Morton College Foundation 6625 26th Street Berwyn, IL 60402-2699
There are three levels of donations: 1) Unrestricted. There are no minimum dollar amounts for these, typically one-time donations. They are often made by individuals or businesses as tax-deductible charitable contributions. At other times, families may request that a monetary donation be made in the name of a loved one in lieu of flowers. Anyone can make an "in memoriam" donation by simply writing the name on the memo line of the check. All donations received are summarily presented at the Foundation's regular board meetings. Moreover, individual gifts of $250 or more are acknowledged by letter to the donor. There are no restrictions on how these funds are invested or disbursed by the Board.
2) Temporarily Restricted - Funds that are set up for annual renewal (e.g. on-going scholarship, grant program, or pledged support) are classified as temporarily restricted. While the Board places no minimum acceptable amounts, we are often asked what a full scholarship would cost to support one student. Currently, the typical tuition and fees cost for an in-district, full-time student is $2,700 (enrolling in additional classes, buying more books, and lab fees if applicable, would increase this amount). The donor would initially determine the eligibility and selection criteria such as, field of study, academic performance (GPA), essay submittal, community service, financial need, etc. as guidance for the College's Scholarship Committee; along with disbursement instructions to be applied by the Financial Aid Office toward the student recipient's qualified expenses. Such restricted funds may continue beyond one year, depending on the level of sustained replenishment by the donors.
3) Permanently Restricted - The minimum contribution is $50,000 to establish a 'named' endowment. The terms and conditions of these self-sustaining accounts are defined in a formal 'Donor's Agreement' between the donor and the Foundation. The principal amount (or corpus) is protected in an permanently restricted account, whereby the interest from investment income is used to fund the annual scholarship award.
