Endowment Options

 

The National BSA Endowment Recognition Awards

Encouraging gifts to BSA local council endowment funds is one of Scouting’s highest priorities. It is one of the best ways to ensure that your council can continue to offer the outstanding programs it now has and also grow to meet the needs of the youth and communities it serves.

In its gratitude for such support, the BSA nationally offers three distinct recognition awards. These awards are presented by the local council to donors who support Scouting’s financial future with gifts to their local council endowment funds. Those national recognitions are:

The James E. West Fellowship

James E. West was the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, and he served in that position for more than three decades. The West Fellowship award is available for gifts of $1,000 and up in cash or marketable securities to a council endowment fund. The gift must be in addition to – and not replace or diminish – the donor’s annual Friends of Scouting support. Many individuals and corporations make these gifts either on behalf of someone else – such as in honor of an Eagle Scout, Silver Beaver recipient, a retirement, a special accomplishment, or anniversary – or in memory of a special individual. If an institution is truly “the lengthened shadow of one man,” it is more than fitting that the BSA honor James E. West’s major contributions to Scouting in such a significant way.

Anthony Wayne Area Council Level of Giving:

  • James E. West                 $1,000 gift to the Endowment Fund
  • Bronze West Award         $2,500 gift to the Endowment Fund
  • Silver West Award            $5,000 gift to the Endowment Fund
  • Gold West Award           $10,000 gift to the Endowment Fund
  • Platinum West Award    $15,000 gift to the Endowment Fund

Anthony Wayne Area Council Recognitions

All Fellowship Award Members will receive a bound certificate with member name as well as uniform knot and pin. Also, West Fellow will have their name engraved on the Anthony Wayne Area Council “Wall of Honor.”

  • Bronze Level: $2,500 –Bound Certificate and Porcelain Eagle on Pedestal.
  • Silver Level: $5,000—Bound Certificate and Porcelain Eagle with Berries.
  • Gold Level: $10,000—Bound Certificate and Crystal Atoll Bowl.
  • Platinum Level: $15,000—Bound Certificate and Crystal Marin Bowl.

(Gifts are cumulative: $1,000 J.E. West one year + $1,500 next year = Bronze level.)

The 1910 Society

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America has grown into something larger and more significant than anyone anticipated. We honor that special date by presenting the 1910 Society award to donors who make gifts of $25,000 or more to their council endowments. These gifts can be in the form of cash, securities, land, five-year pledges, or other property suitable for a council endowment fund or easily converted to cash.

Recognition in the 1910 Society honors four very special individuals who shaped modern-day Scouting:

Ernest Thompson Seton, nationally known artist and naturalist, author of the first official American Scout handbook and many other books important to Scouting; Seton Level: $25,000 minimum gift
Daniel Carter Beard, first chairman of the National Court of Honor; national Scout commissioner, and author of many well-known books and stories for youth; Beard Level: $100,000 minimum gift
Theodore Roosevelt, first Chief Scout Citizen, first vice president of the BSA, and U.S. President;
Roosevelt Level: $500,000 minimum gift
Waite Phillips, one of the BSA’s first benefactors, and donor to the BSA of almost 130,000 acres of land in New Mexico which became Philmont Scout Ranch; Phillips Level: $1,000,000 minimum gift; Phillips Silver Level: $5,000,000 minimum gift; Phillips Gold Level: $10,000,000 minimum gift

The Founders Circle

The Founders Circle is intended to recognize deferred gifts designated for council endowment funds.

With deferred giving (also called planned giving) so widely and effectively used by so many donors, the BSA wants to recognize the importance of such major gifts. Donors are recognized for gift commitments of $100,000 or more.

Unlike the other endowment recognition awards, a donor may qualify for membership with gifts made through:

Charitable bequests in a will or codicil
Charitable trusts, such as unitrusts, annuity trusts, and lead trusts
BSA Gift Annuities or BSA Pooled Income Fund gifts
Life insurance/retirement plan designations
Other deferred gifts approved by the local council
There are four levels of membership within the Founders Circle:

  • Bronze $100,000 minimum gift commitment
  • Silver $250,000 minimum gift commitment
  • Gold $500,000 minimum gift commitment
  • Platinum $1,000,000 minimum gift commitment

The early founders of the BSA had the vision and commitment to make Scouting the number one youth organization in the world. In that spirit, we honor the modern-day visionaries who qualify for the Founders Circle in their commitment to perpetuate the visions and beliefs of those founders.

For More Information

If you would like to find out more about our gift recognition programs or about Scouting’s endowment programs, contact Scout Executive, John Gliot at 260.432.9593 or 800.272.2922 or john.gliot@scouting.org

The national endowment recognition awards application is available for download. Thank you for your interest in and support of our great Scouting movement.

"We only have a short time to live, so it is essential to do things that are worthwhile and to do them now."- Lord Robert Baden-Powell