I’ve been emailing every scholarship service company I come across. I’m so determined to find a way to do this and to do it right! I have a call tomorrow morning with someone from Scholarship Managers. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of information.
I’ve also been in touch with someone from The Center for Scholarship Administration. They can handle the fund for us (scholarship selection process etc) but they can’t handle the donations. She advised me to open a trust fund at a bank (which is also what Scholarship America recommended I do) and then they would take the yearly amount needed for the scholarships. The problem is – they take over 10% of the fund in fees. Seems pricey. From what I’ve read, Scholarship America only takes from 2-5%.
So now I’m researching all I can on trust funds. The nice lady from the Center for Scholarship Administration, Sandra, did put me in touch with someone from Wells Fargo so I can discuss opening a trust fund with them, so that should be very informative as well. Unfortunately, it looks like the donations to a trust fund are not tax-deductible unless we are a non-profit.
I found an article on e-how that explained trust funds and tax-deductible giving. I’ll post that in case it’s useful to any of you who are trying to start a charity account.
I’m still back at square one. How do we start a national scholarship fund without starting our own non-profit? At least I’m in touch with all sorts of organizations so I’m getting my questions answered. I’m sure we’ll find a solution soon!
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