The Henderson State University Foundation is an independent, non-profit corporation chartered by the State of Arkansas to operate exclusively for the benefit of Henderson State University. It is a separate entity from the institution it serves. In the broadest sense, the Henderson State University Foundation functions as a bank for private money received for the benefit of the public state university. The Foundation receives deposits, invests and disburses these funds.
The affair, management, of the Foundation and its property is vested exclusively in its Board of Directors that consists of at least fifteen (15) persons confirmed by the University Board of Trustees. The Trustees are appointed by the Governor of Arkansas and confirmed by the Arkansas Senate. The Articles of Incorporation (Charter) provides the President of the University, the Chairman of the University Board of Trustees, and the University Director of Institutional Advancement serve as ex-officio-Directors of the Foundation. The regular directors, representing private gift donors, guarantee that contributions will be used only for the purposes for which they were donated. A foundation charge is to do and perform things necessary for the development, growth, expansions, progress, and accomplishment of educational objectives, development of the physical plant, improvement of faculty and staff, and to aid the student body of Henderson State University. The Foundation is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501c3 of the Internal Code of 1954, as amended or the corresponding provisions of any future United States Revenue law and, more particularly to promote and further education in the State of Arkansas.