ENU held the V International Endowment Forum

The V International Endowment Forum was held at The L. N. Gumilyov ENU, which brought together representatives of university endowment funds, investment companies, and business communities from Kazakhstan, the United States, Russia, China, Turkey, and Poland.

The Forum has become a platform for discussing the development strategy of trust funds, the issue of their popularization and support, as well as their role in the modern world.

Global experts exchanged experiences in promoting and strengthening the effective activities of endowment funds to ensure the sustainable development of the educational system.

In his greeting, Rector of The L. N. Gumilyov ENU Yerlan Sydykov congratulated the participants on the adoption of the Law on Endowment Funds in Kazakhstan.

"We are moving towards stability and sustainable development. Universities should not depend on the state budget. Since we live in a competitive environment, we must have multiple sources of financing. The role of endowment funds is paramount in this," Rector emphasized.

Gulzat Kobenova, Vice Minister of Science and Higher Education, said that currently there are 22 endowment funds in Kazakhstan, 15 of them in the field of education with an average capitalization of less than one billion KZT.

"In order to implement the law on endowment funds, it is planned to create five pilot endowment funds and a specialized association of endowment funds. By 2029, we plan to increase the total capitalization of endowment funds to 50 billion KZT," the speaker emphasized.

Susan Holter, Chief Development Office of the University of Minnesota, demonstrated the strategic development model of the endowment in the format of using the donor pyramid model. S. Holter recommended telling the foundation's donors about the university's achievements, inviting them to university events, holding meetings, organizing tours of the campus, sending letters of thanks, and constantly informing them how their donations are used. According to the speaker, this will be the basis for building a trusting relationship. 

Oksana Oracheva, Executive Director of the Potanin Charitable Foundation, presented the Russian experience in the development of endowments. The speaker focused on government support for endowment funds, emphasized the importance of promoting endowments, and also spoke in detail about the tools for developing endowment funds.

The forum featured presentations by John D. Branch from the University of Michigan on the university's sustainable growth strategy, Marina Petrova, Executive Director of the MGIMO Development Fund, on the strategy of involving graduates and the business community in endowment completion, Sayat Nyussupov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Nazarbayev University Social Development Fund, on the role and place of endowment funds in the modern world, as well as Paweł Sowa and Kostiantyn Mazur from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Xu Tianmeng, Partner of Chengwei Capital Evergreen Fund, Bakhyt Ospanovaб the director of the Berik and Bayan Kaniyev Scholarship program, etc.