Buyer's scholarship fund hasn't helped a single student

This was the headline to an article in the Indianapolis Star on August 18th. I was awaiting a statement from Buyer or his Frontier Foundation before I posted, but I did not find any.

You can read the article for yourself, which is quite interesting. Politics aside, one of the main reasons I bring it up is for the questions about mission, purpose, and fund raising. The article states as follows:

Although the original intent was to hand out scholarships once the fund reached $100,000, Buyer said it quickly became apparent that to be self-sustaining and not require ongoing fund raising, the foundation would need to raise at least $1 million. Once that goal is met, he said, scholarships will be awarded.

It is certainly not unethical or out-of-line for the foundation to build up a reserve before giving out scholarships or grants. Their expenses seem to be in-line and do not raise a red flag. My concern is that the foundation has handed out grants totaling $10,500 and not any scholarships (for which their nonprofit was founded).

The sources of income, grant recipients, and fund raising activities, I believe, are a problem for the Frontier Foundation. Nonprofits are built on a system of trust with the public. The foundation might not be doing anything illegal or unethical, but these kinds of questionable activities and motives erode the public trust of all nonprofits.

Hopefully when Frontier Foundation reaches their 1 million dollar mark soon, they will begin fulfilling their mission of awarding scholarships.