Help on offering scholarships to previous high school

[jeffmem]

Hey guys. I have been considering for many years to offer a small yearly scholarship to my previous high school. However, the amount I want to offer is only about $100. So... my question is this.. will I be perceived by both the high school and students as a cheapskate? Some of you are parents of kids and some of you may be university students, so I am wondering your opinions? When I graduated if I got a 100 scholarship I never considered the amount, I just felt lucky that I got 100 bucks. But today, I am not sure how people would think about that. I know I shouldn't care, but I do. And what I am asking them to do is write a 500 word essay on some topic I choose. They need to send me some other info as well like transcripts, stuff like that. What do you guys think?

And what questions do you think I should ask other then writing an essay? I am still wondering if I need to get a lawyer to check it over to make sure I am not asking anything that could be considered illegal... A bit of a headache, but I would like to give something back to some deserving student.

[feh]

Hey guys. I have been considering for many years to offer a small yearly scholarship to my previous high school. However, the amount I want to offer is only about $100. So... my question is this.. will I be perceived by both the high school and students as a cheapskate? Some of you are parents of kids and some of you may be university students, so I am wondering your opinions? When I graduated if I got a 100 scholarship I never considered the amount, I just felt lucky that I got 100 bucks. But today, I am not sure how people would think about that. I know I shouldn't care, but I do. And what I am asking them to do is write a 500 word essay on some topic I choose. They need to send me some other info as well like transcripts, stuff like that. What do you guys think?

And what questions do you think I should ask other then writing an essay? I am still wondering if I need to get a lawyer to check it over to make sure I am not asking anything that could be considered illegal... A bit of a headache, but I would like to give something back to some deserving student.

I suggest you ask these questions of the superintendent of your school district and/or the principle of the high school. They'll give you the guidance you seek.

[rob62521]

Personally, I think you are thoughtful. A gift of money no matter the size is still a gift. I say go for it!

[DaveInPgh]

At that amount, I would be shocked if you got much of a response from the students.

[HundredK]

I have some experience in this area. If you want to offer a scholarship for high school students, you would be better off approaching the scholarships office of a nearby college that you like. They have all the tools in place to get it set up and even to administer it for you if you'd like. And you can have the restriction that all scholarships must go to a student from X high school, and if you personally want to read the essays, they can arrange that as well. Then they'll take care of all the legal stuff, tracking it and reporting it for the student, as well as making sure you get your tax donation letter. Just make sure that they don't charge an administrative fee on scholarship donations... be sure to specifically mention that, or around $5 of that $100 could be going to overhead.

[kork13]

My family set up an annual scholarship fund with my high school in memory of my older brother. I forget the amount exactly, but it's something like $1k-$2k every year to 2 or 3 students. My parents approached the local teachers union, and they were happy to partner with us in setting up/managing the scholarship. My family provided the initial seed money ($40k-$50k I believe, basically my brother's entire college fund plus some extra to ensure it could persist in perpetuity). They were also able to specify application, recipient, and disbursement criteria to ensure it met the intent of the scholarship. The union helped with all the paperwork and got the scholarship up & running within the year, in fact enabling one of my brother's best friends to be one of its recipients. My mother headed up the scholarship committee for the first few years, but the teacher's union has basically taken it over completely at this point, and my understanding is that they were actually able to expand the recipient pool to 4-5 students every year thanks to donations that the union has received.

I'm not personally a big fan of the way unions operate in most cases...but in this instance, they have been incredibly helpful and our family has been grateful for their assistance. I would recommend approaching the local teachers union, or the local board of education, and see what guidance/assistance they might be willing to offer. Otherwise, as stated above, any university is happy to assist in endowing new scholarships, though they are typically only accessible to their own students.

Just from a quick google search, there is plenty of advice out there. Last thought: YES, you want a lawyer to assist you. Whether someone else's on your behalf, or with you directly, a lawyer will be invaluable in getting it set up properly.

[Fishindude77]

Thoughtful, but I don't think $100 is enough.
Consider saving up and doing a $1,000 scholarship when you can, or just donate the $100 to a charity of your choice. Another angle - There are some service organizations that do scholarships, you could donate the $100 with your check specifically marked "High School Scholarship Fund".

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I do not think $100 is too little to offer. There are people who will struggle to buy books without ratcheting ever upwards the amount of loan they take out. $100 might pay for a book (or several if they can find good deals), or maybe a studio or lab fee. To many of us here, $100 may seem paltry, but there are students to whom it could make a difference that they really could feel. (When I was in school I was hard pressed to come up with five cents to make a xerox copy if I wanted to be able to have the entire fifty cents it cost to ride the bus back home.) I'm not saying you should look at it as a need based scholarship, but a good high school scholar might also need any help they can get.

Please don't feel awkward about your offer. I think it is a fine community spirited thing to do .

[disneysteve]

Thoughtful, but I don't think $100 is enough.

Not so much that it isn't "enough" but that if there is an application process and work involved (writing an essay, sending transcripts) I think you'll find few if any students want to devote the time. $100 wouldn't even cover many individual textbooks so it isn't like that amount will make or break their ability to attend college even though money is money.

If that's the amount you can afford to donate, I think you need to come up with a clear and narrow set of criteria to select the recipient, ideally something that can be awarded automatically without an application process. For example, it could be for the student with the highest class ranking who will be attending a particular college. That way the school can easily identify the person for you.

[HundredK]

My family set up an annual scholarship fund with my high school in memory of my older brother. I forget the amount exactly, but it's something like $1k-$2k every year to 2 or 3 students. My parents approached the local teachers union, and they were happy to partner with us in setting up/managing the scholarship. My family provided the initial seed money ($40k-$50k I believe, basically my brother's entire college fund plus some extra to ensure it could persist in perpetuity). They were also able to specify application, recipient, and disbursement criteria to ensure it met the intent of the scholarship. The union helped with all the paperwork and got the scholarship up & running within the year, in fact enabling one of my brother's best friends to be one of its recipients. My mother headed up the scholarship committee for the first few years, but the teacher's union has basically taken it over completely at this point, and my understanding is that they were actually able to expand the recipient pool to 4-5 students every year thanks to donations that the union has received.

I'm not personally a big fan of the way unions operate in most cases...but in this instance, they have been incredibly helpful and our family has been grateful for their assistance. I would recommend approaching the local teachers union, or the local board of education, and see what guidance/assistance they might be willing to offer. Otherwise, as stated above, any university is happy to assist in endowing new scholarships, though they are typically only accessible to their own students.

Just from a quick google search, there is plenty of advice out there. Last thought: YES, you want a lawyer to assist you. Whether someone else's on your behalf, or with you directly, a lawyer will be invaluable in getting it set up properly.

It sounds to me like your family set up an endowment fund, meaning that your initial contribution is set aside to be invested, and earnings on that amount are provided as scholarships. It doesn't sound to me like this is what the OP wants to do - they simply want to fund a scholarship to the tune of $100 each year. That's relatively uncomplicated if she works with the development office of the high school or college, and I don't think legal input is a necessity in her case.