Ways to Give

As a private tax-exempt corporation, we can do a lot of things that LSU Health Shreveport, a state office, can’t.  For instance:

• Foundation funds are clearly separate from state funds.  This means we can invest them more quickly and more profitably than a state office could.
• The Foundation can sell or purchase property far more easily, competitively, and expeditiously.
• The Foundation, through our Board of Directors, gets business leaders and talented community members involved in the success of LSU Health Shreveport.  This means individuals with extensive legal, business, and financial management skills will be in charge of your gifts and how they are used.
• Our Board can also ensure that your gifts are used how you’d like them to be used, should you specify a purpose for your support.
• The Foundation does not release your information to the state.  This means that the details of your personal finances will not become a matter of public record as they would if you gave directly to a state office like LSU Health Shreveport.

In short, the Foundation can grow and use funds as well as protect your privacy and interests in ways that LSU Health Shreveport can’t.  This makes for a better relationship between you and LSU Health Shreveport, and increases the good that your gifts will do.

As a public charity, we are accountable to you, our supporters, as well as the faculty, staff and students of LSU Health Shreveport and the IRS. Click here to view financial information about the Foundation, including 990 forms, audited financial statements and annual reports.

An endowment is a permanent fund of support for the purpose you specify. The principal is invested in order to achieve a return. This means that your gift is used to establish a principal that anchors the endowment, and then only the interest from the fund can be spent. Essentially, an endowment is an ever-growing, perpetual source of funds for LSU Health Shreveport which never goes away.

Unrestricted gifts are one of the most effective ways to support LSU Health Shreveport.  When you give to LSU Health Shreveport through the Foundation, and choose “use my gift toward the area of greatest need,” this means that you are freeing up your support to be used in any way LSU Health Shreveport most needs it.

Some ways in which unrestricted gifts have been used in the last year include:

• Providing half a million dollars annually to build and strengthen the orthopedics department
• Acquiring land surrounding LSU Health Shreveport for future growth and expansion
• Purchasing effective signage for LSU Health Shreveport in order to increase visibility and name recognition in the community
• Providing equipment like the daVinci Surgical System, a robotic surgery system that is essential to the healthcare and education functions of LSU Health Shreveport

Unrestricted gifts also support the following programs:

• Employee Excellence Awards
• Summer Undergraduate Pharmacology Experience in Research (SUPER)
• Medical Student Summer Research Program
• Graduate School travel for recruiting
• Awards and other needs for students

Yes! Gifts may be designated to a specific fund, department or program. Gifts may also be unrestricted. Unrestricted gifts allow LSU Health Shreveport to allocate funds where they are most needed.

The Development Support Fee is a small fee applied to all gifts to the Foundation to support the operations of the Foundation. For more information, visit our Development Support Fee page.