CASE Insights on Fund Management in partnership with FundMiner

Video Transcription

Video Summary

CASE Insights and FundMiner presented findings from a two-year study of fund management in higher education, developed with input from institutional practitioners. The research addresses a growing challenge: institutions must ensure donor funds are spent according to donor intent, both to protect donor relationships and public trust and to manage institutional and ethical risk.<br /><br />Most participating institutions were still at an early, largely reactive stage of fund management. Common barriers included unclear ownership, limited staffing, inconsistent policies and training, siloed information systems, and difficulty identifying fund balances, restrictions, and responsible managers. These issues can leave funds unused or misused and make impact reporting labor-intensive.<br /><br />Practitioners emphasized that unspent funds are often a symptom of deeper problems—such as missing gift agreements, outdated records, unclear spending authority, or funds that no longer fit current programs. Effective approaches include framing fund management as an institution-wide responsibility, connecting it to each leader’s priorities, establishing formal policies, improving data access, and using regular monitoring rather than one-time reviews. Clear, audience-specific visual reporting can help fund managers understand what action is needed.<br /><br />The speakers also recommended expanding donor impact reporting, collecting recipient stories through structured prompts, and seeking donor feedback on reports. Ongoing, role-specific training and senior leadership support can help make these practices part of institutional culture. The session concluded by sharing research, community, benchmarking, and training resources to support continued progress.

Keywords

higher education

fund management

donor intent

donor relationships

institutional risk

fund stewardship

impact reporting

gift agreements

policy training

data access