Scholarship Fund

Scholarship Funds are a convenient way to support students' pursuit of higher education.  Why create a scholarship fund?

You want to assist students in need
As the costs of attending school increase, many students are finding higher education to be out of their reach. By establishing a scholarship fund, you are helping those students who would not have an opportunity to attend school without financial support.

You went to school on a scholarship
If you are like most scholarship donors, you may have received a scholarship to go to school and still remember who gave you the award, its amount, and the impact it had on your education. By creating a scholarship fund you have the chance to pass that feeling along to someone else.

You want to honor or memorialize someone special
Many scholarship funds are created to honor someone, or to memorialize a family member who has passed away. By creating a scholarship fund, you not only acknowledge the importance of that special person in your life, but you also establish a philanthropic legacy in that person’s name.

You want a connection
By creating a scholarship fund, the Foundation can connect you to the individuals who receive your scholarship. Also, we provide you with opportunities to meet the recipients and to get reports on their progress.

You don't want all the paperwork
Finally, we give you the opportunity and flexibility to provide scholarships without all of the paperwork, time and expense associated with running your own scholarship program.

For an endowed scholarship fund, we can offer the following services:

Preliminary Services

  • Establishing criteria in accordance with the donor’s wishes
  • Creating a scholarship selection committee
  • Creating a Scholarship Application and/or other promotional materials

Applicant Outreach and Intake

  • Marketing the scholarship through the Foundation’s website
  • Mailing application forms to local schools and school districts
  • Processing applications
  • Preparing applicant files

Decision Making Services

  • Screening applicant pool to determine eligibility
  • Preparing information and spreadsheets on applicants
  • Distributing budget of available income for distribution
  • Creating review committees of knowledgeable community members (including educators)

Post Decision Services

  • Sending and facilitating the signing of necessary forms (e.g. student agreement and verification of enrollment form, etc.)
  • Processing scholarship checks and distributing them to schools semi-annually
  • Mailing thank you letters from students to donors
  • Promoting recipients and donors in relevant IVCF publications (Annual Report, Chair & President’s Report, Newsletter, etc.)

Evaluation

  • Mailing and facilitating the receipt of transcripts and progress reports from recipients
  • Following up with students annually
  • Maintaining recipient files for three years

If you're interested in starting up a scholarship, give us a call at (760) 336-0055 to make an appointment to talk things out.  Alternatively, you might consider supporting one of the scholarship funds we already have.