In 1988 the Town of Burlington's voters approved legislation to introduce a municipal scholarship program in Burlington funded by tax check-off choices and operated entirely out of the Town Treasurer's Office. That scholarship program operated under the auspices of the Treasurer's Office from 1988 to 2013 and was called the Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation (BCSF). In order to ensure a strong program following the best practices of the scholarship industry, BCSF affiliated with the largest scholarship provider in the nation, Scholarship America, on February 2, 1988.
In 2013, the Town Auditor recommended that the highly successful scholarship program be separated from the Town and organized as a completely separate charitable organization while maintaining its affiliation with Scholarship America. By the end of 2013, BCSF had organized as Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars. It is included as a subsidiary on Scholarship America's group exemption roster as a 501 (c) (3) charity operating under Scholarship America's group charitable ruling. BCSFDFS's current EIN is 47-1595825.
In late 2013 we incorporated Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a non-profit corporation.Our official, legal name is Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars, Inc.
Also in late 2013, Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars adopted Bylaws and a number of policies to govern our charitable organization in accordance with IRS expectations and consistent with scholarship best practices:
- Conflict of Interest Policy
- Whistleblower Policy
- Document Retention and Destruction Policy
- Investment Policy
- Scholarship Awards Policy
- Gift Acceptance Policy
In 2014, once all the legal details had been accomplished, BCSFDFS established separate financial accounts in financial institutions not used by the Town of Burlington.In our own accounts we place funds donated directly to Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars.
In 2017 we have tackled a number of smaller details around separating the charitable scholarship organization from what was at one time a municipal program.
- We have updated our BCSFDFS website (http://bcsfds.dollarsforscholars.org) to reflect the changes that have taken place over the past three years.
- We have established a Burlington Post Office Box . All written communications and donations by check intended for BCSFDFS should be directed to the P.O. Box.
- We continue to purchase annual General Liability Insurance coverage to protect the Town of Burlington from any incurring any liability when BCSFDFS is meeting or holding events in Town-owned buildings.
- Because of our affiliation with Scholarship America, our scholarship program is online. The system is called ChapterNet. In accordance with accepted best practices, Burlington Community Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars appoints a single Scholarship Awards Committee to handle its application process. All applications are processed anonymously (the online system automatically and randomly assigns student ID numbers). Only the Scholarship Awards Committee Chair knows who has been selected to receive a scholarship from our organization prior to the award ceremony. Additionally, any elected Board Member who has one or more relatives applying for a scholarship are prohibited by our Bylaws from serving on the Scholarship Awards Committee that year.
