# Los Rios Colleges Foundation

Los Rios Colleges Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Sacramento, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Sacramento, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Sacramento, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 1997
- **Assets under management:** Under $10M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** foundation.losrios.edu
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/los-rios-community-college-district

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Founded in 1997 as a 501(c)3 auxiliary to the Los Rios Community College District, the Foundation supports American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake, and Sacramento City colleges. Donor contributions, estate-plan gifts recognized through its Legacy Society, and endowment income underwrite programs the district's state funding cannot cover — textbook vouchers, bus passes, hardship grants, and degree-completion stipends. The Foundation also stewards the Harris Center for the Arts public art collection, permanently housed at Folsom Lake College. Asset allocation favors income-producing real estate, with positions reported in publicly traded REITs and private mixed-use real-estate fund investments concentrated in the United States. A substantial portion of corpus is held as a beneficial interest in assets administered by the Foundation for California Community Colleges — the statewide auxiliary that pools investment management for local college foundations and reported consolidated assets exceeding $500 million in 2023 (per FCCC annual report, 2023). The Foundation also maintains collaborative accounts with the Sacramento Region Community Foundation for targeted regional giving campaigns. No dedicated investment staff is publicly listed — governance rests with a volunteer board of directors drawn from Sacramento-area business and civic leadership. The board sets distribution policy, typically 4–5% of a three-year rolling average of corpus value, aligned with California's Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act. Bank of America has directed grant support to the Foundation through its Neighborhood Builders program, providing unrestricted funding and leadership development scholarships for the district's students. The Foundation does not disclose a separate investment committee or outside CIO arrangement. Structurally, Los Rios operates as a pooled endowment: no individual donor funds are separately accounted for, and investment discretion ultimately rests with the district's auxiliary governance model rather than an independent foundation board. This bundling approach — common across California's community college foundations — means asset allocation decisions reflect consensus institutional risk appetites rather than outsourced-OCIO mandates or individual donor preferences, placing Los Rios squarely among the small-balance educational endowments that rely on commingled partnership vehicles like FCCC for manager access they could not negotiate independently.

## Sectors

- Education
- Real Estate

## Questions

### What does Los Rios Colleges Foundation fund?

The Foundation funds scholarships, textbook assistance, emergency grants, transportation stipends, and degree-completion awards for students attending the four Los Rios colleges: American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake, and Sacramento City. It also maintains the Harris Center for the Arts public art collection and supports faculty innovation grants not covered by state appropriations.

### How is the Foundation's endowment invested?

Public disclosures and Altss research indicate a real-estate-heavy allocation, including publicly traded REITs and private mixed-use real estate fund interests. A material share of corpus is held as a beneficial interest in assets managed by the Foundation for California Community Colleges, the statewide investment pool serving local community college foundations. The Foundation has not published a full asset-allocation breakdown or disclosed an external investment consultant or OCIO relationship.

### What is the relationship between Los Rios Colleges Foundation and the Foundation for California Community Colleges?

Los Rios Colleges Foundation is a participating entity in the Foundation for California Community Colleges' investment pool. FCCC holds assets for the benefit of Los Rios and other local college foundations, providing pooled access to investment management, manager due diligence, and asset allocation services — an arrangement designed for foundations without standalone internal investment teams. The beneficial-interest structure means Los Rios does not directly custody or manage the pooled portion of its endowment.

### How large is the Foundation's endowment?

Los Rios has not published a current AUM figure. Altss estimates the endowment at approximately $9.9 million, placing it among the smaller community college foundations in California's 116-college system. By comparison, the statewide Foundation for California Community Colleges reported consolidated assets over $500 million, driven by substantially larger pooled contributions from dozens of participating institutions.

### Who governs the Foundation?

A volunteer board of directors drawn from Sacramento-area business, legal, and civic leadership governs the Foundation. Board members are not compensated and serve staggered terms. The executive director handles operational management; the board retains final authority over investment policy, distribution rates, and major gifts acceptance.

## Related profiles

- [Mount Saint Mary College](https://altss.com/profile/mount-saint-mary-college)
- [Vanguard University of Southern California Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/vanguard-university-of-southern-california-endowment)

---

Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/los-rios-colleges-foundation

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology