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GIVING TOOLKIT
Scholarship Funds
Investing in deserving students

If you have been thinking about how you can change lives through supporting the education of talented, disadvantaged or re-entering students, a scholarship fund offers an excellent opportunity to fulfill your charitable vision.

 

Opportunities & Benefits

Establishing a scholarship fund with the Saginaw Community Foundation allows donors to make a significant impact on the lives of students who wish to pursue a higher education. Scholarships may help students who are unable to afford college or give certain students the extra encouragement they need to continue their education. A scholarship fund provides the same tax benefits of a donor-advised fund and still allows donors to focus support on a particular area of interest. Scholarship funds offer a tangible sense of the impact of philanthropy and can be extremely rewarding.

Customization

There are many reasons donors decide to establish a scholarship fund. Scholarships can be created to memorialize a loved one, help disadvantaged students, recognize academic excellence, or reward community involvement. The Saginaw Community Foundation works with each donor to make sure the scholarship criteria reflects his or her personal goals and interests.

Establishing a Fund

Every scholarship fund is unique to the donor who establishes it. The Saginaw Community Foundation makes the set up process simple and convenient while still giving personal attention to the details of each scholarship. Our staff works closely with donors to set up criteria that will target and attract the students they wish to support. We also handle all aspects of scholarship administration and have regular contact with students and universities. After recipients are selected, Saginaw Community Foundation keeps records of scholarship payments and tracks student eligibility by verifying GPA and school enrollment.

Fund Donations

Donations can be made at any time to the scholarship and receive the maximum tax deduction allowed by law. Saginaw Community Foundation can also accept gifts of stock and real estate. Check with your professional advisor regarding your specific tax situation.

We’re Here to Help

Each scholarship fund gives well-deserving students the opportunity to successfully follow their hopes and dreams. To help you make an effective investment in a student’s future through a scholarship fund, Saginaw Community Foundation can help you:

  • Develop an online scholarship application and guidelines, reflecting the criteria you have chosen, and meet IRS standards.
  • Notify the appropriate schools, groups, organizations, etc., of the availability of the online application.
  • Increase awareness of the scholarship among students to garner the best possible candidates.
  • Provide an expert scholarship screening committee to review the applications.
  • Handle all the paperwork, including notification letters to recipients and non-recipients, contracts and scholarship payment timeliness.
  • Provide award certificates or other recognition to the scholarship recipient.
  • Manage all investment activities and administrative responsibilities, including IRS filings.
  • Monitor the scholarship recipient’s progress to ensure that their grades remain satisfactory, that they continue to major in the field for which they received the scholarship and that they abide by any other special conditions of the scholarship.
  • Provide a constant, convenient point of contact for scholarship recipients when they have questions or concerns about their scholarship.

Criteria Considerations

There are several factors to consider when developing a scholarship to meet your philanthropic goals. Here are a few factors to consider:

Demographics You may want to consider students of specific financial need, education level, or age group. We currently have scholarships available to students attending community college, four-year universities and graduate school.

Geography Scholarships can be restricted to students in a certain geographic area. You may want to limit availability to students in Saginaw County, students who will attend a specific university, or to students graduating from a particular high school or school district.

Academics Academic achievement and focus is a consideration in many of our scholarships. Donors may choose to only consider students of a particular major or field of study. Some scholarships require a minimum GPA or ACT/SAT score.

Special Circumstances/Involvement Some donors look for students who have participated in particular extracurricular activities, sports, or community service projects.

Award There are many factors to consider when deciding the amount of the scholarship award. You may consider the student’s financial need and whether the scholarship will provide full or partial financial support. Most scholarships award $500 to $5,000 a year and provide support for 1- to 4-years.

IRS Requirements

Saginaw Community Foundation can help you meet the specific Internal Revenue Service criteria and standards that must be followed in the
administration of scholarship programs. IRS standards require:

  • Selection of recipients must be made on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis.
  • Grant must serve a public or community purpose.
  • Grant may not be inconsistent with established national policy.
  • Limiting a scholarship to any particular class of individuals or ethnic minority is permissible if those eligible are sufficiently broad to constitute a charitable class; objective and nondiscriminatory criteria are used; and involves use of selection committee which appears likely to make objective and nondiscriminatory selections.
  • No part of the net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
  • Scholarship recipients will be determined by the results of Saginaw Community Foundation’s volunteer review committee. Scholarship
    donors or fund representatives selected by the scholarship donor may participate as a volunteer scholarship application reviewer. Scholarship donors or fund representatives selected by the scholarship donor may not individually select a scholarship recipient for the fund they established or represent.

Learn More

For more information on establishing a scholarship, contact Chamika Ford, program officer, at (989) 755-0545 or chamika@saginawfoundation.org.

Download a PDF of our Giving Toolkit Scholasrhip Fund information sheet.