Fund a Scholarship

Every gift creates
ripples of change

Every year, PFund Foundation awards dozens of scholarships to LGBTQ+ students across the region. From G.E.D. to Ph.D., our funds support queer learners at all stages of their educations, with a special emphasis on supporting students who are also emerging and established leaders within their communities. 

A well-educated LGBTQ+ community is a community that is more likely to prosper and thrive. Education equips us to pursue our dreams, to stay curious and explore the world around us, and to provide for ourselves, our families, and our communities. It teaches us our shared history as queer people. It creates communities that understand the challenges LGBTQ+ people have faced in the past and present, and are prepared to address the difficulties still to come.

When you fund a scholarship with PFund Foundation, we handle all of the administrative requirements of the fund, including recruiting applicants, forming groups of LGBTQ+ community members to review applicants and award scholarships, and distributing funds to students selected as PFund Scholars. Scholarship donors get to see the direct impact their funds have on the lives of students and are allowed to periodically serve on the review panels that award scholarship funds. You can fund a scholarship with a direct gift, or by raising funds with your friends, faith community, or business.

Nour, 2021 PFund Scholar

“I want to say thank you to all the donors for supporting folks like myself. The scholarship is definitely going to help with school, and I like to think they made a good investment in me. I want to be an agent of change for the communities that need it most.”

—Nour, 2021 PFund Scholar

How Named Scholarship Funds Work 

  1. You work with PFund Staff to establish the criteria and name of the fund through a fund agreement and gift.

  2. You make a gift of cash or other assets to PFund Foundation to start the fund for an immediate tax deduction.

  3. The fund is expertly invested.

  4. PFund Foundation recruits outstanding applicants from across the region who qualify for your scholarship.

  5. PFund Foundation recruits a community review panel to select recipients for all of our scholarships; scholarship donors are allowed to occasionally serve on community review panels.

  6. The PFund Foundation board of directors approves the selection of recipients in May of each year and students are notified in June, Pride Month.

  7. PFund will share opportunities to get to know your student including an annual Scholarship Reception.

 Criteria to start a fund

Named Scholarships can be funded each year starting at $1,000 with a 10% management fee or endowed at $30,000 with a 0.5% management fee. You may add to your funds at any time or designate the fund as a beneficiary in your estate plan if you so choose.

  • Scholarships must be designated for LGBTQ+ students from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or the First Nations therein.

  • Additional criteria (such as designating funds for students in a particular area of study or wanting a scholarship to support lifelong learners in middle-age and beyond). PFund will work with you to determine selection criteria that aligns with all legal requirements and best practices of the foundation.

For more information about creating a scholarship fund, please contact us. If a named scholarship fund is not a good fit for you but you still want to support PFund scholarships, you can do so by giving to scholarships on PFund’s donation page. Donors wishing to make a contribution to an already-existing named scholarship fund can do so by making a donation here and including the name of the fund in the donation memo line.