Rethinking Scholarships and Ways to Support Education

It’s time for back-to-school planning! If education is on your mind, you’re in good company. Charitable giving to education rose in 2024 to more than $58 billion! If education and related causes are important to you, Centre Foundation can help you explore a variety of meaningful ways to make an impact. Here are three ideas to inspire a deeper discussion:

Improve Quality of Education
Charitable funding that enhances teacher training, mentorship, and ongoing professional development creates ripple effects across classrooms and generations of students. By investing in teachers, donors strengthen the very foundation of student success.

In many cases, donors set up a scholarship or other type of fund to support a particular educational institution, and then set it on autopilot. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but you might be missing an opportunity to make a deeper impact. Centre Foundation is happy to facilitate a dialogue with you and the school to structure your funding—whether through a scholarship or other types of support—to fill gaps in student need.

Many donors are concerned that high school graduates are ill-prepared for post-secondary education, whether that’s a traditional four-year college, community college, or trade school. The Foundation can help you address this gap with your charitable dollars. For example, you could establish a fund to support teachers, which in turn helps improve student success. Indeed, teachers are often considered the single most important in-school factor for student achievement.

Open a Field of Interest Fund
If you’re passionate about education but not tied to a single institution, a field-of-interest fund can help you target your giving. For example, you may be interested in supporting local grassroots programs offering tutoring and mentorship. Or, you may decide to direct your charitable dollars to quality early childhood programs, which have been shown to yield high returns on investments in education. Centre Foundation can help you identify an area of focus that matches your interests and values.

Find Your Education “Niche”
By establishing a field-of-interest fund at Centre Foundation, you can work with our team to set specific parameters within education that you’d like to support. Going forward, our team leverages the Foundation’s deep knowledge and research to identify high-impact opportunities, ensuring your generosity makes the greatest difference within your chosen area.

As students head back to school and education is top of mind, please reach out to our team anytime. Centre Foundation is here to make sure your giving is impactful, focused, and aligned with your philanthropic goals.

Do you have any questions? Contact us about partnering today – Kerry Tolton, Development and Stewardship Director at 814.237.6229, or email Kerry@centrefoundation.org.