How to Create a Scholarship

Creating a scholarship is a wonderful gift to the world. The students who benefit from the scholarship will go forward in life with an education and the knowledge that a kind person helped them along the path to getting their degree and starting their career. You may want to start a scholarship at the high school you attended, or you may want to create a scholarship to honor the memory of a beloved relative.

Things You'll Need

• Funds for the scholarship

Instructions

1. Decide where you want to give the scholarship. Will it be at a school or college you attended? Will it be at the school a relative attended? What is the purpose of your scholarship, and how will it be given? Answering these questions gets you focused and ready to begin fund-raising for the scholarship.

2. Pick a name for the scholarship. You could name it for a relative, yourself or the major the student who receives the scholarship will pursue. For example, a scholarship could be named the Journalism Scholarship or the Science Scholarship.

3. Start fund-raising by donating your own funds or contacting businesses in the community to inquire if they would like to donate to a new scholarship fund.

4. Contact the school or college you will donate the scholarship to, and meet with them to discuss the process of starting a new scholarship.

5. Work with the school or college to set guidelines for how to apply for the scholarship. Then begin the process of selecting recipients for the first year of the scholarship.

Tips & Warnings

• Tell everyone you know you are starting a new scholarship. Sometimes people may want to contribute once they hear you are doing a good deed.

• Don't set rigid guidelines for a time frame for the scholarship. The paperwork can be time-consuming, so set a pace that is comfortable to begin this new venture.

• Stick to your budget when donating to the scholarship.

• Start the scholarship as a 1-year contribution. If your fund-raising continues, then extend the scholarship to a second year.