MAPS Program Highlights and FAQs
Thank you for your interest in MAPS.
Establishing a college scholarship at CWSC is easy. The authorized family representative completes the Scholarship Setup Request Form and remits along with their request, a starting annual dollar amount equal to the scholarship award plus a 5% administration fee to cover accounting and fund operations. The minimum award amount for a CWSC Scholarship is $500.
Each year thereafter, the family representative contributes the full scholarship award amount along with its administration fee, to fund the scholarship and its operations; or if sufficient funds have been contributed by other sources, the representative will contribute only the amount necessary to meet the scholarship award level. CWSC promotes all its scholarships and provides year-round opportunities for family, friends, and other supporters to contribute to their favorite CWSC Scholarship. Working with families, CWSC can facilitate the perfect family legacy that honors our pioneers and preserves our history, while investing in the future leaders of tomorrow.
Program Highlights…
- Checks are made payable to and mailed to CWSC, Inc. Online contributions can be made and are processed through PayPal.
- Email or U.S. mail a photo (preferable) and complete the Awards’ history narrative, confirm CWSC’s permissions to establish the scholarship along with photo and narrative. We’ll review the narrative to help ensure your pioneer’s history is written to the highest standard.
- We publish and promote your pioneer’s Scholarship along with all CWSC MAPS Scholarships on our national website and radio station.
- Families are encouraged to notify close and extended family and friends of the Muslim pioneer to help generate the minimum annual amount required. A supporter can make a contribution anytime right here online.
- Annual deadline for full remittance of minimum scholarship amount is March 1 to allow students an application period of March through June 20. Usually within 60 days of selection by the scholarship committee, a scholarship’s annual check is awarded to the recipient.
- Any funds contributed by family members or others in excess of the scholarship’s established award level are held for subsequent year award cycles.
- In any year the minimum award level is not met by the family or other contributors, no scholarship award is made and any funds not awarded are rolled over until there are sufficient funds available to award the scholarship.
- Family members and others can contribute at anytime to a pioneer’s scholarship fund and all contributions are tax deductible! Confer with your tax advisor.
- Honoree narrative, biographical, historical or other Information submitted by the family representative may be published or otherwise used by CWSC in scholarship and general fundraising promotions or advertisements.
- The family representative is responsible for maintaining current contact information on file with CWSC including providing alternate family points of contact to help preserve funding for the scholarship.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)…
Who sets the basic requirements for awarding a scholarship to a recipient?
All CWSC administered Scholarships have certain common core requirements such as applicants must be U.S. citizens and provide proof of enrollment at an accredited institution in the U.S. prior to receiving scholarship funds. Typical criteria applicable to all CWSC administered scholarships can be viewed here. CWSC, Inc.’s Board of Directors, National Scholarship Committee and Program Managers exercise operational responsibility and accountability, including reserving naming and un-naming rights for all scholarships established at CWSC and are solely responsible for the investment of and distributions from scholarship funds.
What category and amount of scholarship fund can be established?
Specific types of scholarship and applicable award criteria are developed with the family representative. CWSC will help ensure the criteria established are suitable for the scholarship type and amount and ensure it conforms to CWSC’s vaules and compliance with IRS rules for tax deductibility. Types and award amounts can vary widely. The minimum amount required to establish a CWSC Scholarship is $500, plus an annual 5% administrative fee for operating the scholarship.
Who promotes, administers and awards the scholarship?
CWSC promotes all scholarships and the CWSC Scholarship Committee evaluates all applications and selects qualified candidates for each scholarship. Families are also encouraged to promote and garner support for a scholarship.
Are there any award restrictions?
No CWSC scholarship award can be reserved for the benefit of a particular person or family. All CWSC administered scholarships are awarded based on its criteria and on an objective and otherwise nondiscriminatory basis.
No scholarships may be awarded to an officer, manager or trustee of CWSC, nor to a member of the selection committee, nor to a substantial contributor, nor to certain US government officials. Family members of the aforementioned individuals are also not eligible to receive scholarships.
What if the family representative or others do not contribute the amount sufficient to award the scholarship?
In any year, the minimum amount needed to award a scholarship is not met, any partial funds collected will be held until sufficient funds are received. Then the scholarship will be made available for application and awarding during the next regularly scheduled award cycle. In any year the scholarship is not sufficiently funded, it may be listed as inactive or not applicable. CWSC reserves the right to terminate a scholarship for insufficient funding after two (2) or more years of dormancy and to distribute any funds received for that scholarship to other scholarships with email notice to the family representative(s).
What if no qualified applicant presents?
In any year no qualified applicants present, the scholarship shall roll over to the next scheduled award cycle. The CWSC scholarship application cycle for students to apply opens each February and closes June 20.
Why is there an administrative fee for operating the scholarship?
CWSC currently assesses a 5% administration fee to setup and administer all MAPS scholarship funds. The fee helps CWSC offset the operations and management costs of accounting, promotion, selection of recipients, and disbursement of award proceeds. Administrative fees are only assessed in the initial year a scholarship is established and any year the scholarship is awarded. Click here to see the full scholarship administration functions performed by CWSC.
Are contributions made to scholarship funds refundable?
Once scholarship contributions are received by CWSC, they cannot be refunded.
Are contributions made to a scholarship fund tax deductible?
All scholarship contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law. CWSC is a tax exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is qualified to receive bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under sections 2055, 2106, or 2252 of the Code. Donors are advised to confer with their tax advisor.
How can I support scholarships through my estate plan?
You also establish a scholarship fund after your lifetime by including the CWSC Scholarship Programs in your will or estate plan, or by naming CWSC, Inc. as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
Sample Language for Bequests to CWSC…“When a person passes away, then his good deeds stop except for three: a Sadaqa Jariah (continuous charity), a beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for him.” –Sahih Muslim
“A Muslim does not plant, or sow anything from which a person, animal or anything eats but it is considered as Sadaqah from him.”–Sahih Bukhari
If you have additional questions about starting a scholarship at CWSC, please email info@cwsc.us, or call (910) 317-0297, or write us at CWSC, Marina Village, 4905 34th Street S #185, St. Petersburg, FL 33711-4511.