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Through award-winning leadership programs, academic scholarships, direct chapter-based support and much more, the Sigma Chi Foundation provides several direct opportunities for a Sigma Chi alumnus, sweetheart or friend to make an impact on the present and future members of the organization.
See below for a list of ways you can show your support of Sigma Chi through the Foundation.
To connect with the Foundation’s development officer in your region email us at foundation@sigmachi.org.
Life Loyal Sigs are part of a brotherhood of young and old alumni who continue to reap the benefits of Sigma Chi membership long after their college years are over. Life Loyal Sigs exemplify the prosperity, achievement, idealism and deep sense of personal responsibility that we all wish for ourselves and our families. A Life Loyal membership is the best way for members to take part in the enduring spirit and heritage of Sigma Chi.
The first Life Loyal Sig was William “Pop” Henning, DEPAUW 1890, who is most commonly known for leading the Fraternity through the difficult years of the World War I era. Since that time, more than 56,000 brothers have become Life Loyal Sigs.
The new Life Loyal Sig program supports leadership and scholarship opportunities provided to our brothers through your support of the Sigma Chi Foundation.
For more information on Life Loyal Sig, click here.
Each year, your generous donations make it possible for the Sigma Chi Foundation to grant numerous academic scholarships and awards to our deserving undergraduate and graduate brothers.
Providing scholarships and academic awards furthers the Foundation’s goal to promote academic excellence. We proudly award brothers who show outstanding leadership, academic motivation and commitment to their chapters and campuses.
The Sigma Chi Foundation provided $611,000 in academic scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students over the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
The Foundation’s Donor-Scholar Awards provide a naming opportunity to interested alumni who wish to directly support the Foundation’s expanding scholarship program. Donors contributing to this effort at an endowment level (a one-time gift of $25,000) will have an annual academic scholarship named for them or an honoree for a minimum of 30 years.
To learn more about our scholarships program, click here.
Among the Sigma Chi Foundation’s overarching goals is ensuring that every undergraduate brother every year is positively impacted by values-based leadership training and support.
Thanks to the support of the Foundation, and the generosity of our donors, which has funded the development of world-class leadership programming for our members over the last two decades, Sigma Chi has set the standard within the Greek-letter world largely thanks to the work of the Sigma Chi Leadership Institute (SCLI).
In July 2022, following more than five years of work and a groundbreaking financial commitment from generous donors, SCLI learned it had become the first Greek-affiliated organization to achieve institutional accreditation by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Now, through Sigma Chi’s Transformational Leader program, Sigma Chi members receive a leadership development experience that prepares them to demonstrate relevant skills and competencies as undergraduate members and as new members of the workforce in their chosen field.
The courses within the Transformational Leader program are delivered through long-supported delivery vehicles such as Sigma Chi Online or facilitated by instructors at the Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop, Horizons Huntsman Leadership Summit, regional province conferences or chapter-based retreats.
More than 980 undergraduate brothers earned SCLI leadership certificates or micro-certificates during the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, and, as of October 2022, Sigma Chi was well on track to surpass that number in the first half of the 2022 to 2023 academic year alone!
For more information on the award-winning Sigma Chi Leadership Institute, visit scli.org.
For more information on The Transformational Leader visit leaders.sigmachi.org.
Sigma Chi has made a difference in the lives of over 300,000 brothers and these brothers want to give back. More importantly they want to give back to where they lived Sigma Chi, their own chapter. The Bell Chapter Challenge provides an excellent opportunity to make this happen and provides your chapter with enhanced benefits from the Foundation.
Your unrestricted, and tax-deductible, gift to the Sigma Chi Foundation will support designated academic scholarships and additional Transformational Leader program benefits for members of your chapter. These cutting-edge, values-based opportunities help change the lives of undergraduates at your chapter, bringing them to their full potential in college and life.
Our chapters need strong, values-based leaders to grow stronger. Engage with your Sigma Chi Foundation today and cultivate tomorrow’s leaders!
A planned gift to the Sigma Chi Foundation enables a brother to define their legacy and directly impact the lives of future Sigma Chis and our Fraternity.
Why are planned gifts so important? Our ‘One Voice’ strategic plan envisions a $100 million cash reserve that will expand world-class leadership programming and academic scholarships. While we are making great progress, planned gifts will be vital to our ultimate success.
By including Sigma Chi Foundation in your estate plan, you will help us achieve our goal and, at the same time, enjoy practical advantages for your estate and heirs.
For more on Sigma Chi's Legacy Giving program and ways you can give back through a planned gift, click here.
Many alumni are unaware that the Sigma Chi Foundation has a restricted fund in place for many undergraduate chapters. In fact, thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants from these funds are given to benefit undergraduate brothers each year.
How can a chapter benefit from funds in a chapter designated fund?
