What is an Endowment Fund?
An Endowment is a pool of money invested for long-term growth and income, with a portion of the value of the endowment used by the organization as the donor stipulated or for general operating purposes.
UCAN and UCAN
Neighbors Funds
UCAN helps Southern Ohio schools students prepare, plan and pay for college. Since the 2008/2009 school year, the Scioto Foundation (SF) has awarded 135 mini-grants totaling $157,763.75 to Southern Ohio school districts to help students pay for Advanced Placement (AP) examinations and/or college entrance exams such as ACT and SAT. Through grants exceeding $95,000 to SSU’s AP Summer Institute (APSI), SF has helped 146 teachers earn AP Certification. As a result, 3,583 students have taken one or more AP courses, totaling 4,916 tests taken.
UCAN is increasing the number and amount of yearly scholarships. To create more scholarship dollars for our students, the Scioto Foundation worked with local school districts to set up scholarship endowment funds. Since UCAN's inception, those funds have a combined market value of over $2,655,301.29 dollars, with a payout $591,760 in scholarships. To help each district raise money for their scholarship endowment, the Scioto Foundation pledged a 1:1 match, up to $10,000 per school district for the first 5 years, beginning in August 2008. During these 5 years, the Scioto Foundation matched over $450,000, increasing the combined fund value to over $1 million. Following those 5 years, Scioto Foundation introduced UCAN 2.0, consisting of a 2:1 match up to $5,000 for 3 years per school district plus special challenge grants. The grants consisted of a $5,000 bonus for the school which raised the most funds, a $2,500 bonus to the school with the highest percentage of employees participating in payroll deduction gifts, and a $2,500 bonus to the school with the highest participation in AP courses.
UCAN is encouraging families to save for college. In 2012 the Scioto Foundation began a marketing campaign that encourages families to start saving early. While it may not be realistic to save the alloted amount necessary to pay for a four year degree, any savings that helps reduce school loans is money well saved. Each year Scioto Foundation hosts the UCAN Go To College Night for grades 8 and up. Students can meet with 40+ representatives, learn ing more about how one can attain his or her goal of attending college. Various resources, including financial literacy, are available.
SCHOOL ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Over the past ten years, the Scioto Foundation has partnered with the Scioto County Schools and UCAN Neighbors to grow and manage school endowment scholarships.
Despite the popularity of UCAN, we realize that donors, like alumni, parents and grandparents, businesses, and community leaders may want to “give back” to their local schools in ways other than scholarships. With our new type of fund, the School Endowment, donors can give to support broad fields such as arts education and teacher professional development, and/or special projects like field trips, quiz bowl, science fair, etc. School Endowment Funds are another vehicle to help your students receive a best-in-class education.
How it works
• Create a board resolution to establish the fund.
• Work with our professional staff to complete a fund agreement.
• Create a marketing plan with the benefit of one-on-one coaching from the Scioto Foundation.
• Encourage donations to the fund. Contributions can be made at any time.
• You may also decide to contribute up to .5% from your general fund into the School Endowment Fund as detailed in the Ohio Revised Code 3351.41.
• The Scioto Foundation invests all contributions guided by our investment policy statement.
• We waive our fees until the fund reaches $10,000. At this time, annual disbursements or grants can begin.
Endowment: the Gift that Keeps on Giving
Scioto Foundation offers endowment opportunities for named funds, including scholarship funds. Established in late 2006, the Rose and Augusta Jacobs Memorial Fund is a scholarship fund managed by Scioto Foundation. It offers scholarships to college upperclassmen from Scioto County High Schools that are majoring in business and music.
The fund was created through a planned gift made by Rose Jacobs and her daughter Augusta. Rose attended high school in Cincinnati and continued her education at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She married Jacob Jacobs in 1924. They founded the Eagle Coal and Iron company in 1929. Upon his death, Rose became the sole proprietor of the company in 1957 until her retirement in 1998. Rose Jacobs died in 2005 at the age of 103. Augusta was a graduate of Portsmouth High School and the University of Cincinnati. She taught business at Green High School for 47 years. The very next day after
retirement, she joined her mother Rose in the family business. Augusta died in 2002 at the age of 77.
Both mother and daughter were active in the community, and belonged to numerous organizations and clubs. Because of their philanthropic gift, from 2007-2018 the Rose and August Jacobs Memorial fund has granted 196 individual scholarships in the amount of $520,100 to 98 students from Scioto County, Ohio.
The fund began with an initial gift of $1,209,625. Over the past eight years, it has awarded $520,100 in scholarships, withstood the recession of 2008 and had a 12/31/18 market value of $1,343,114. At some point in time, the scholarship awards made from this fund will exceed the initial gift. This is the power of endowment and a lasting legacy of giving.