Here are ten ways to help add value to Lambda scholarships in gay and lesbian studies -

You can write a one-time cheque to Lambda Foundation, or give on an annual, monthly or more frequent basis by credit card. Gifts over $35 are tax-receiptable.

Fund one year of a scholarship. The scholarships pay about $1000 for each $15,000 or so which is endowed (depending on investment rates managed by universities). You will be recognized as a founding donor. For example, Ben Baumbick did this in order to accelerate our University of Manitoba Award.

Get together with ten friends, and contribute a scholarship as a group gift. This is how Lambda helped establish the Carleton University Award through the individual gifts of founders Louise Tardif and Valerie Preston, Don Patterson and Pierre Richer, Bill Renaud, The Bruce M. Hicks Foundation, and Leo Teatero, Executive of the Graduate Students Association.

Throw a birthday party! Specify a gift for a special anniversary. Don Degenova and Chuck Mustard did this! With friends at their own home, and also through a wonderful birthday evening at a party -- out on the town, Don and Chuck and their friends raised enough funds to help match Laurier Beaudoin's generous offer of core funding for a scholarship at Université de Montréal!

Lambda Foundation will look for ways to match your gift, and establish the scholarship within 2-3 years. (The longest we took, was our first one, at University of Ottawa - four years. The shortest one, Carleton University, took 6 weeks.)

Make a planned gift of Lambda scholarship in a friend's name or in your own name. Endowing each Lambda scholarship requires a gift of about $20,000 to $30,000. You can't take it with you, but putting this sum in your will makes a long-lasting memorial. See your lawyer or contact Lambda Foundation. Ben Baumbick set up his gift this way. Kerry B. Smith has selected Lambda Foundation for his planned gift.

Chris Landry, through his bequest, established two new Lambda university scholarships, at the University of Manitoba (to commemorate Les McAfee) and at the University of New Brunswick. His gift provided a significant and ongoing benefit to gay and lesbian studies in Canada. As a result of his gift, many will win an improved understanding and appreciation of goals, issues, the GLBT story and science.

Select a university and make it your project to give core funding for a university scholarship. This is what Laurier Beaudoin did. He selected Université de Montréal, and invited others to match his generosity. The scholarship fund is still building, at Montréal, and you can help match Laurier's gift, too!

Put your scholarship donation on a credit card. With the help of local sponsors and other charities, Lambda Foundation converts regular funding into bursary accounts. Even small amounts help. Lambda Foundation can provide a tax receipt if you require one, for ten months for every year, for amounts over $15 per month. You get a tax benefit, and put your funding to a good cause.

Purchase a specified insurance policy, the beneficiary of which to be the Lambda scholarship fund at a participating university. You benefit during your lifetime by immediate, annual tax credits. As well, when you pass to your rewards, the Lambda scholarship fund gets the value of the insured principal. Limited to those universities participating in the Lambda scholarships. If you would like to enlarge the number of universities participating in this way, please contact Lambda Foundation.

Perhaps you would like to arrange for a national, long-lasting substantial gift to Canada? Establishing a University Chair of Gay and Lesbian Studies requires about the same sum as the value of an upscale apartment or house -- $300,000 to $1 million. This gift would be significant for its effect all across Canada and internationally. If you would like to arrange to convert a part of your assets or your estate for this purpose, please contact Lambda Foundation for assistance.

Lambda Foundation is also interested in working with donors for the establishment of international gay and lesbian studies. If you are interested in helping to establish a fund for international gay and lesbian studies, please contact us. Please ask your union, association, company, or office colleagues help promote or establish a Lambda fund, or to help top up the value of an existing Lambda scholarship.

Thanks to these individuals and groups which have helped: Canadian Union of Public Employees, Graduate Students Association, City of Ottawa; After Stonewall; Bloomsbury; Louise Tardif; Bill Renaud; La Siembra Cooperative Fair Trade Cocoa; Bruce M. Hicks Foundation; and Tuan Vu.