North Carolina Woodworker Outreach Scholarship Plan

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
North Carolina Woodworker Outreach Scholarship Plan

The Board of Directors of North Carolina Woodworker (NCWW) have been considering new alternatives for fulfilling our mission of promoting woodworking. After extensive research and consideration, the board has chosen to sponsor scholarships/endowments with craft schools within North Carolina. The plan is to begin by sponsoring annual scholarships with John C. Campbell Folk School in NCWW’s name. This would build a legacy for, and with, NCWW while furthering our outreach.


There are multiple options for executing a plan such as this. NCWW can: 1) raise funds for scholarships on an annual basis as part of our annual fund-raising activities, or 2) start a fundraising effort for an endowment fund. As a 501(3)(c), both alternatives provide a clear path for donor tax deductions as there would be no expectations of something in return, unlike a raffle. Once an endowment is fully funded, the choice could be to stop, or continue by creating endowments at other institutions offering training in woodworking. Either way, The NCWW Board is calling on its members and its sponsors to embrace this opportunity by contributing and helping raise funds needed to accomplish this goal.


Scholarships/Endowments:
  • For a two-week program at John C. Campbell Folk School NCWW can fund a scholarship on an annual basis for $1,500.
  • A permanent scholarship program, an endowment, can be funded with $30,000. This will allow one student to have tuition, room and board, with work study requirements, annually, in perpetuity.

Funding Methods:

NCWW will start with two individual scholarships using funds on hand. At the same time NCWW will seed an endowment and start a separate fundraising effort to fund the endowment. This fundraising effort would involve NCWW members and sponsors making individual tax-deductible contributions to a NCWW Education Endowment Fund. A Go Fund Me initiative may also be started.

NCWW currently has 12,000+ registered members. If members donated five dollars each, $60,000 can be put towards scholarships/endowments immediately.



How can you help?

  1. The board is asking for comments on this plan within the next 30 days.
  2. Once the details are worked out and the financial accounts are established NCWW members and sponsors can make tax deductible donations to a North Carolina Woodworker Education Endowment Fund as well as promote the raising of funds for the endowment. For example, once a Go Fund Me Page is opened members and sponsors would be asked to share and promote the fund with colleagues, customers, and suppliers.

By promoting either initiative, scholarships and/or endowments, NCWW members and sponsors should expect to see growth of the NCWW community. This should translate to a growth in membership, growth of participation within the NCWW media platforms, and increased exposure for NCWW sponsors for business and community goodwill. As funds permit, other woodworking programs will be considered for scholarships and endowments.




In closing:

The NCWW Board would like your comments on the NCWW Scholarship plan. For scholarships, our current business model permits funding one or two scholarships per year for the foreseeable future. Your help would be needed to raise funds for endowments. The real value to this type of endeavor, scholarship or endowment, is to position NCWW to expand this initiative into other community colleges and trade schools. Please, as you consider your thoughts, recognize that the NCWW board will ask every NCWW member and sponsor to participate and embrace this initiative. Your involvement is truly building a legacy for the craft and for the woodworking community.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
Oh, and I meant to say this is great idea but I hope it is not our only outreach effort.

I would like to see the workshops continue and a more formal tutoring program started.
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
Oh, and I meant to say this is great idea but I hope it is not our only outreach effort.

I would like to see the workshops continue and a more formal tutoring program started.
Never would we want to see the workshops and outreach outings to end. This is in addition to the outreach that has brought us to where we are today. I really would like to see the workshops to expand with fresh people and projects. I personally don’t do much with power tools but I truly enjoyed being at the workshop hosted at Micheals on using a CNC to produce gears.
 

bbrown

Bill
User
I live in VA, work in NC, and have started a new woodworking school in coastal Maine. A major part of my vision is to get young folk interested in traditional woodworking. We bring in the finest artisans in the USA as teachers and mentors. I have started a scholarship program that would cover tuition for high school to college age folks which have a strong interest in fine woodworking. My goal is to do all I can to convey a passion for hand skills to the next generations in order to keep the legacy going. The project is basically a labour of love for me.

https://www.mainecoastworkshop.com/about-3-1

I know that the location is pretty far from NC (!) but if there was any way to work together in the future, that would be awesome. Frontier flights are pretty cheap from NC to Portland, ME. We have students from as far as CA and OR.
In the meantime, I want to support the more local NCWW program any way I can.

--Bill
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
Has a criteria(s) that would be looked at when determining the scholarship winners?
The institution will be managing and awarding the funds based on need. Our main criteria is that it s woodworking based course and that the recipient move forward and supports NCWW.
 

