One of Kansas University’s finest assets is an association that has no formal ties to the school but whose sole mission is to do whatever it can to help make the university the best state-aided university possible.

The KU Endowment Association was founded in 1891 and, over the years, has played a vital role in the development of the school. In fact, it is looked upon by many as one of the nation’s outstanding educational fundraising programs for state-assisted schools.

Endowment trustees met at KU Friday for their annual meeting and learned that more than 41,000 donors helped push the university’s endowment over the $1 billion mark for the first time. The association, which determines how to direct that funding to the university’s greatest needs, provided $99 million in support to KU during the last fiscal year.

As the highly respected former KU chancellor Franklin Murphy used to say, the KU Endowment Association provides the “frosting on the KU cake” that makes it possible for the university to acquire so many assets that set it aside from other state-aided schools.

At a time when Kansas legislators are appropriating a smaller and smaller percentage of the university’s annual budget year by year, private financial assistance is becoming even more essential if KU is to remain a high quality institution.

Donors can be sure the money they give to the Endowment Association is guarded carefully and spent wisely. Administrative expenses are held to a minimum, and those in charge of approving funding for the school consider those expenditures as carefully as if they were spending their own money. It’s often easy to spend someone else’s money in questionable ways, but that is not the case with those serving on various Endowment Association committees. Some at the university look upon the available endowment funds as a never-empty cookie jar, but that is not the thinking of those who control the purse strings.

Enthusiastic congratulations are in order for the Endowment Association and those who serve as its trustees and in leadership positions, as well as the thousands of generous contributors who share their good fortune with the university.

KU is, indeed, a fortunate institution to have so many interested and loyal alumni and friends.