1: A Corpus Fund (often referred to as an Endowment or Capital Fund) serves as the permanent core capital or financial foundation of an organization, trust, housing society, or institution.

2: Its primary goal is to ensure long-term solvency, structural stability, and institutional survival over an extended or perpetual timeframe. Funds qualify as a corpus only when explicitly designated by the donor or grantor through a written contribution letter stating that the funds are intended for the corpus.

The fundamental characteristic of a corpus fund is that the principal amount is non-spendable; it cannot be liquidated or drawn down to pay for routine operational expenses. Instead, the capital is placed in long-term, low-risk, and stable investment instruments such as fixed deposits, government securities, or approved treasury portfolios.

2: Only the returns generated from these investments—such as interest earnings or dividends—are utilized to support ongoing activities or specific capital requirements. In terms of accounting, corpus funds are credited directly to the Balance Sheet under Capital or Reserve Funds rather than being recorded as general operating revenue. Common examples include building reserve funds, university endowments, legal trust reserves, and capital maintenance funds.

A Non-Corpus Fund (commonly known as a General, Revenue, or Operational Fund) is designed to handle day-to-day administrative functions, routine expenses, and immediate project execution. Its primary purpose is to maintain operational continuity and settle short-term financial liabilities within a given budgetary or project cycle. This category encompasses unrestricted general donations, user fees, service charges, and short-term project grants.

Unlike a corpus fund, the principal capital of a non-corpus fund is fully spendable and is intended to be directly consumed to cover operating overheads. To facilitate quick access and maintain liquidity, these funds are held in accessible accounts and liquid instruments, such as standard savings accounts, liquid mutual funds, or short-term deposits.

All incoming non-corpus capital and revenue are recognized directly in the Income & Expenditure Account (or Profit & Loss Statement) as revenue income. Typical examples of non-corpus expenditures include staff salaries, office rent, utility payments, routine maintenance, event management costs, and short-term relief efforts.