Setting up a scholarship fund in the midst of a tragic death

TomWickersham

I know those of you who offer scholarship funds have encountered this before.... A family loses a child in a tragic death and wants to set up a scholarship fund A.S.A.P. because they want to direct memorial gifts to that fund. Putting aside the issue of whether or not they will raise enough in memorial gifts to establish a fund, there's a lot of decisions to make in setting up a fund (notably around criteria and selection process) and families are not thinking very clearly in this moment of trauma. My question to you is this: Do you have some sort of "fast track" or "interim" agreement that you use in situations like this? Is there some document that helps guide the creation of a fund that allows for the immediate establishment of the fund, but allows you to postpone some logistics/details until later, perhaps after the funeral?

Thanks in advance for your consideration of this request!

KaraAdams (Former Community Manager)

@KentWeimer, do you or your team at Parkland have any experience in this area?

KentWeimer

I have a situation where a family lost a son in an accident and created an endowment to honor their son. As in the above situation, they were encouraging outside donations to the fund. The donors were committed to ensuring the minimum amount required to set up an endowment was met.