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Number 8, August 2007
How to Establish an Endowed Scholarship
Why Donors Create Scholarships
Alumni, friends, parents, companies and foundations establish named endowed scholarships for many reasons—to honor loved ones, recognize what the College has meant to them, "give back" to the community, show appreciation to favorite professors or support programs of special interest and most importantly to support deserving students.
Naming Your Scholarship
Scholarships may be named after an individual like the Fred W. Beazley Endowed Scholarship, after a couple like the Beverly and James Avery Endowed Scholarship, after a family like the Ferguson-Rollins Endowed Scholarship or a company like the Landmark Communications Endowed Scholarship.
Scholarship Gift |
Annual Student Award(s) |
$50,000 |
$2,500 |
$100,00 |
$5,000 |
$250,000 |
$12,500 |
$500,000 |
$25,000 |
$1,000,000 |
$50,000 |
Levels of Endowed Scholarships
Establishing an endowed scholarship requires a minimum of $50,000. Endowed funds are not disbursed. The College invests the funds and disburses the fund's earnings as scholarship awards to deserving Virginia Wesleyan students.
Permanency, Investment Policy and Future Growth
Endowed scholarships are permanently created and will provide an annual award in perpetuity. The College's policy is to invest endowed funds for growth and income, disbursing 5 percent of the endowed fund's market value each year and re-investing excess earnings to guard against inflation in future years. This ensures that scholarship funds will grow forever.
Endowed Scholarships at Virginia Wesleyan
Virginia Wesleyan's scholarship endowment consists of 161 named funds. These endowment gifts help students through merit and need-based scholarships. More than 88 percent of our undergraduate students receive financial aid from endowments, the Annual Fund and other sources. Of the College's $52.9 million endowment, $28.4 million is dedicated to scholarship funds.
» List of endowed scholarships at the College
Method of Payment
There are many ways to establish an endowed scholarship. Some donors choose to give an outright, one-time gift to establish an endowed fund, while others make a multi-year pledge to give specific amounts each year until the desired endowed level is attained and disbursements can be made from the fund. Payments may be made with cash, appreciated stock, or through a planned gift.
Meeting Your Endowed Scholarship Recipient
Endowed scholarship donors are invited to meet their student recipients at the annual scholarship dinner held on Wesleyan's campus in the fall.
Annual Endowment Report on Your Fund
Endowed scholarship donors receive an annual report on the balance and growth of his or her fund.
Progress Toward Our Goal
The Key to the Future Campaign covers five years, from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2008. As of July 31, 2007, the College has raised $45.5 million, an increase of $1.4 million since our last update.
Each endowment, each capital improvement and every Annual Fund dollar supports the drive to be Phi Beta Kappa-caliber.
Campaign Leadership Gifts
Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church
The Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church has made gifts totaling $1,053,311 during the College's Key to the Future Campaign.
The Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church supports the United Methodist Church's 250-year-old tradition of carrying out its ministry in higher education. The Virginia Conference's gift has supported the College's Annual Fund for Academic Excellence.
The Annual Fund for Academic Excellence provides the margin of excellence for Virginia Wesleyan students and faculty by funding annual scholarships, recruitment of top-quality students and faculty, professional development and conference travel for faculty members, student internships, up-to-date technology in the classroom, and other critical needs.
Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges
The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) has made gifts totaling $606,874 to the College's Key to the Future Campaign. The VFIC annually supports the Annual Fund for Academic Excellence as well as a number of scholarships, faculty and undergraduate research grants and capital improvements.
Since its founding in 1952, the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges is dedicated to strengthening the educational and scholarship programs of 15 small private liberal arts colleges and universities in Virginia. The VFIC supports these traditional undergraduate institutions by securing gifts and grants for the consortium, increasing their visibility, facilitating collaborative initiatives among the colleges, and supporting programs which ensure that these colleges' personalized and effective educational experiences remains an affordable choice for the young men and women who will be tomorrow's citizen-leaders.
Member colleges include: Bridgewater College, Emory & Henry College, Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Lynchburg College, Mary Baldwin College, Marymount University, Randolph-Macon College, Randolph College, Roanoke College, Shenandoah University, Sweet Briar College, University of Richmond, Virginia Wesleyan College, and Washington and Lee University.