How it Works

by Leslie Potter

The USET Foundation focuses exclusively on fundraising for international competition in the seven FEI disciplines, including dressage.

The USET Foundation (formerly the United States Equestrian Team) is focused exclusively on fundraising for international competition in the seven disciplines recognized by the FEI: combined driving, dressage, endurance, eventing, jumping, para dressage, and vaulting.

“The USET Foundation was formed in 2003 to be 100% a fundraising organization in support of USEF’s high-performance programs and pathway,” said Bonnie Jenkins, Executive Director of the USET Foundation. “So while we are a separate organization, our mission and our purpose is exclusively to support those programs of the Federation.”

Both the USET Foundation and USEF are 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations, but Jenkins explains that there are advantages to keeping high-performance fundraising separate from NGB functions.

“One of the advantages is that we’re very focused on our role, which is fundraising and philanthropy, and the Federation is very focused on its role, which is sport governance and programming,” she said. “It’s nice to have that independence when we’re raising money for programs so there is no perceived or real conflict. People make gifts [to the USET Foundation] because they want to support the United States and our teams. There is no influence from these gifts on team selection or anything along those lines.”

USET Foundation grants make up about half of the funding for US Equestrian highperformance programs, and the programs also receive some funding from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. A significant portion of USEF revenue comes from sponsorships tied to high-performance teams

A beautiful stately home on a small hill overlooking 108 acres of rolling prime land. This circa 1917 house has been lovingly restored to upgrade the historic elements, while 3 large additions have added all the features of a state-of-the art estate home. The house features a gourmet kitchen, great room with huge wood burning fireplace and gorgeous built-in cabinetry, deluxe primary suite, attached garage, floored attic storage area and lovely hardwood floors throughout. The property is located in fashionable Woodford County. The entire 108 acres could be used for a farm, cattle and/or horses, or the house and 46 acres could be split from the remaining 62 acres and sold for multiple additional large acreage home sites or developed for up to 15 lots in a cluster. $2,250,000

Spectacular 114 ac Bourbon Co. farm located atop of one of the highest elevations in the area with beautiful views of the whole farm. Gorgeous commanding Historic 18 stall peg & beam barn renovated and updated when relocated to this site from Lexington, per a previous owner. Farm amenities boast Centurion & Diamond mesh fencing 6 fields, 6 paddocks all w/auto waterers, Grand Prix Grass arena, two homes, a lovely custom built 3bd/3ba main house, w/solid maple hardwood doors, kitchen cabinets, & trim, Granite, all SS

Kitchen package, LVP floors, tiled baths. Soaring 9' ceilings, w 22' box beamed ceilings located in the open concept Great Room, flooded with natural light and completely wrapped w/oversized windows taking in the serene country side vistas, standing board & batten vinyl siding, & metal roof house built in 2016, well cared for tenant house, water front bordered by the Hinkston Creek. $1,700,000

Gorgeous 74 acre turn-key horse farm w/gently rolling pastures & great soils. Perfect retirement home for horses or broodmare operation! Building site overlooks farm with breathtaking views of the countryside from one of highest spots in the county. This well designed farm developed in 2008 has, manager's residence & modern high-quality 4-stall steel horse barn w/insulated roof, wash stall & heated tack rm. Large tobacco barn w/room for an add 14 stalls. 4 large fields & 5 large paddocks have steel run-in sheds & 3 smaller paddocks. All fields & paddocks have heated, insulated Varnan automatic waterers. 4-board oak fence w/diamond mesh on most of perimeter. Entire farm on top-quality Maury-McAfee soils, small creek meanders through property & spring-fed artesian well. Well-located farm is near Runnymede Farm, Denali Stud, Silver Springs Farm, 5 miles from Paris, 19 miles to the Kentucky Horse Park. Appointment required! $925,000

A lovely gently rolling piece of land that is 2 miles from the Kentucky Horse Park. The 20 acre farm has great neighbors A wonderful piece of and super views. land with easy access A 25' x 108' to everything. Run-in shed This 44 acre piece of and another land sports some equipment/ lovely, old trees, storage building. top soils, Additional land available. Located a small creek, on the west side a pond, and gently rolling land of Lexington Rd with fabulous views. just north of the $645,000 Scott/Fayette County line.

USET Foundation grants help to fund educational opportunities for young and developing riders, such as the Robert Dover Horsemastership Clinic Week and Horsemastership Training series. These clinics are also available for all USEF members to audit on USEF Network. and programs, while membership fees and investments, among other sources, make up the balance of the high-performance budget.

