On December 19–20, 2025, Irina Tolmacheva, Head of Legal Department at the Gaidar Institute, Deputy Director of the Endowment Fund for the Development of Social and Economic Sciences and Education (FoRSENO), delivered a presentation during the X Academic Fundraising Forum. The event was organized by the Urals Federal University in Yekaterinburg and was dedicated to new models of interaction with the university community.
Irina Tolmacheva shared her expertise at the session "Endowment from Scratch: A Practical Guide." The discussion focused on creating endowment funds for schools, lyceums, and colleges. Experts discussed key criteria for assessing the need for an endowment, potential barriers, and ways to overcome them.
Similarly, as part of the forum, Irina Tolmacheva, together with Svetlana Lavrova, Director of the Endowment Fund at the European University at St. Petersburg and Chair of the Board of the National Endowment Association, hosted a specialized "Endowment Capital" Club. Participants discussed in detail the issue of changing the management company responsible for the trust management of endowment assets.
The X jubilee forum became a platform for rethinking the role of alumni and communities in the context of limited government funding. Participants, representatives of education, business, government, and NGOs, discussed how to develop a culture of "perpetual contributions" and transform communities into a driving force for sustainable university development, drawing on best historical and contemporary practices.
The Academic Fundraising Forum has been a traditional important communication platform for exchanging experience, strengthening contacts and developing strategies for attracting extra-budgetary resources to education.
