Endowed Funds
From our beginning in 1989 with a couple endowed funds to encourage creative teaching methods we've now grown to over 100 endowed and restricted funds that support Grants to Schools, support Programs/Departments, and support projects. All of these are designed to enhance the educational experience for students of El Dorado's USD 490 school system. Please select the type that interests you.
The first funding priority for PIE was the Grants to Schools program. This program allows teachers and staff to apply for grants that provide innovative ventures outside the normal curriculum which otherwise cannot be funded.
Within a couple years there came a desire to provide ongoing assistance to a program department without them needing to apply for a grant. So these endowed funds distribute monies each year for a targeted use.
PIE now manages the majority of the scholarships for our EHS graduates. The common PIE application is the basis for over 30 scholarship options evaluated by a selection committee
These are funds that have shown intent to make a formal endowed fund. They may be waiting on the agreement, funding, purpose clarification, etc. But they are open for donations.
What is an Endowed Fund?
The term endowed fund for PIE means your donation is not spent. We invest the donations in an investment portfolio and use the earnings to allocate expenditures that match the criteria of the fund agreement. Over many years this method will produce more expenditures than the original donation.
It takes an donation balance of $3,000 to create an endowed fund, with three years to achieve that balance. Upon reaching this goal, an agreement will be made for the purpose of the fund.