Yes! Your donations are tax-deductible. Our nonprofit charitable corporation operates in Minnesota. It was incorporated on January 28, 2002, and has identification number 1Y-976. It has 501c(3) status with the IRS, and unless your donation is used to purchase crafted items, all donations are tax-deductible. For crafted items, about 33% of your gift may be deducted.

Assistance for the Scholar may include: 1) money to purchase books, supplies,clothing,transportation, tutoring, tuition, lunch, special fees, health examinations, eye glasses or medicines and/or emergency medical care; 2) money for field trips and meetings to learn or improve talents, scholarship abilities or self-image; 3) tangible assets, including computers, software, books, school supplies; and 4) postage and other expenses to enable communication with his/her Sponsor.

Philippine Scholars now has active sites in the following cities or islands: Cebu, Davao, Bohol, Leyte, Manila, Pampanga, Batangas, Molave, Abra, Dumaguete and Misamis. Today, 190 students are receiving assistance. More sites are in preparation.

Our minimum level of support is $50 per quarter. This is usually adequate for a student in an elementary school or highschool. Once a student is in college, while that level of help is appreciated by the family, normally $100 to $200 per quarter is needed for tuition, books, fees, transportation, etc. This is a real bargain by US standards! Once you receive good communication from the student and family, you can adjust the support that you can give.

Unless you designate that part of your gift should go to our organization dues ($10 per year, optional, necessary if you wish to vote in the annual meeting) or general overhead or for specific projects (end of year retreats, academic rewards, T shirts for Scholars) , all of your gift will go the student's family or school for tuition.

Less than 10%. We have no paid staff, only volunteers in the U.S. This money is raised by matching corporate gifts from employees, selling of crafted items made by parents of Scholars, public speaking, and specific donations from members. Your money goes to where you designate!

To be approved as a candidate for the Philippine Scholars program, a student must: 1. Be between ages 4 and 25 years old, inclusive. 2. Have a household income less than $3000 (U.S.) per year. 3. Not be related to any member of the Philippine Scholars corporation. 4. Provide accurate information for his/her casesheet, showing financial need.

That limit is set only so we don't have to change it often. No family so far has a household income over $2000 per year, and the huge majority earn less than $100 per month, which is barely enough for food. With one adversity, the child might otherwise drop from school.

Once you have communicated with us that you are interested in sponsoring a student, we will send to you a group of casesheets of candidates, from the site you may select. You pick one, and as soon as your gift arrives, that Scholar's support begins.

You may expect two or more communications per quarter from your Scholar. If you have email, this might be the easiest way. We soon may have a feature where you can do online chats through this website. Each year, you receive a copy of the report card, and a photo. You will also get an assessment from the local coordinator there who doles out the money in pesos, and monitors the student's progress. Each quarter, when we solicit your next donation, we ask about your satisfaction with the feedback, and if you have suggestions. At any time that issues or problems develop, we will contact that local coordinator and work to solve them. In addition, by our policies, one of our Board members will visit each site at least every 24 months. We monitor the records, meet students and parents, take plenty of pictures, and attend local meetings, which are usually held every other month. We document these trips.

They might be either, depending on the site. In some cases, the local coordinator works with a private school, and administers scholarships routinely. In other cases, the student attends public school, and the support goes directly to the family.

As long as you wish, and the student is in school. You pay each quarter, if you wish, so you can decide each quarter if the program is meeting your expectations. Generally, the greatest asset of this program is that you get to know the Scholar and his/her family, and you can enjoy frequent communications. You know where your money is going, and the great benefit it has. Some of our supported students (from before incorporation) were helped for nine years, and have finished college. What a difference those sponsors made!

Perhaps two reasons: 1. A small amount of money from you makes a huge difference in the Philippines. Students there are only asking for a chance for education. Very modest support from you goes a long way there. 2. You know where your money goes, and have adequate feedback from the beneficiary. It is fun, and you know that you are making a difference - one person at a time - to improve the world.