Board to use the
fund for this purpose, its Board of Trustees shall designate the fund for
a similar program elsewhere, preferably in Taiwan or China.”
Please be aware that this is a different fund from an endowment fund held in
Taiwan for the benefit of the university, called the TEFA endowment. The
Tunghai University Endowment Fund is instead a United Board endowment, which
is managed by the United Board’s professional financial advisors along with
all of the other United Board endowment funds. As of June 30, 2005, before
the US $1,000,000 pledge, the market value of the Tunghai University
Endowment Fund had grown to $109,392.
Every year, the United Board sends an annual grant to Tunghai University
from this endowment for the purposes outlined above. The amount of the
annual grant is based on the United Board’s endowment spending policy, which
results in annual grants of approximately 5% of the 12-quarter average
market value of the fund. This is in line with the spending policies of
similar U.S. non-profits and educational institutions. Any excess income
from investment of the assets is returned to the fund, ensuring that it will
continue to grow even as it produces annual grants for the university.
Tunghai University just celebrated its 50th birthday. As the donor who
pledged $1,000,000 for this campaign to re-invigorate the Tunghai University
Endowment Fund noted, “During its first half-century, Tunghai University has
educated and contributed many talents and skilled human resources in various
areas of science, engineering, architecture, art, music, business, and
humanities in Taiwan as well as internationally. To sustain future
educational and scholarly activities and contributions, the financial
stability of the University is essential. An endowment fund of five million
dollars is very small when compared with that of major universities in the
U.S. However, achieving this goal is a first step toward more financial
contributions and support from Tunghai’s alumni and friends for the next
fifty years.”
We invite you to join this generous donor and make a contribution to help
the fund continue to grow. All donations to the United Board for the Tunghai
University Endowment Fund are tax deductible in the U.S. to the full extent
allowed by law, and all contributions are important and greatly appreciated.
The United Board will acknowledge all contributions and issue a receipt to
each donor for their tax records.
If you would like to be part of this effort to make the Tunghai University
Endowment Fund even more effective for the University and its future, please
complete the enclosed donation form. Please be sure to make your check
payable to the United Board and indicate on the memo line of the check that
it is for the Tunghai University Endowment Fund. You may also contribute by
credit card, if you prefer, through the United Board’s secure website (www.unitedboard.org).
(Because the bank processing fees for checks from outside the U.S. can be
prohibitively high, we especially ask supporters from outside the U.S. to
make their gifts by credit card in U.S. dollars. This is similar to making a
credit card purchase in U.S. dollars from a U.S. vendor.) Or you may make a
contribution of appreciated securities which you have held longer than one
year; for some donors, such stock donations can result in additional tax
benefits. Please contact me for more information about the procedures for
making such a stock gift.
I am enclosing a contribution form for your convenience and look forward to
hearing from you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions
about this new campaign or how to make a contribution to the United Board
for it. You may reach me by mail here at the United Board, by email at
nhawkins@unitedboard.org
or by phone at 212-870-2612.
Thank you, and my best wishes to you!
Yours sincerely,

Nan Hawkins
Director of Alumni Giving and Communications
Phone:
212-870-2612 Fax: 212-870-2322 email:
nhawkins@unitedboard.org
www.unitedboard.org
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