What is an Endowment?

Definition: Basically... A savings account that lasts forever (in perpetuity) from which only earned income (dividends, interest, capital gains, etc) is spent while the principal (in our case $10 million) remains untouched forever.

As an endowment, the Fund's assets are held in trust in perpetuity and only the income of the Fund's principle is expended in support and maintenance of the educational needs of the members of the Hopi Tribe.

However, although endowment by name, since inception the HEEF has operated much like a foundation in awarding grants and funding to various organizations on a yearly basis awarding over $8 million to date, to various educational programs of the Hopi Tribe.

The Hopi Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) was established in 2000 as a segregated fund of the Hopi Tribe. It operates under a Hopi tribal ordinance as a public benefit program for exclusively educational and charitable purposes. Under Section 7871 of the Internal Revenue Code, tribal government instrumentalities, such as HEEF, may receive tax deductible donations from individuals and corporations, qualified charitable distributions from individual retirement accounts, and grants that count as qualifying distributions from private foundations. For more than 22 years, the HEEF has been building a fund that ensures opportunities for education will always be available for Hopi students.

P.O. Box 605, Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039 | PH: 928-734-2275 | Fax: 928-734-2273 | Email: heef@hopieducationfund.org