Money from chapter designated funds may be used for educational purposes. Examples include the chapter's participation in Sigma Chi's Transformational Leader programs, academic scholarships, scholarship recognition banquets, chapter house computers or digital workspaces, expenses to and from the Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop or any Sigma Chi Leadership Institute programming. If the chapter elects, funds can be used to support its participation in SCLI programs through the Bell Chapter Challenge. Chapters may also use these funds to renovate educational portions of the chapter house through the Educational Housing Program.
How do I access money in the fund?
To draw money from the fund, a Chapter Designated Fund Request form must be completed. Each request must be signed by two of the following chapter officers: Consul, Chapter Advisor, House Corporation President or House Corporation Treasurer. Be certain to include any invoices or receipts for reimbursement. Excluding requests for scholarships or house renovation projects, this process usually takes between five to seven business days.
For more information or to receive a fund request form, please contact Heidi Holley via email at heidi.holley@sigmachi.org.
To comply with revised Internal Revenue Service guidelines, we now require additional steps for disbursing scholarship and chapter house renovation funds.
If the request is for a scholarship check, provide the recipient name and the amount of the check. Please also include a brief statement of why the chapter selected the recipient for the scholarship award. Along with the check, we will send an award verification form that will need to be completed by the award recipient and returned to Heidi Holley via email at heidi.holley@sigmachi.org or fax (847-869-4906). The verification form confirms that he will use the award for educational purposes and that he is enrolled at the university. Additionally, we disburse scholarship checks in the name of the recipient and his university. This process usually takes five to seven business days.
If the request is for a chapter house renovation project, please contact the Foundation about the educational housing program. This program helps chapters maximize educational space and therefore increases the ability to raise tax-deductible contributions to support a renovation project. The program is the Foundation's exclusive means of funding chapter house renovation projects.
The Sigma Chi Foundation is eligible for all company matched gifts made to 501 (c) (3) foundations. Please check with your employer to see if you can double the size of your gift!
Sigma Chi's Brothers Helping Brothers Fund supports brothers who have lost employment or been displaced from academic institutions due to disasters or global pandemics in the form of academic scholarships or educational support.
While this fund has historically provided scholarship support during a time of emergency, during this COVID-19 crisis, we will expand the availability of this fund to assisting with short-term housing and other burdens associated with dislocation.
Since its inception following Hurricane Katrina, the Brothers Helping Brothers Fund has provided assistance to our young men in need. While we receive requests for scholarship assistance from this fund on a regular basis, we are expecting this number to vastly increase due to the changes impacting the lives of our brothers on campuses across North America and we know that we cannot meet all needs that will exist, but we can be a part of the solution.
Founded in 2005 by Grand Historian Eric Hansen, CINCINNATI 1989, and members of the Fraternity’s Historical Commission with a grant from the Sigma Chi Foundation, the Historical Initiative oversees the care and preservation of the Fraternity’s historical collection including the Chuck and Kim Watson Museum of Sigma Chi and the monuments and memorials of our Fraternity. It is estimated that the various collections hold nearly 250,000 documents, images, and three-dimensional artifacts.
A significant way to support Sigma Chi’s historical initiative, leadership and scholarship efforts is to provide a naming and sponsorship level gift. Opportunities include exhibits and artifacts within the Chuck and Kim Watson Museum of Sigma Chi, archival preservation efforts and displays at the newly renovated Sigma Chi Founding Site in Oxford, Ohio.
You may wish to direct memorial gifts to the Sigma Chi Foundation to honor the memory of a deceased brother. Unrestricted gifts will be applied to the area of greatest need to support educational and leadership development opportunities for undergraduate members. Gifts may also be directed to a specific chapter or program fund. The Sigma Chi Foundation is a 501 (c) (3), charitable, educational organization and gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. Following is suggested language that may be used in an obituary to direct gifts to the Sigma Chi Foundation on behalf of a brother who enters the Chapter Eternal.
Contributions may be made to the Sigma Chi Foundation, 1714 Hinman Ave., Evanston, IL 60201.
Have some time on your hands and would like to contribute in other ways? Then consider the Fraternity’s volunteer programs. Help out on the international level in fraternity governance, on leadership programs such as the Balfour Leadership Training Workshop, or on one of the committees that keeps the organization running.
The official wine of Sigma Chi benefitting the Fraternity and academic scholarships provided by the Sigma Chi Foundation, proceeds from every 1855 Club membership or individual purchase directly impact our mission to support our undergraduate brothers.
Today, there are millions of bottles of wine being stored in personal cellars and storage facilities. Often, wine enthusiasts are focused on accumulating wine and many collections include more than any person or their heirs could consume in a lifetime. These collections are not considered during estate planning or when making charitable contributions. Now, through The Legacy Cellar Foundation, donors can directly convert their wine into a significant charitable legacy benefiting Sigma Chi members for decades to come.
