Gifts for Pressing Needs: Jerrold and Joanne Robinson "I don't believe in putting strings on a gift," says Jerrold Robinson (Col '44), who with his wife, Joanne, has made generous planned gifts that will provide unrestricted endowment support for Arts & Sciences. "Our purpose is to help the University fulfill the most pressing need at the moment. The most important thing for us is the sheer delight we feel to be able to do this."

Unrestricted gifts have no strings attached. Essentially, you let the University or an individual school decide how best to use your gift.

There are two kinds of unrestricted support: annual gifts, which fund current operations, and endowments, which are invested to produce a stream of unrestricted income over time. For either type of contribution, the word that is always used to describe the importance of such gifts is "flexibility."

How are unrestricted funds used? Some fulfill needs that arise quickly and urgently; others are used to strengthen ongoing student or faculty programs; all serve to advance the University's educational mission.

Unrestricted funds pay for student projects, scholarships for undergraduates, fellowships for graduate students, faculty support for research and course development, funding for student organizations and publications, support for student and faculty participation in scholarly conferences, equipment and software purchases, and library acquisitions.

"Even with the most careful planning, unexpected needs and opportunities will arise that can be addressed only if we have such funds in reserve," says University President John T. Casteen III. "Donors who give us the resources to respond decisively in such instances will help the University in ways that can only be imagined today."