The Development Support Fee is important because the fee recognizes that fundraising has a cost, directly reflects the success of fundraising efforts, effectively distributes costs proportionately, and is easy to understand and calculate. Given the limited sources of revenue available to invest in academic fundraising efforts, Development Support Fees are common among institutionally related foundations; ours is in line with those of our peers. 

The largest portion of our operating revenue comes from a 1.25% annual service fee on endowment accounts, which is comparable to peers’ fees. We also receive a direct investment from LSU to support our academic fundraising efforts on the university’s behalf. Other revenue sources are fees from our work on real estate development projects for the university, our portion of the Development Support Fee, and annual gifts from LSU Foundation Members. 

• Pledge payments? The fee applies to pledge payments as they are received. 

• Endowed gifts? The fee is taken from the gift when it is received, and from any related pledge payments and/or additional gifts to the endowment when they are received. The state matching portion of endowed professorships and chairs is exempt from the Development Support Fee because those matching funds are not charitable gifts. 

• Planned gifts? Life insurance premiums and related pledge payments are exempt from the fee. The Development Support Fee applies to all other planned gifts. 

• Credit card gifts? The fee is calculated on the total amount of the credit card donation. 

• Gifts in kind? The fee is assessed on gifts in kind that are ultimately monetized, such as land and property, at the time of monetization. 

The fee limit is $250,000, applicable to gifts of $5 million or more.

The Development Support Fee is applicable only for charitable gifts. Life insurance premiums and related pledge payments are exempt, as are planned gifts that were documented (including the purpose of the funds) with the LSU Foundation prior to July 1, 2013. Gifts made by the LSU Alumni Association, Tiger Athletic Foundation, and Burden Foundation are exempt, as are gifts made by foundations with bylaws that expressly state they do not support overhead. Most donors are comfortable with the fee structure as described, but occasionally a donor chooses to give an additional gift equal to what the Development Support Fee on the gift would be (e.g., an additional gift of $5,000 on a donation of $100,000) to ensure a certain level of gift support for the beneficiary college or unit.