Hmerkle

Board of Directors, Development Director
Hank
Staff member
Corporate Member
GREAT idea!
I too worry about the choice criteria, but the institutions you mention should handle it well. (and if it goes awry, the request can always be changed by the NCWW BOD...)
Just a few questions;
1. You mention that with 12,000 members if each of us donate $5 we would raise $60,000.
Is this the goal, $60,000?
Also, you state:
  • For a two-week program at John C. Campbell Folk School NCWW can fund a scholarship on an annual basis for $1,500.
  • A permanent scholarship program, an endowment, can be funded with $30,000. This will allow one student to have tuition, room and board, with work study requirements, annually, in perpetuity.
Sorry if I am being simple, but if an endowment costs $30,000 annually, how does that work out to "annually in perpetuity"?
I do like the idea of offering a couple or perhaps a few $1,500 program scholarships as they seem more attainable (300 members @$5 each and likely people would contribute more) Easier to start-up and determine what is working and what needs adjustment...

Finally you mention
Our main criteria is that it s woodworking based course and that the recipient move forward and supports NCWW.
How do you monitor / police that the recipient moves forward?
And especially how we monitor or evaluate how this individual supports NCWW?

better said - How do we measure success on these two points??
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
To answer one of you questions.

With $30,000 in an endowment you would fund one $1500 scholarship per year forever.
It doesn't cost $30,000 per year to fund the endowment. I don't believe anyone said that.
Once the $30,000 is invested it would return the $1500 needed for tuition every year after that.
We should probably add something for cost of education increases over time.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I live in VA, work in NC, and have started a new woodworking school in coastal Maine. A major part of my vision is to get young folk interested in traditional woodworking. We bring in the finest artisans in the USA as teachers and mentors. I have started a scholarship program that would cover tuition for high school to college age folks which have a strong interest in fine woodworking. My goal is to do all I can to convey a passion for hand skills to the next generations in order to keep the legacy going. The project is basically a labour of love for me.

https://www.mainecoastworkshop.com/about-3-1

I know that the location is pretty far from NC (!) but if there was any way to work together in the future, that would be awesome. Frontier flights are pretty cheap from NC to Portland, ME. We have students from as far as CA and OR.
In the meantime, I want to support the more local NCWW program any way I can.

--Bill
Would like to meet sometime, have lunch or dinner at my expense, and discuss woodworking, youth, education, schools, your place in Maine, etc.
 

JNCarr

Joe
Corporate Member
Great Idea and fully supportive! Hank an endowment is such that the interest earned is what pays the annual costs.
 

badger fan

Bruce
User
I think this is a great idea. There enough members to support this initiative and we should be able to fund this with everyone helping.
I am will to help fund this once it’s open.
 

bowman

Board of Directors, Webmaster
Neal
Staff member
Corporate Member
to be fair, the 12,000 members is from day 1 of NCWW inception, not current active members. While we have grown over the past couple of years, we have 1765 (+/-) visited since 1/1/2021. I don't think that is an good indicator of 'active' members, without some detailed analytics of member activity.

members have passed away, stopped visiting, etc.

I wholeheartedly support the idea and concept, we also need to keep a realistic viewpoint, with a growth mindset.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
$30,000 divided by 1500 is $20 each.

So if each active member donates $20 a year we could add another scholarship every year. As I said before I am willing to give $100 at least until I retire and probably after that as long as I am active. (Meaning still above the grass )
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
to be fair, the 12,000 members is from day 1 of NCWW inception, not current active members. While we have grown over the past couple of years, we have 1765 (+/-) visited since 1/1/2021. I don't think that is an good indicator of 'active' members, without some detailed analytics of member activity.

members have passed away, stopped visiting, etc.

I wholeheartedly support the idea and concept, we also need to keep a realistic viewpoint, with a growth mindset.
Thanks Neal, this quote was from an email I received of how many are registered members we have not active members and was only set out as an example. That being said, it is why we would need to reach beyond our small population and start a funding method on social media with the hopeful expectation that our active members and sponsors will step up and help promote this cause.
 

Wiley's Woodworks

Wiley
Corporate Member
I'm all in favor of a scholarship program. I submit the Haywood Community College Master Crafts-Wood degree program as an educational venue for students. It is a two year program, and at graduation the student receives an associates degree. The program places equal emphasis on woodworking skills used in making fine furniture and business skills that are essential for having a fighting chance at making a living as a woodworker and craftsman.

NCWW can fund an entire semester for less cost than two weeks at John C. Campbell. The student certainly will make more than one piece every semester and upon graduation will be halfway to a four year college degree. I feel the return on investment is higher than for any private for-profit operation.

Richard--I can put you in touch with Brian Wurst, department head, for a comprehensive rundown of the Master Crafts-Wood program.
 

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