Open a scholarship fund - Community Foundation of Greater Memphis

For over 50 years, the Community Foundation has helped people give with purpose, strengthening Memphis and the Mid-South.

We make giving easier and more impactful by matching your generosity with the causes and community you care about most.

We offer solutions and resources to donors and the professionals who advise them to help you give smarter and do more good.

We offer funding opportunities that helps nonprofits and students create positive change and build futures.

When you get involved with the Community Foundation, you join a group of people committed to Memphis’s future.

Learn more about the philanthropic hub that connects capital with the solutions that make our community thrive.

Support in perpetuity

Scholarship funds are a meaningful way for charitable Mid-Southerners who believe in the potential of the next generation to work with the Community Foundation to establish an enduring legacy in support of education.

The minimum to establish a scholarship fund is $25,000. All scholarships at the Community Foundation must be endowed. An endowment is a way of investing that ensures your gift is a permanent source of funding that makes fulfilling the scholarship’s purpose possible, forever.

Two women smiling and posing together indoors, with a blurred background featuring digital signs about scholarships and other people. One woman has short blond hair and wears a blue top; the other has shoulder-length dark hair and wears a patterned jacket. — Fund donor Barb Poier with past Don Poier Memorial Scholarship recipient Vivian Nelson

The principal of the endowment fund is never spent, and it can grow over time. Five percent of the fund’s value is distributed annually for scholarship awards.

An investment for forever

Infographic titled How an Endowment Fund Works shows three steps in supporting a scholarship fund: giving a gift, growing the investment, and granting annual distributions—each illustrated with icons for a gift, growing plant, and money.

Infographic titled How an Endowment Fund Works with three steps: Gift (a present icon), Grow (a plant sprouting with a dollar sign), and Grant (a hand over money), showing how you can start a scholarship fund, with arrows connecting each step.

As the cost of a college education continues to rise, we must be able to offer students scholarship awards that make a meaningful contribution towards their expenses. A $25,000 fund produces $1,250 annually for scholarships; a $50,000 fund produces $2,500.

Scholarship fund FAQ

Carefully review the answers to common questions about opening a scholarship fund and contact us if you are ready to proceed.

The Community Foundation administers a variety of scholarship funds for Memphis-area residents and others attending post-secondary, technical, and vocational institutions of higher learning. Many donors choose a scholarship fund as a way to memorialize a person and/or support specific schools, circumstances, or areas of study. Donors designate criteria for eligibility when they establish a scholarship fund. Eligible scholarship applicants undergo a competitive process for awards.

An endowment is a way of investing that ensures your gift is a permanent source of funding that makes fulfilling the scholarship’s purpose possible, forever. The principal of the endowment fund is never spent, and it can grow over time. Earnings are used to make scholarship awards.

You may designate the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Committee or work with the Foundation to establish a selection committee. Donors may be members of selection committees provided that they do not control the committee’s decision, directly or indirectly. You may not earmark scholarship dollars for specific students or family members.

You may contribute to your scholarship fund at any time. You are welcome to encourage others to make gifts to the fund, as well. However, we ask that you discuss any fundraising plans with Community Foundation staff before embarking on them.

Yes. If you are not prepared to establish a new fund, there may be an opportunity to align your interests with an existing scholarship fund at the Community Foundation. We can help you explore the dozens of scholarships we currently offer.

Scholarship applications for graduating high school seniors are due in early April, with funding decisions made by the end of June. Applicants are notified of the decision by June 15 in most cases.

Scholarship applications for adult learners are due in early June.

The Community Foundation sends award checks directly to the educational institution. No funds are awarded directly to the student.

All of our scholarship funds are invested in our Balanced-Active pool.

Learn more

Administrative fees vary with account balances and are charged quarterly in arrears. The annual base fee is 1.25 percent of the average daily balance during the quarter. The minimum administrative fee is $500 annually. Fees decline on a sliding scale for balances greater than $500,000.

The fund will maintain its name and purpose, and award recipients will be selected by the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.