Special Funds: Building Your Own Dreams

When you contribute to the annual fund raising campaign, you help meet many of the College's current needs. But you might have a special dream: to strengthen a highly esteemed academic program, for example, or to honor a loved one with a permanent scholarship program serving students living in your own community.

The Genesee Community College Foundation is the perfect vehicle for building these special dreams. And it's easy. We offer two forms of special funds:

• Endowment funds, which are held forever, and only the fund's investment earnings are used to make scholarship or program grants.
  
• Term Funds, which consist of donations made periodically (usually once a year), and which are expended in their entirety for scholarships or programs.

A few examples:

• In the early 1990s, the Zonta Club of Batavia and Genesee County had a special interest in the educational needs of Genesee County women with few financial resources. The Zonta Club established two scholarship funds - the Zonta Emergency Fund and the Zonta Club Scholarship for Returning Women.
  
  
• Members of the Mancuso Family, who have long played a part in the business success of the region, established the Mancuso Business Scholarship to help support promising students with an interest in business.
  
  
• The United Rentals Scholarship Fund, established by United Rentals of Batavia, NY, provides assistance to students pursuing degrees on a full-time basis.  This scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate high academic performance, career potential, or financial need or hardship.
  

The Genesee Community College Foundation's Family of Funds now numbers more than 110. We can establish funds to help meet a wide variety of College and donor needs. Most special funds are established to:

• Support a favorite academic program, or students enrolled in a particular academic program
  
  
• Provide scholarships to students living in a specific community
  
  
• Establish a permanent memorial to a loved one after his or her death (although funds can be established to honor loved ones during their lives as well)
  
  
• Help meet specific scholarship needs (such as encouraging academically talented students to attend Genesee or providing financial assistance to students facing sudden financial emergencies)
  
  
• Begin or enrich a program close to the heart of a donor

Setting up a fund is easy. The Genesee Community College Foundation is organized to handle all the legal and fiduciary requirements involved, professionally manage the funds you donate, and make grants according to the general criteria you establish.

When you set up your fund, all you'll need to do is make a series of specific decisions:

• What is the fund's purpose?
  
  For example: " To provide scholarships to talented students pursuing Theatre Arts degrees."
  
  
• What criteria should the College and the Foundation use in awarding grants?
  
  For example: "Students must be enrolled at Genesee Community College on a full-time basis, and live in Wyoming County."
  
  
• What name would you like to give to the fund?
  
  This might be your name, the name of a deceased relative or friend, or a beloved member of your family.
  
  
• What size donation would you like to make to establish the fund?
  
  Donations that establish endowment funds usually range from $10,000 to $50,000. Endowment funds are held in perpetuity (forever) and invested. Only the earnings are used to make grants. Donations that establish term funds usually range from $500 to $2,500 each year.
  
  
• When would you like to make your donation, and what form will your donation take?
  
  You might choose to make the entire gift immediately, or spread it out over a period of months or years. Or you might choose to make some or all of your gift through a bequest named in your will, or through an annuity or trust.. If you make a gift immediately, you might make it in cash, securities, or other property. We can help you understand the financial and tax implications of different forms of gifts.

Establishing a named fund is a wonderful way to support a cherished cause, meet a compelling College need, or honor a loved one. And it's easy to do. Call anytime for more information: Richard G. Ensman, Jr., Executive Director (Telephone 585-345-6809; E-Mail RGEnsman@genesee.edu).