Scholarship funds have been created at The Minneapolis Foundation by individuals and families, schools and organizations to provide financial assistance for qualified students in their pursuit of higher education. Creating a scholarship fund is a wonderful way to inspire and support young people (and people of all ages) and to recognize the contribution that education has made in the donor's life.

The donor or group establishing a scholarship fund should define the eligibility requirements for selection. For example:

• students age 18 and over to attend accredited nursing programs,
  
  
• graduating seniors of XYZ High School who are enrolling as full-time students in an accredited two- or four-year post-secondary educational program,
  
  
• adults re-entering a post-secondary educational program after an absence of more than four years.

Selection Committee: The Foundation shall annually appoint the members of each scholarship selection committee serving the Foundation’s scholarship funds. The selection committee can include the donor(s), but they may not constitute a majority of the Committee. In addition, the Committee must be made up of people who have sufficient knowledge to review and recommend candidates for the specific purpose of the scholarship.

Conflicts of Interest: Persons related to Selection Committee members are ineligible for scholarships.

Publicity and Application: The Foundation will arrange for others to publicize the availability of each scholarship in a manner reasonably calculated to reach all or substantially all of the eligible applicants.

Selection Process: Scholarship selection committees will review eligible applicants and nominate a recipient(s) for each scholarship. All nominations shall be sent to the Foundation for approval of a scholarship grant. Scholarship committees will provide the Foundation with the names, addresses, and enrolled educational institutions of the nominated recipients, and such additional documentation as the Foundation requires in order to document compliance with the applicable fund procedures. The Board of Trustees of the Foundation retains final responsibility for all distributions of scholarship awards.

_____________________________

Scholarship payments usually are made payable jointly to both the student and the educational institution he or she will be attending, requiring endorsement by both parties.

Scholarship Funds are established through a fund agreement, and additions may be made to the Fund through future gifts. On a quarterly basis, the donor or sponsoring organization will receive a statement summarizing fund activity, including additional gifts, payments, investment gains or losses, and fees.

Although the minimum required to establish a Scholarship Fund is $10,000, an endowed Scholarship Fund requires about $25,000 for each annual scholarship of $1,000. If the scholarship is renewable at this level for four years, by the fourth year, four students will each be receiving $1,000 scholarships, requiring an endowed fund balance of $100,000. Donors of smaller amounts may also contribute to existing Scholarship Funds at The Minneapolis Foundation