University endowment funds have become widespread abroad. Their history goes back more than one century and in certain periods they direct the vector of development of science and education. In recent decades, similar structures have appeared in Russian universities. The article raises the question of the necessity and expediency of introducing the endowment institute into the work of regional Russian universities. The features of the existing system of the Russian university endowment in comparison with the foreign experience of the development of this institute are considered, the fundamental problems in the endowment system of Russia are identified, both from the point of view of legislative and organizational regulation, a number of measures for the formation and replenishment of the endowment capital of a regional university are proposed. It is shown that the formation and replenishment of the endowment fund of a regional university should combine the attraction of large investors with some donations from graduates and teachers of the educational institution. In relation to regional universities, it is possible to propose the creation of a single endowment fund on the basis of several universities of the same subject of the Russian Federation or universities of the same profile from different regions. The authors correlate the endowment of a regional university with a peculiar point of growth of the regional economy and believe that the own target capital is a guarantee of the long-term stability of the university.