About the Foundation

The Florida State University Foundation’s mission is to enhance the academic vision and priorities of FSU through its organized fundraising activities and funds management. Established in 1960, the Foundation, a nonprofit corporation, today manages an endowment of $827.2 million and has total assets of approximately $1.08 billion (as of September 30, 2024).

Review the FSU Foundation's Strategic Plan

Florida State University has partnered with EthicsPoint to provide a completely anonymous whistleblower reporting system. Access the system by phone at (855) 231-7511 or online.

Our Mission

The Florida State University (FSU) Foundation enhances the academic vision and priorities of FSU through its organized fundraising activities and funds management. The FSU Foundation accomplishes its mission by:

  • Fostering relationships with alumni and friends, advocating charitable giving and raising funds on behalf of FSU;
  • Soliciting contributions for academic purposes as part of FSU’s overall advancement effort;
  • Investing and disbursing funds to meet current and future needs of FSU; and
  • Strengthening relationships with donors to FSU.

Our Operating Principles

Our fundraising activities:

  • Exclusively support the mission of the university;
  • Involve alumni, donors, friends, faculty, staff and students who understand; and
  • Communicate passionately about university needs.

Our donors have the right to be:

  • Acknowledged and recognized appropriately for their support;
  • Assured their gifts are used for the intended purposes; and
  • Protected from improper or careless use of their confidential information.

Our employees:

  • Work together as a team in cooperation with university administration, faculty and staff;
  • Maintain high ethical and professional standards; and
  • Receive recognition and rewards for proven achievements.

Core Values

Transformative Daring: We support thoughtful risk-taking that leads to successes that improve our world dramatically. And when we face challenges, we confront them with resilience, curiosity, and renewed desire to overcome hurdles to our goals.

Inspired Excellence: We achieve the highest levels of success by drawing strength and understanding from the talents of those around us and from our interactions with them.

Dynamic Inclusiveness: We believe the benefits of a richly varied community arise not only from the diversity of people it includes, but more importantly from intentional efforts to create a strong sense of belonging that encourages deep and high-quality connections.

Responsible Stewardship: We transform the resources we are given and the public’s trust in us into powerful impact that betters the lives of those around us, near and far.

Engaged Community: We uphold the traditions and history that create a small-college culture within a large university. This makes FSU a welcoming place where people discover others like themselves—while also connecting to and learning from classmates and colleagues of vastly different backgrounds and experiences.

Donor Bill of Rights

Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

  1. To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
  2. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
  3. To have access to the organization's most recent financial statements.
  4. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
  5. To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.
  6. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
  7. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
  8. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
  9. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
  10. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

The text of this statement in its entirety was developed by the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel (AAFRC), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and adopted in November 1993.