“Of the $8.66 million that will be allocated to sport this year, some $4.89 million will come from outside the Federation, and the USET Foundation is contributing $3 million of that amount,” said Will Connell, Director of Sport at USEF. “The sport programs are not just high-performance, but also, for example, safety programs in eventing and some support to the development of licensed officials.”

What is High-Performance?

To put it simply, the goal of high-performance programs is to send teams to represent the U.S. in international equestrian competition and bring home medals. But reaching that goal is more than physically transporting athletes to overseas events. High-performance funding is what creates the pathway programs that help identify up-and-coming equestrian athletes in the international disciplines, provides training opportunities, and supports them through their development into world-class competitors.

“The Federation dictates what high-performance is, not the USET Foundation, and that certainly has evolved over the years, because programs have expanded, which is wonderful,” said Jenkins. “The programs have been able to expand because the funding has increased, so what once was high-performance was just the elite level, and that is no longer the case. High-performance is now the pathway, which starts at the emerging level to the development level and up to the elite level. The support that the USET Foundation provides is helping all of those opportunities along the pathway.”

“High-performance includes everything from horsemastership clinics to the FEI World Championships that will take place across seven disciplines in 2022,” said Connell. “The pathway for high-performance consists of emerging, development, and elite. We also support coach development.”

Examples of high-performance programs funded in part by USET Foundation grants include: • Talent scouting and evaluation of horses and athletes with high-performance potential for inclusion in the sport pathways through the emerging lists • Coaching for athletes at the emerging, developing, and pre-elite/elite levels • Travel grants for FEI competitions • European tours for youth and developing teams

• Competitions such as the North American Youth Championships, Talent

Search Finals, and U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions, which help prepare athletes for international competition • Horsemastership Training sessions for young athletes • Training and educational opportunities for coaches

The Process

“Funding for USET Foundation grants comes from wonderful, generous individuals and family foundations,” said Jenkins. “The Federation handles marketing and corporate sponsorships, so we manage gifts from individuals and family foundations.”

Jenkins explained that donors to the USET Foundation will often pledge a certain amount to be given incrementally over a period of years. Those multi-year commitments, along with projected funds from any benefits planned for the year ahead, help the USET Foundation plan ahead in determining the grant amounts it will be able to pledge to USEF.

“We’re now able to forecast what the USET Foundation can contribute to the Federation based on historic giving results,” said Jenkins. “It does vary from year to year based on our pledge base and fundraising activity, as well as what the Federation sport program is that year.

“We pledge a grant amount to the USEF at the beginning of the year, much like our donors do. Last year it was $4 million, which was our largest grant ever. This year it will be $3 million, and we will pay that amount to the Federation over the course of the year. We don’t pay it in one lump sum because we still have a lot of that to raise when we make the pledge. It is a misconception that when we make a grant, we have $3 million sitting in a bucket here and we can hand it over. Some has been pledged already and will come in throughout the year. We have to go out and raise the balance. As we have funding available, we send it over to the Federation in increments, and by the end of the year we’ll have fulfilled our grant commitment.” Donors to the USET Foundation can opt to direct their gift to a specific discipline or they can donate an unrestricted gift to be used as needed for any sport program. “An unrestricted gift is the best gift, because if the funds are needed one place or another in a particular year, the Federation has the discretion to do that,” said Jenkins. “When we make the grant, we let the Federation know, based on donor restriction, what percentage needs to go to each discipline and what percentage is unrestricted.” The USET Foundation and its donors are committed to equestrian sports and U.S. team success on the world stage. In the previous quadrennial, the USET Foundation’s “Raising the Bar” campaign raised $42.3 million from 2017 through 2021 with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Of that, 71% goes to high-performance programs, 23% to the USET Foundation Endowment, and 6% as planned gifts. Along with founding contributors, there were more than 12,000 donors to the campaign, illustrating widespread support for the U.S. equestrian teams.

“Now more than ever, the Federation and the USET Foundation are in lockstep, and I know the Federation appreciates what we’re doing,” said Jenkins. “Every year, we go out there and make sure that we’re supporting the programs and the teams. We are so fortunate to have an equestrian community that really believes in the pathway programs, believes in our teams, and wants to support them. It’s something that we are very committed to and excited about doing each year, and we rely on the generosity of people in the equestrian community. Without them, our work would not be possible.”

USET Foundation grants provide a large percentage of the funding that brings teams to international competitions to represent the U.S. on the world stage.