Financial Information

This Investment Policy Statement outlines the goals and investment objectives of the College of the Desert Foundation. Since this Policy Statement is intended to provide guidance for the Investment Committee and the investment managers responsible for managing the Foundation’s assets, it outlines certain specific investment policies that will govern how to achieve those goals and objectives.

This Policy Statement, upon the review and approval of the Investment Committee, does the following:

• Describes a risk posture for the investment of the Foundation’s assets;
• specifies the target asset allocation policy for those assets;
• establishes investment guidelines regarding the selection of investment manager(s), permissible securities and diversification of assets;
• specifies the criteria for evaluating the performance of the Foundation’s investment manager(s) and of the Foundation investment portfolio as a whole;
• and defines certain responsibilities of the Committee, the consultant, the investment managers, and other specified parties.

The Committee believes that the investment policies described in this Policy Statement should be dynamic. These policies should reflect the Foundation’s current financial status, and the Committee’s philosophy regarding the investment of assets. These policies should be reviewed by the Committee periodically and revised as necessary to ensure that they continue to reflect the current financial situation of the Foundation and the capital markets.

This Policy Statement was prepared based upon the information provided by the Committee in the Merrill Lynch Investment Policy Statement Service Questionnaire. It is the Committee’s responsibility to provide all the necessary and relevant information for its preparation. This information, as well as the Policy Statement itself, should be reviewed periodically for its continued accuracy and completeness.

View or download the full Investment Policy.

The College of the Desert Foundation is conducting an RFP for Investment Management Services. Please view the two links below to learn more about this opportunity. The deadline for receiving proposals is 7/31/24.

• RFP for Investment Management Services – July 2024 (PDF)
• IPS Investment Policy Statement (PDF)

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:

This Policy Statement, upon the review and approval of the Investment Committee, does the following:

1. To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and 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 acknowledgement and recognition.
6. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
7. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
8. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
9. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.