Scholarships

Scholarship Approaches

Scholarships can be broken down into two main categories in regards to how they are managed—designated scholarships and foundation-managed scholarships.

Foundation-Managed Scholarship

With most foundation-managed scholarships, a committee of the Quad Cities Community Foundation collects student applications, reviews the applications and selects the student. At times, an outside committee is designated to accept applications and select recipients, and they must follow the same guidelines that a the Community Foundation committee would. Scholarship checks will be sent by the Community Foundation to the school that the student attends. There is an increased support charge for this service.

See the chart below for a detailed breakdown of what activities are involved in managing a scholarship and who the responsible party is for each of those activities.

The following table lays out the responsibilities of each party with designated scholarships and foundation-managed scholarships.

While most Community Foundation funds have a fund minimum of $10,000, Foundation-managed scholarships have a $25,000 fund minimum. With the rising cost of education, students need scholarships that make an impact relative to their cost of education. A scholarship fund with a balance of $25,000 will distribute approximately $1,000 per year for scholarships, which will make a significant impact on a student’s educational costs.

Designated Scholarships

With designated scholarships, distributions from the fund are made to the designated school or school foundation (an intermediary organization). The intermediary organization collects and reviews the applications and awards the scholarship according to their established criteria. The intermediary organization is responsible for getting the scholarship funds to the recipient’s chosen school.