Chapter Endowment Funds (CEF) have been created at the Triangle Education Foundation for eight chapters.  The CEF for Cincinnati was fully funded with proceeds from the sale of the chapter house.  CEFs for Michigan, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, SDM, Marquette, Penn State and Rose are currently being funded by alumni from those chapters.  Several additional chapters are talking about establishing a CEF.  If you are interested in contributing to one of the existing CEFs or starting one for your chapter, please contact the Foundation’s President, Scott Bova, at (317) 705-9803 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

What is a CEF?
A CEF is an endowment fund established to support the educational activities of a specific chapter.  It provides an annual grant to the chapter that can be used for various educational activities including the following:

• Educational grants to cover portions of the registration, travel, and accommodation expenses of members of your chapter attending leadership conferences of Triangle or another accredited leadership development program.
• Grants for educational resources in the chapter house, such as desks, bookcases, books, computers and software in the educational areas and for the construction, renovation, maintenance and equipment of Designated Educational Areas of your chapter home.
• Educational grants to cover portions of the registration, travel and accommodation expenses of members of your chapter attending professional society meetings and education events.
• Educational grants to underwrite portions of your chapter’s Leadership Advantage session.
• Educational grants to cover portions of the registration, travel, accommodations, supplies and equipment for academic competitions in which the chapter is participating.
• Scholarship grants to members of the chapter.
• And many more educational and leadership opportunities.

Once a CEF is fully funded with $25,000 or more, then annual grants up to 5% of the fund value can be made to the chapter for educational activities. A CEF with $25,000 will generate an annual grant of $1,250 forever and forever for the benefit of the chapter.  Proposals for the grants are submitted by a joint request from the actives and alumni of the chapter.

What are the benefits of a CEF?
A CEF is identical to having your own chapter foundation, but with significantly reduced administrative responsibilities.  The benefits of a CEF include:

• Donations are tax-deductible to the donor.
• All gifts are acknowledged and recognized
• The active and alumni organizations determine the use of the grant monies.
• An annual grant is available to the chapter to support its educational activities and facilities
• The funds are professionally invested and managed
• The funds are maintained in a separate account but are pooled for investment to provide diversification
• All tax returns are handled by the Foundation
• The funds are audited annually by Certified Public Accountants
• The funds are overseen by an outstanding Board of alumni members of the fraternity

The Foundation would love to have one or more CEFs for each chapter to help fund their educational activities or to provide scholarships.  The chapter can have multiple funds and a donor may establish a named fund.  We’d love to have you contribute to one of the establishing funds or help establish a new fund for your chapter.  As of June 30, 2009 the following funds had been created:

Cincinnati
Marquette
Michigan
Oklahoma
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Rose Tech
South Dakota Mines

Chapter Download the CEF Grant Application here.