State 4-H Endowments

An endowment is a fund that is held permanently. The corpus of the fund is invested and held intact, and the earnings from the fund are used to support 4-H programs.

Named Endowment Funds

Donors with a particular interest in long-term 4-H program priority areas such as animal science; plant science; environmental science; health education; citizenship, leadership and service; global and cultural education or other 4-H programs can establish a program endowment that would provide perpetual support for specific program development and implementation. State 4-H program endowments can be used to provide annual grants to support county programming; statewide programming; volunteer development and/or curriculum development. Learn more about endowment basics.

General Endowment Funds

Join others in making a difference for Michigan youth by investing in these existing state 4-H endowment funds! Gifts of any size are welcome to grow these existing 4-H endowment funds.

  • Michigan 4-H Children’s Gardens Endowment Help grow the endowment that supports the annual planting, programming and operational needs of  the Michigan 4-H Children’s Gardens. This fund helps keep the gardens growing and providing the best learning environments possible year after year. Download a gift form or donate online now.
  • Michigan 4-H Founders Fund The Michigan 4-H Founders Fund was established with a major gift from a long-time trustee of the Michigan 4-H Foundation. Our goal for The Founders Fund is to seek current gifts and major and documented planned gift commitments over the next seven years that combined will result in the foundation having a $5 million interest-earning reserve fund capable of generating ongoing and perpetual support for the operations of 4-H and the Michigan 4-H Foundation.
  • Michigan 4-H Legacy Fund The Michigan 4-H Legacy Fund was created to recognize the credibility achieved by 4-H during its first 100 years. Its goal is to continue to encourage and shape innovation in Michigan 4-H Youth Development programming that helps foster the positive development of young people well into the future. The fund was founded with investments by current and retired 4-H program staff and by members of the Michigan 4-H Foundation board of trustees. Annual grants from the fund currently support innovative 4-H programming at the county level. The goal is to grow this fund to $1.5 million to foster innovation in 4-H program development.
  • Michigan 4-H Volunteer Recognition Endowment The Michigan 4-H Volunteer Recognition Endowment Fund was established by a campaign led by Emerald Clover Society alumni to provide for annual 4-H volunteer recognition programs and related award activities. This fund provides recognition and a $400 grant allocation to honor outstanding Michigan 4-H volunteers selected as 4-H Salute to Excellence honorees. 4-H volunteer honorees are provided opportunities to allocate their award grant to support their choice of state or county 4-H programs.
  • Michigan 4-H Youth Professionals Fund This fund, created by the Michigan Association of Extension 4-H Youth Staff, provides annual professional development for Michigan 4-H staff members. Gifts to grow this fund ensure that 4-H professionals have ongoing opportunities to access the current research and professional education that best informs the youth development profession.

For more information about Michigan 4-H Foundation endowments, email info@mi4hfdn.org or call 517-353.6692.