Donations may be sent to: Dollars for Scholars, PO Box 822, Luverne, Minnesota 56156. Checks* should be made payable to "Luverne Dollars for Scholars".

*See "Gifts Don't Have to be Personal Checks"

Tax Exempt

Any person may make a contribution of any monetary size to the Luverne Dollars for Scholars program. And since the Luverne Dollars for Scholars program is recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) (3), all gifts are tax deductible.

The Size of the Contribution Determines the Frequency of the Scholarship

Gifts of $99.00 or less are placed into the Dollars for Scholars general fund. No designation is made on a scholarship.

Gifts that are greater than $99.00 but less than $2,000.00 are also placed into the Dollars for Scholars general fund. With this type of gift, the principal amount is dispersed as a one-time scholarship, and the name requested by the donor is attached to such a scholarship.

A gift of $2,000.00 or more becomes a perpetual scholarship. With a perpetual scholarship only the interest earned during a one-year period of time is awarded each and every year thereafter to a most recent LHS qualifying graduate in the form of a scholarship. The donor of such a gift is given the opportunity to name the scholarship (see Luverne Dollars for Scholarship Perpetual Scholarships link).

As a rule of thumb, the award amount of a perpetual scholarship is usually 6% of the principal amount established with Luverne Dollars for Scholars.

Incidentally, additional amounts may be added to a perpetual scholarship at anytime. This of course will increase the size of the scholarship award.

Gifts Don't Necessarily Have to be Personal Checks

Besides personal checks, the Luverne Dollars for Scholars has received various types of other monetary gifts. The organization has received stock certificates, inherited a farm, given a life insurance annuity, and received grants along with several bequeaths.

Information Needed After Establishing a Perpetual Scholarship

When establishing a perpetual scholarship, several pieces of information are usually needed. First, the scholarship organization will want to know what to name the scholarship. Secondly, someone will gather information, and using the information will compose a short write-up about the scholarship. The initial write-up will be shared with the donor to see if it meets their objective. Eventually, the write-up will appear in booklet form along with the other established perpetual scholarships. The booklet is referred to as the . . . Dollars for Scholars Community Scholarships booklet. Believe it or not, nearly 7,000 copies of this booklet are printed each year. They are dispersed to all who attend the LHS graduation ceremony in June and a copy is usually mailed with the Alumni News newsletter in July. (The Alumni News is a quarterly newsletter mailed to all known LHS graduates.)

More Information

 If you would like additional information or would like to talk with a Dollars for Scholars Trustee, please contact Gregg Gropel. Gregg can usually be be reached at (507) 283-4538, day or night. If you would like to contact him electronically, his e-mail address is gropel@iw.net. He would be more than happy to discuss with you the "ins and outs" of establishing a scholarship.