Indian Peaks Wilderness Alliance
Endowment Fund

Since its founding in 1985, IPWA’s mission has been to preserve and protect the Indian Peaks and James Peak Wilderness areas. In this age of ever-increasing visitation pressure on these Wilderness areas, our mission is even more relevant to ensure the future preservation of these beautiful Wilderness areas and all the benefits they provide. Over the years, our volunteers and supporters have been most generous in providing donations which fund our annual program activities.

We are excited to announce the establishment of the IPWA Endowment Fund, which will help ensure that we can continue our stewardship mission and sustain the long-term health of our organization. The IPWA Endowment Fund is a “True Endowment” – endowment donations are invested and retained, with the resulting income used to accomplish IPWA’s mission.

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While today’s IPWA is in good financial shape, growing the Endowment Fund will provide increased financial stability to ensure longevity in the future, with earnings going towards: 

• funding additional targeted training for volunteers

• hiring part-time/contract staff as needed to reduce reliance on finding and retaining

• interested and qualified volunteer board members

• providing a guaranteed income stream in the event of future financial challenges

 

Below we’ve listed some of the key features of IPWA’s Endowment Plan. Additionally, the Plan’s establishment and governing documents are available for review upon request.

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IPWA Endowment Fund Key Features

 

​Purpose & Background

The Endowment Fund has been established after considerable research and discussion over the past year by IPWA’s Board of Directors. Establishment and governing documents were reviewed and edited by legal counsel to ensure compliance with regulations and best practices. The intent of the IPWA Endowment Fund is to permanently and securely fund programs and initiatives that regular annual fundraising is (or may be) unable to reliably cover year to year.

 

Descriptions

Endowment Fund: The Board of Directors intends to solicit donations that will be permanently restricted funds of principal held by IPWA.

 

Net Income: Solicitation of donors to the endowment fund will be clear that net income of the Fund may be spent by the Board of Directors at its discretion to support IPWA’s mission.

 

Target Principal: The Target Principal of the endowment fund shall be $50,000 before any Net Income is distributed from the Endowment Fund.

 

Investment Objectives and Allowable Investments

The investment objectives and guidelines for investing are as follows:

• Preservation of principal.

• Real (inflation adjusted) growth, without undue risk.

• Focus on Balanced/Moderate Investment options.

 

Management and Guidance

​IPWA’s Finance Committee is responsible for:

• Establishing the ethical investment objectives, policies, guidelines, and eligible securities related to any investments owned or controlled by IPWA consistent with its mission and impact goals, with the oversight of the Finance Committee reporting to the Board of Directors.

• Identifying the criteria against which the performance of IPWA’s investments will be measured and appropriate benchmarks.

• Communicating fund status regularly to the Board of Directors, committees, staff, and stakeholders who may be involved.

Proposed Spending Goals

The proposed spending goals of the endowment fund fall into the following categories:

• Increased outreach and volunteer support, particularly in training.

• Management staff support, either contract or salary, to reduce reliance on (and workload of) volunteer Board of Directors.

• Regular ongoing expenses in the event regular fundraising fails to meet expenses in a future year.

• Detailed spending plans are developed by the Finance Committee and incorporated into IPWA annual budget once net income is available to be transferred.

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