Scholarship Endowments | Faculty Endownments | Program Endowments
Endowment Contracts | GiftLaw Newsletter

Endowment, Scholarships and Other Endowed Gifts

Endowment
Endowed gifts are an enduring way to demonstrate your enthusiasm for and commitment to Defiance College. They, also, are an excellent way to help the College achieve its Vision Priorities for the future.

An endowment operates like an investment vehicle. Once it is created, the interest earned is used to support the intended purpose of the fund. Thus, the principal is never utilized permitting the fund to be maintained in perpetuity.

Endowments can be created to support a variety of needs or interests. They may support a student scholarship fund, the faculty, an academic program, or other needs of the College. Whatever the purpose of an endowment, the funds generated will always go toward fulfilling the goals identified for the endowment. The amount necessary to establish an endowment varies depending on its purpose.

The Office of Institutional Advancement can help you design a plan for your endowment that is best suited to your financial situation. There are several ways to make an endowed gift. These include cash, gifts of appreciated stocks, making Defiance College part of your estate plans or a bequest from a retirement account. Donors have the opportunity to name their endowed fund, and oftentimes use their gifts to honor or memorialize loved ones.

Scholarship Endowments
Defiance College provides a high-quality and multi-dimensional educational experience at a reasonable cost. Even so, approximately 85 per cent of the College's students require some form of financial assistance. Also, annually about 40 percent of the students attending Defiance College is the first in their family to attend college. In order for the College to recruit and retain students with superior academic skills, Defiance needs to provide scholarship assistance based on financial need as well as academic merit. A variety of endowment opportunities exist to assist students at Defiance College.

• The Defiance Scholarship - A gift of at least $500,000 will provide a student with full tuition for this prestigious competitive scholarship program.
  

• The Pilgrim Scholarship - A minimum gift of $275,000 will provide an annual scholarship of $10,500-$11,000 for a student to continue her/his college education at Defiance.
  

• The Bonner Leader Award - A minimum gift of $250,000 will provide a $2,000 scholarship annually to assist a student with their financial needs at Defiance.
  

• Endowed Scholarship Fund - A minimum gift of $25,000 will provide an annual scholarship, which may be designated for a specific program, e.g., business, education, etc., to assist a deserving student meet some of the costs of attending Defiance.
  

• Endowed Unrestricted Scholarship - A gift of at least $10,000 will provide an annual scholarship to help a student pursue their education at Defiance.
  

Endowments for Faculty
Distinguished faculty committed to excellence in teaching and scholarship is a priority for Defiance College. Our ability to attract and retain the best faculty provides our students with a superior learning environment and helps bring recognition to the College. There are several ways donors may create an endowment to assist the College's faculty:

• Endowed Chairs
  
• Endowed Professorships
  
• Endowed Lectureships
  
• Endowed Funds for Faculty Enhancement
  

Endowments for Programs
Endowments such as this are discretionary in nature and provide the margin of excellence for a specific program. The flexible nature of these funds allows the overall quality of a program to be enhanced which benefits student learning and the work of our faculty. Donors may create a fund for library acquisitions, an academic department, for laboratory equipment or technology enhancement to name a few of the options which exist for program endowments.

Contacts
Endowed funds are an important source of support for Defiance College. If you have any questions about the endowment at Defiance College or would like to know more about establishing an endowed fund, please contact Cindy Shaffer. Or call her at (419) 783-2306 or use the College's toll free number 1-800-520-4632.