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Label Element Value
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Entity Central Index Key dei_EntityCentralIndexKey 0000916622
TIFF Short-Term Fund (Prospectus Summary) | TIFF Short-Term Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return, Heading rr_RiskReturnHeading

TIFF Short-Term Fund Summary

Investment Objective, Heading rr_ObjectiveHeading

Investment Objective

Investment Objective, Primary rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock

The fund's investment objective is to attain as high a rate of current income as is consistent with ensuring that the fund's risk of principal loss does not exceed that of a portfolio invested in US 6-month Treasury bills.

 

The fund's performance objective (which is non-fundamental) is, over a majority of market cycles, to track as closely as possible, gross of fees and expenses, the BofA Merrill Lynch US 6-Month Treasury Bill Index.

Expense, Heading rr_ExpenseHeading

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

Expense, Narrative rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The “Redemption Fees” shown in this table are referred to as “exit fees” elsewhere in the prospectus.

Shareholder Fees, Caption rr_ShareholderFeesCaption

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):

Operating Expenses, Caption rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):

Portfolio Turnover, Heading rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading

Portfolio Turnover

Portfolio Turnover rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock

The fund pays transaction costs, such as a spread, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). Because the fund holds primarily securities with maturities at the time of acquisition of one year or less, and such securities are excluded by definition from the calculation of portfolio turnover, during the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.

Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate none
Expense Example, Heading rr_ExpenseExampleHeading

Example

Expense Example, Narrative rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated, and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Investment Strategy, Heading rr_StrategyHeading

 Principal Investment Strategies

Investment Strategy, Narrative rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

The fund invests principally in securities issued by the US Government, its agencies, or its instrumentalities. The fund's duration generally will not differ from the benchmark's duration by more than three months. While the duration of the benchmark varies throughout the month, as of April 3, 2017, the duration of the benchmark was approximately 5.8 months. The investment advisor, TIFF Advisory Services, Inc. (“TAS”), focuses on duration, maturity, relative valuations, and security selection. Typically, the average credit quality of the fund's portfolio will be equivalent to the credit rating assigned to short-term obligations of the US Government, its agencies, or instrumentalities, and may include unrated obligations that are deemed to be of equivalent quality.

Risk, Heading rr_RiskHeading

Principal Investment Risks

Risk, Narrative rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the fund, and you could lose money on an investment in the fund. Fluctuations in the market value of the securities held in the fund's portfolio could cause members' shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. The principal risks associated with the fund's primary investment policies and strategies are summarized below.

 

Credit Risk.  An issuer or guarantor of a debt obligation or other obligation may default or otherwise become unable or unwilling to make timely principal and/or interest payments, or to otherwise honor its obligations.

 

Interest Rate Risk.  Interest rate changes are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, inflation expectations, and supply and demand. Bond prices typically fluctuate due to changing interest rates and generally vary inversely with market interest rates. Duration reflects the expected life of a bond and provides one measure of the sensitivity of a bond's price to changing interest rates. For a given change in interest rates, longer duration bonds usually fluctuate more in price than shorter duration bonds. In addition, falling interest rates may cause the fund's interest income to decline and rising interest rates may cause the value of the fund's investments to fall. Further, in an environment marked by abnormally low short-term interest rates, the risk exists that earned interest will not be sufficient to cover the management fees and expenses of the fund, resulting in principal losses.

 

Market Risk.  The market value of a security may increase or decrease over time. Market risk may affect a single issue, an entire industry, or the market as a whole.

Risk, Lose Money rr_RiskLoseMoney As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the fund, and you could lose money on an investment in the fund
Bar Chart and Performance Table, Heading rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading

Fund Performance

Performance, Narrative rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock

The chart below is intended to show the risks of investing in the fund by showing changes in the fund's performance from year to year. The fund's past performance does not necessarily indicate how the fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.tiff.org.

Performance, Information Illustrates Variability of Returns rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The chart below is intended to show the risks of investing in the fund by showing changes in the fund’s performance from year to year.
Performance, Availability Website Address rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.tiff.org
Performance, Past Does Not Indicate Future rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture The fund’s past performance does not necessarily indicate how the fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart, Heading rr_BarChartHeading

Calendar Year Total Returns (%)

Bar Chart, Closing rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock

Highest and Lowest Quarterly Returns
(for periods shown in the bar chart)

 

Highest (3Q 2007)

 

 

1.39

% 

Lowest  (4Q 2011, 4Q 2013,
      3Q 2014, 4Q 2014, 1Q 2015)

 

 

-0.10

% 

Performance Table Heading rr_PerformanceTableHeading

Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/2016)

Index No Deduction for Fees, Expenses, Taxes rr_IndexNoDeductionForFeesExpensesTaxes (does not reflect fees, expenses, or taxes)
Performance Table Narrative rr_PerformanceTableClosingTextBlock

The table below illustrates the changes in the fund's yearly performance and shows how the fund's average returns for one year, five years, ten years, and since fund inception compare with a selected benchmark. Past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.tiff.org.

TIFF Short-Term Fund (Prospectus Summary) | TIFF Short-Term Fund | BofA Merrill Lynch US 6-Month Treasury Bill Index  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Average Annual Returns, Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel BofA Merrill Lynch US 6-Month Treasury Bill Index (does not reflect fees, expenses, or taxes)
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 0.67%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 0.27%
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 1.16%
Average Annual Returns, Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 2.92%
Average Annual Returns, Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate May 31, 1994
TIFF Short-Term Fund (Prospectus Summary) | TIFF Short-Term Fund | TIFF Short-Term Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Entry Fees on Purchases (as a percentage of amount invested) ck0000916622_EntryFeesOnPurchaseFeeOverInvestments none
Redemption Fees (as a percentage of amount redeemed) rr_RedemptionFeeOverRedemption none
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.03%
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.21%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.24%
Expense Example, With Redemption, 1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 25
Expense Example, With Redemption, 3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 77
Expense Example, With Redemption, 5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 135
Expense Example, With Redemption, 10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 306
Annual Return 2007 rr_AnnualReturn2007 5.03%
Annual Return 2008 rr_AnnualReturn2008 2.97%
Annual Return 2009 rr_AnnualReturn2009 0.24%
Annual Return 2010 rr_AnnualReturn2010 0.03%
Annual Return 2011 rr_AnnualReturn2011 none [1]
Annual Return 2012 rr_AnnualReturn2012 none [1]
Annual Return 2013 rr_AnnualReturn2013 (0.10%)
Annual Return 2014 rr_AnnualReturn2014 (0.20%)
Annual Return 2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 (0.10%)
Annual Return 2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 0.13%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel Highest
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Sep. 30, 2007
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 1.39%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel Lowest
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2015
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (0.10%)
Average Annual Returns, Label rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel Return Before Taxes
Average Annual Returns, 1 Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 0.13%
Average Annual Returns, 5 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (0.05%)
Average Annual Returns, 10 Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 0.79%
Average Annual Returns, Since Inception rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception 2.73%
Average Annual Returns, Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate May 31, 1994
[1] Rounds to less than 0.01%