Duke Endowment pledges $1.9 billion to four colleges

The Duke Endowment, one of the largest nonprofit foundations in the nation, will donate $1.9 billion to four North Carolina colleges over the next 15 years, Forbes reported. Those donations will be part of a larger effort, announced on the endowment’s 100th anniversary Wednesday, to donate $5 billion in total between now and 2050.

The endowment has given annually to the four colleges—Duke University, Davidson College, Furman University and Johnson C. Smith University—since it was established; in the Indenture of Trust, James B. Duke stated that he wanted the money to benefit those four institutions, as well as hospitals and nonprofits in the Carolinas, Methodist churches and retired Methodist pastors and their families. Duke receives 32 percent of the endowment’s yearly earnings, while Davidson and Furman receive 5 percent and Johnson C. Smith receives 4 percent.

Over the last century, the endowment has given $5 billion to various organizations, including $1.9 billion to Duke alone. Though the university is the endowment’s largest beneficiary, they are two separate entities.