How to Establish A Named Scholarship

How to Establish a Scholarship 

When someone holds a special place in your heart, makes a big impact in your life or changes the community for good, it's fitting to recognize them in a manner that best honors their contributions. This is especially true for those who seek to memorialize individuals through a scholarship program. Education is the gift that lasts a lifetime, and a memorial scholarship program provides a meaningful way for a family, friends or company to honor that special person while carrying his or her legacy forward to future generations of students.

Donors interested in establishing a CSF of Bedford Dollars for Scholars Scholarship for a graduating student planning to attend college may establish a Named Scholarship, either as a permanently endowed scholarship or a scholarship paid out for one or more years (but not in perpetuity).  

The Scholarship may be in the name of an individual or sponsor group, and will be awarded in accordance with the sponsor/donor selection criteria to a graduating high school student or equivalently home-schooled student, who is from Bedford or Hanscom AFB, or is attending Bedford High.

Funding and Other Differences

Permanently Endowed Scholarships are guided by a signed endowment agreement. The minimum amount needed to establish an endowment is $5,000, which must be accrued within the first 5 years. CSF of Bedford will award a scholarship each year just from the earnings of the endowment once the earnings meet our minimum award level, preserving the principal so awards can be given out in perpetuity. If earnings do not meet our award minimum (currently $250) we will carry forward those earnings to future years until the accumulated earnings meet the award minimum.   We invest our permanent endowments collectively to maximize earnings and are currently awarding earnings at approximately 3% of our average annual principal. Optionally, sponsors of endowments can also supplement the earnings so the award in any given year is greater than the 3% average, or to enable a scholarship in years where the award minimum is not met from the earnings average.  We've chosen 3% (for now) as sustainable to award over a long-range time horizon while maintaining the principal in our endowments and to allow for modest growth.

If after 5 years the $5,000 minimum endowment funding level is not met, the endowment fund will be expended annually at $250 per year (or any higher level the sponsor chooses) until the principal is fully depleted, after which the endowment fund will be retired.

Non-Endowed Scholarships are awarded from whatever amount has been donated in one or more years, guided by the wishes of the sponsor/donor.  Awards in any given year must be at least $250. Since the money is awarded in a short time span, it is maintained in a checking account so the funds do not suffer from market fluctuations and are completely available for the years they can be awarded.

We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and donations are tax deductible.  

If donating to, or arranging a collection from others to fund a specific Named Scholarship, we request that the checks be made payable to "CSF of Bedford Dollars for Scholars", noting the name of the scholarship in the memo area of the check and mailed to CSF of Bedford Dollars for Scholars, P.O. Box 585, Bedford, MA 01730.

If interested in establishing a Named Scholarship, please contact us at bedfordma@dollarsforscholars.org and someone from our board will be in touch with more details on how to set up your Scholarship fund.