Heavy morning traffic is a reminder that school is back in session for the fall. It is awesome to try to comprehend the learning that takes place at all of our amazing educational institutions each day. From preschoolers learning to explore and interact with their peers, to doctoral candidates working on their PhDs and Medical Degrees; students are challenged daily to stretch their minds and retain vital information that forms the foundation of their educational pathways and eventual careers.
At East Texas Communities Foundation, it is inspiring to see our generous donors make grants to support many nonprofit organizations deeply involved in education. Such grants include supporting preschool professional development programs, teacher grants for many local ISD foundations, building projects and annual campaigns at local private schools, colleges and universities, adult education and training programs and certainly direct scholarship support for students. ETCF granted $2.9 million to educational organizations in 2023, including over $880,000 to students for scholarships. The value of a great education is truly important to local donors.
About this time of year, we usually start reminding donors and professional advisors that the end of the year is coming quickly and it’s time to think about the steps you need to take to reach your charitable objectives for 2024, especially if they involve making gifts of complex assets such as business interests or real estate. Those types of gifts sometimes take weeks or months to complete rather than gifts of cash or publicly traded securities that can be handled more quickly.
There is another deadline, however, that is coming even sooner than the end of December. For those of you with an interest in starting a new scholarship fund, the hard deadline is October 31 to award scholarships to graduating seniors next spring. Why so early? Our staff works hard in the fall to get out into local schools and talk to students, parents and school counselors about the over 100 scholarships available to East Texas students. We can’t share opportunities we don’t know about in time. When we lack the proper time to inform students and school counselors, it ultimately impacts the number of students who can learn about and apply for a scholarship.
My calendar this week has included several meetings with donors considering or finalizing scholarship funds. As I visited with these individuals I was recounting for them some of the personalized scholarships that have been created at ETCF to memorialize loved ones and encourage students to pursue meaningful careers. You can read stories about the Adam Carroll Scholarship for Grand Saline High School, the Alex Fleming Scholarship for Whitehouse High School, and the Mark Allen Scholarship for East Texas students attending school in the UT system. In addition to many memorial scholarships, ETCF hosts many career focused scholarships for students pursuing geoscience, firefighting, nursing, medicine, automotive technology, woodworking technology, ministry, music and fine arts. In one of our recent meetings a donor expressed a desire to “help those students who don’t get much encouragement.” We look forward to putting a plan in place to reach those students and give them a chance to rise above their present circumstances through education. If you are making plans to set up a memorial scholarship or contemplating how your organization or business can support students in a particular field of study, our staff would welcome the opportunity to craft a scholarship program to meet your charitable objectives.
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