To Our Contributors - Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund, Inc.

The Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund, Inc. is in its twentieth year of assisting Northwestern NROTC midshipmen who need some financial help with their mounting college expenses. Many of the students who benefit from our scholarship assistance are working toward and hoping for Navy or Marine Corps scholarships while paying their own way through Northwestern. If you haven't checked lately, the cost of four years of tuition and room and board at NU is well over $160,000 now. Having been on the board of directors of the Scholarship Fund since the first year of its existence, I've heard a lot of questions from the alumni about what it is we do and why we do it. I'd like to pass some of those questions and answers on to the alumni of the NROTC Unit. Yes, these are real questions that have been asked:

Q. What is the purpose of the Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund?
A. From our beginning in 1987, our goal has been to help midshipmen from the Northwestern NROTC Unit who are in need of some level of financial assistance.

Q. Are our contributions sent all over the country to help midshipmen in other NROTC Units?
A. No. The Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund aids only students enrolled in the Northwestern NROTC Unit.

Q. Why do you devote the time it takes to operate The Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund?
A. Speaking for myself and, perhaps, for others on the board of directors, I realize the value of the education that the NROTC program provided to me, and the value of the military experiences that formulated who I am and what I've accomplished in life. I am hoping that, maybe, I can give something back to the Navy and to the NROTC program in return.

Q. What sort of scholarship awards do you give out?
A. Our awards are monetary. In the infancy of the Fund, we gave out a single $500 award each year. With contributions growing in number and amount, our awards have increased. In recent years, we have been able to sponsor awards totaling $30,000 per year divided among several midshipmen. In addition to need and merit-based scholarship awards, we have recently initiated a new program to provide grants to all incoming freshmen College Program midshipmen in the hope that we can help the NROTC Unit in its recruiting of non-scholarship students.

Q. Do you have enough money now to help all those who need it?
A. Not yet. Each year, the Commanding Officer nominates a number of students who need financial help, and each year we are forced to choose which of those students we will be able to help. Our goal is to help all those nominated by the CO, but we aren't able to do that yet.

Q. How much of our contributions go toward scholarships and how much is spent on marketing and administrative expenses?
A. We control 100% of all contributions we receive. We have no employees, and we don't use marketing firms. We do send out solicitation letters, which represent our entire marketing effort, and which are paid for with the interest earned on our investments. Every penny of donations goes into the award fund.

Q. I don't know how much money to contribute to the Fund. What do others give?
A. We receive contributions in wide-ranging amounts from twenty-five dollars to thousands of dollars. Some people contribute twice a year following our semi-annual solicitations. Some people contribute once a year. Some people contribute only occasionally. Some people don't contribute at all. Everyone should decide their own contribution level for themselves. We don't display the amounts that people give. All contributions are privately acknowledged.

Q. Where should I send my contribution?
A. When you receive one of our solicitation letters, you also receive a contribution slip that encourages you to provide a bit of personal information for the Alumni News section of the alumni website and for the Crow's Nest, and you are directed to send your contributions to our treasurer at: 2618 Bent Hickory Circle, Longwood, FL 32779.

Q. I contribute to the Scholarship Fund every year, but Northwestern doesn't acknowledge my contribution. Why is that?
A. The Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund is not officially associated with Northwestern University and has no legal affiliation with the NROTC Unit. We chose this independent relationship so that we could govern how our funds would be used instead of having the university decide for us how the funds would be used.

Q. I want to utilize my employer's matching funds program to increase my contribution to the Scholarship Fund, but Northwestern says I can't do that. Why?
A. Because we are not affiliated with Northwestern, the NU Development Office made the decision not to provide the endorsements that some employers say are necessary to complete the matching funds process. As a result, some employers are reluctant to recognize the Scholarship Fund as being a bona fide educational/charitable organization. If you ask your employer to donate matching funds, we will work with your employer to achieve that end, but we can’t guarantee success. Some employers cooperate with us and some don’t.

Q. If I send a contribution to the NROTC Unit or to NU, does the Scholarship Fund get any of that money?
A. No. Contributions to the NROTC Unit are used as dictated by Northwestern policies for NROTC Unit activities and programs. Separate contributions sent to the Scholarship Fund are used for scholarship awards to midshipmen.

Q. If you have no affiliation with the NROTC Unit, where do you get the information that appears in your website?
A. We do have an excellent working relationship with the NROTC Unit. Since we routinely communicate with all the alumni of the NROTC Unit whose addresses we know, it seemed logical to manage a website devoted to the alumni of the Unit. We are not the NROTC Alumni Association. We don't arrange alumni activities at homecoming! But, we do maintain the roster of alumni and many, many other facets of alumni information on the website. In fact, we provide most of the Alumni News for the Crow's Nest, and we provide the NROTC Unit with updated addresses for the alumni.

Q. How can I serve on the Scholarship Fund board of directors?
A. From time to time, as positions open up on the board, we do solicit new members. If you would like to serve on the board, send me a note with a resume and I'll keep your name on file. My email address is: vicgulliver@comcast.net.

Q. To what do you attribute the success of the Naval R.O.T.C. Scholarship Fund at Northwestern; I've heard that other NROTC Units haven't been able to accomplish anything like this?
A. The answer is simply the generosity of the alumni of the Northwestern NROTC Unit. Without such generosity, none of what we've been able to do would have been possible. For those who contribute to the Fund, we say an appreciative "thank you." For those who haven't yet contributed to the Fund, we invite your future consideration.