Hernando Rotary Club contributed $51,577 to create a scholarship endowment in July 2005. Seven years later, it has given scholarships to deserving young people that total $10,000. How much is left in the endowment? $68,261 – almost $17,000 more than the original amount.

It helps that the Community Foundation added $12,894 in 2006 as its 25% match for all endowments greater than $50,000.

That’s how an endowment works. It makes charitable grants annually and keeps growing over time to make more grants to serve the donors’ charitable interests.