Trustee Endowed Scholarship Challenge

Launched in October 2018, The Franklin & Marshall College Trustee Endowed Scholarship Challenge, with a total match fund of $2.5 million, will match gifts on a one-to-four basis and create up to fifty endowed scholarships totaling an estimated $10 million. With your help, the endowed scholarship challenge will offer support to students across the country and around the world.

As part of Now to Next, the Campaign for Franklin & Marshall, we seek to raise $80 million overall in support of financial aid – extending and securing the College’s deep commitment to access and affordability.

We have already realized $50 million in support for financial aid in the pre-public phase of the campaign – and that momentum propels us forward.
Made possible by a generous bequest from Dr. Myron Portenar ’49, and Trustees David Lehman ’68, Susan Klehr ’73, Eric Rackow ’67, Ray Sanseverino ’68, Larry Shadek ’72 and President Barbara K. Altmann, The Franklin & Marshall College Trustee Endowed Scholarship Challenge will support that critical campaign goal.

We compete nationally for our extraordinary students – yet we know that many schools have significantly more scholarship endowment than F&M. Last year, just 10% of the College’s $55.6 million financial aid budget came from endowment. Many of our peers and aspirant peers have 20%, 30%, 50% or more of their financial aid budgets secured with endowed scholarship funds.

Gifts eligible for the challenge

Each donor’s new endowed scholarship gift of $200,000 or more (payable up to five years) is eligible for the 1:4 match from the challenge fund.

When F&M receives, a scholarship gift of $200,000, the donor(s) and their endowment fund will receive $50,000 in matching funds, increasing their fund to $250,000.
The $250,000 threshold is the minimum level to establish a named, endowed scholarship. This challenge gives donors the chance to meet this level with help from the matching fund.
Endowed scholarship funds are considered active once the funding level has reached a minimum of $100,000 in payments from the donor(s). Matching funds are not part of this minimum.
Annual disbursements of the scholarship, based on the annual endowment spending rate established by the Board of Trustees, will commence in the fiscal year following the $100,000 threshold being met.

Each endowed scholarship fund matching grant will be applied to the donor’s fund once the pledge has been fully paid. To be eligible for the match, pledges may be paid over a period of up to five years and the payment schedule can be determined based on donor preferences.

Many donors have already established endowed scholarship funds and they are also eligible to use this challenge. If you have an existing scholarship endowment fund, you may make an additional gift of $200,000 or more (payable over five years) to receive matching funds.

Because we seek not only to increase support for scholarship endowment, but also to encourage new donors to include F&M in their philanthropic priorities, we hope many new donors will join us. Gifts from foundations or corporations are acceptable. Gifts from multiple donors or groups are only acceptable after approval and only if one donor guarantees the full amount of the scholarship. Any exceptions to this limit must be reviewed and approved by the Office of College Advancement.

Defining Preferences for Endowed Scholarships at F&M

Franklin & Marshall’s very generous financial aid budget is awarded solely based on need. The College meets 100% of each student’s demonstrated need – and just over 50% of our students receive some amount of financial aid. We have a diverse and deserving pool of candidates who benefit from scholarship aid. The most impactful scholarship endowments are those which offer the College the great flexibility in awarding a scholarship, however, we realize that some donors may have certain preferences they would like for their scholarship. Donors may work with the Office of College Advancement to define a preference or two, but the funds should allow the broadest flexibility.

Endowed Scholarship Annual Report

The donor relations staff in the Office of College Advancement will annually report to each endowed scholarship donor on the impact and growth in your scholarship fund. The donor relations team works closely with donors and student recipients to ensure the student knows about their named award and the donor knows who the recipients are. Ultimately, the impact of each scholarship endowment is on the many great students at F&M who are the beneficiaries of financial aid.

Timeframe

The Franklin & Marshall College Trustee Endowed Scholarship Challenge begins in October 2018 and will continue until we have expended all the match funds available. While the match funds are not applied until pledges have been completed, we will not accept pledges beyond the $2.5 million available in the challenge fund.

For More Information, Please Contact:

Cynthia Gorman

Associate Vice President for College Advancement
Office of College Advancement
E: cgorman@fandm.edu
P: (717) 358-4270