Scouting helps young men and women build character, citizenship and fitness. Developing youth who are physically strong, mentally awake, morally straight, has been the work of Scouting America since 1910. Our efforts will be even more important in coming years.
Learning from exemplary leaders, engaging programs, and timeless values, Scouts work to improve themselves and their communities. For many, positive attitudes and attributes learned as a youth will continue throughout life. Today’s Scouts will become tomorrow’s leaders in the trades and professions, business, education, government, and all walks of life.
Gift Recognition
Encouraging gifts to the Sam Houston Area Council endowment is one of our highest priorities. A gift to endowment ensures that the council can continue to offer the outstanding programs we now have and also grow to meet the needs of our youth and community for the next 100 years.
For the donor, a gift to endowment says, "Scouting is important to me and my family." It says that Scouting truly is a movement with a mission for me. It is more than an organization; it is a way of life. It is what we say and do in the spirit of the Scout Oath and Law. The Sam Houston Area Council Endowment exists to ensure the council's long-term financial health. Your support will help us meet the current and future goals of the Sam Houston Area Council.
Please consider a gift to the endowment and help us "Be Prepared" by making a pledge or gift today.
Learn more about our giving options and gift recognition programs:
James E. West
The James E. West Fellowship Award nationally recognizes individuals who contribute $1,000 or more in cash or securities to the Sam Houston Area Council's permanent Endowment. Individuals may contribute monies toward a fellowship in honor of someone else: an Eagle Scout, parent, graduate, Silver Beaver award recipient, Vigil Honor recipient, Scoutmaster, Cubmaster, retiree, volunteer, or special loved ones including non-Scouters, youth or adults.
Fellowships can also be provided "in memory of" a departed loved one, business associate or special Scouter or non-Scouter.
The award is named after the first chief Scout Executive who exemplified Ralph Waldo Emerson's observation that "An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man." Today, Scouting is the "lengthened shadow" of the more than three decades of the farseeing and dedicated leadership of Dr. James E. West.
Contributions to the endowment fund through the James E. West Fellowship are never spent; only the interest is used to further the programs and outreach of the Sam Houston Area Council. Members of the Sam Houston Area Council's endowment societies are recognized with their names are displayed in the lobby of the Cockrell Scout Center.
The national endowment recognition of James E. West and the Second Century Society recognizes supports of the Sam Houston Area Council’s endowment.
James E. West Fellowship Application
James E. West Recognition Levels
| $1,000+ |
Bronze member level: certificate and pin |
| $5,000+ |
Silver member level: certificate and pin |
| $10,000+ |
Gold member level: certificate and pin |
| $15,000+ |
Diamond member level: certificate and pin |
| $25,000+ |
Become a Second Century Society Member |
(Donors may make cumulative gifts to reach silver, gold, and diamond levels.)
Second Century Society
The Second Century Society is reserved for those who make an outright gift of $25,000 or more payable over five years, or a deferred gift of $100,000 or more, to the Sam Houston Area Council for operating, capital, or endowment.
Second Century Society Application
Second Century Society Recognition Levels
| $25,000+ |
certificate & lapel pin |
| $100,000+ |
certificate, lapel pin, framed Rockwell print, custom insignia item |
| $500,000+ |
certificate, lapel pin, framed Rockwell print, custom insginia item |
| $1,000,000+ |
certificate, lapel pin, framed Rockwell print, custom insginia item |
Planned Giving
As a donor to the Sam Houston Area Council, you can use your giving to achieve personal goals, enhance your financial security, and to help shape the future of Scouting. Planned giving includes a number of ways for you to include charitable giving in your total financial plan. There are advantageous tax treatments of gifts under both state and federal law. Planned giving can help you maximize these tax benefits.
Tax advantages can often make it possible for you to provide a greater gift than you thought possible, while also benefiting your family and heirs. Many donors and supporters of Scouting have chosen planned giving as a way to show their interest in supporting Scouting beyond their lifetime while realizing some tax benefits today.
The type of asset and the way it is given to Scouting determines the actual tax and financial benefits that can result from a gift. Certain planned gift arrangements provide you with an opportunity to diversify your holdings, turn highly appreciated assets into a gift that provides you income, and allow you to enjoy significant tax savings. With careful planning today, you may reduce or eliminate estate, inheritance, or gift taxes, allowing your family and the charities you support to receive the full benefits of your life's work. Certain gift plans actually result in a greater amount of wealth passed on to your family.
As with all financial decisions, a planned gift should be designed with care. A planned giving professional should work closely and confidentially with you to ensure that your gift achieves your individual goals and expresses your personal vision.
Example Bequest Language
Please feel free to change the numbers or percentages as you desire.
1. Bequest of cash “I bequeath the sum of $10,000 to The Sam Houston Area Council of Houston, TX."
2. Bequest of a percent of the estate “I devise and bequeath 20% of the remainder and residue of property owned at my death, whether real or personal, and wherever located to The Sam Houston Area Council of Houston, TX."
3. Contingent Bequest “If my brother John Doe survives me, I devise and bequeath 20% of the remainder and residue of property owned at my death, whether real or personal, and wherever located to John Doe. If John Doe does not survive me, then I devise and bequeath 20% of my residuary estate, whether real or personal property and wherever located to The Sam Houston Area Council of Houston, TX."
Stewardship
Stewardship of the investments made by our donors are very important to us. Our investment committee meet regularly to review how the funds are invested and if they are performing properly.
Council's Investment Fund Spending Policy and oversight
The purpose of the Sam Houston Area Council’s investment fund is to assist in the financial requirements of the council, in its delivery of a quality Scout program, in its service to its chartering partners and in its long-term financial sustainability. The investment fund of the council is made up of unrestricted (board designated) net assets, temporarily restricted net assets and permanently restricted (endowment) net assets.
The Sam Houston Area Council manages its investment fund using the guidelines found in the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act.
The Sam Houston Area Council’s investment fund will only incur costs that are appropriate and reasonable in relation to the assets, the purposes of the council, and the skills available to the council. These costs, which are netted out from the market value of the fund prior to calculation of a distribution, are related to the audit, investment managers and the council’s human resources responsible for the management and growth of the investment fund.
The Sam Houston Area Council board of directors has delegated oversight of the council’s endowment to the Investment Committee which meets quarterly and operates within the parameters of the council’s Investment Policy Statement. The Investment Committee manages the endowment assets to ensure that these funds provide for Scouting in perpetuity.
The council staff and the Investment Committee continually review investment performance, asset allocation, and analyze recommendations from Goldman Sachs, who manages the account.
The executive committee may amend this spending policy.
For more information about the endowment programs of the Sam Houston Area Council, please contact: