An endowment is a permanent fund — a pool of invested assets from which the income (typically around 5% per year) is used to support an organization’s work. The principal is not spent. A gift to the endowment generates a return year after year, indefinitely. A $100,000 endowment gift today becomes $1 million in cumulative impact over 20 years.
FAQs
Questions worth asking.
The most common questions about the Mercy Builds campaign, the endowment, and how gifts work. If something isn’t answered here, the philanthropy team is glad to talk through it directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
The endowment supports three priority areas: resident services (health programs, financial coaching, food access, youth development, and more), housing innovation (new approaches to affordable housing development and design), and the Growth and Action Fund (flexible resources to respond to crises and opportunities as they arise). Unrestricted gifts support all three equally.
Gifts to the endowment are invested, and the annual return funds Mercy Housing’s work across the three priority areas. Because the principal is preserved, your gift continues to generate impact indefinitely — serving future residents as well as current ones.
Yes. You can make an unrestricted gift (supporting all three priority areas equally), or designate your gift to one of the three funds: Resident Services, Housing Innovation, or Growth and Action. Gifts designated by region are also available — speak with the philanthropy team for details.
A current gift is made now, from existing assets — a check, a bank transfer, or a gift of appreciated securities. A planned gift is made through your estate — a bequest in your will, a charitable trust, or another estate planning mechanism. Both permanently benefit the endowment; a planned gift often allows for a larger investment than might be possible today.
Mercy Builds is an endowment campaign — separate from Mercy Housing’s annual fund and project-based fundraising. Gifts to the endowment are invested and generate a permanent return. They are not used for operating costs or specific projects.
Yes. The Sisters of Mercy committed $5 million — the founding gift of the campaign. MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving has also made a significant investment, a portion of which will be used to match future donors’ generosity.
Mercy Housing has nearly five decades of proven outcomes and the largest affordable housing portfolio of any US nonprofit. What it has lacked is a permanent financial foundation — one that ensures the work continues regardless of policy changes, grant cycles, or economic conditions. The housing crisis is intensifying. Safety-net resources are being cut at the moment demand is rising. The case for building something permanent has never been clearer.