Since 1992 the Buckhead Rotary Foundation (BRF) has been the charitable entity of the Rotary Club of Buckhead. All contributions receive 501(c)3 tax treatment.
As of June, 2015, the BRF endowment exceeded $1.2 million. FY 2015 Income from BRC sources included: $69,000 from member contributions, $25,000 net from the Foundation Ball, $48,000 from earnings on the BRF endowment and other funds, totaling $171,000. Nearly all RCB members give at Sustaining level, or have reached Fellow levels of giving. BRF Benefactors have made a provision in their wills for gifts to BRF to continue their and fellow member's service programs.
A donation to the BRF permits Buckhead Rotarians to continue their “service above self” in perpetuity. Voluntary donations made to BRF all go to the Endowment and are never spent, while the earnings on the Endowment every year are donated to the club’s charity projects. The BRF serves as the tax sheltered conduit for our members’ quarterly contributions to the club’s charity programs. In 2015 the BRF made tax free donations on behalf of the Rotary Club of Buckhead of $166,000. Major RCB projects include: Ronald McDonald House, Companions for Heros, Otis Jackson Scholarships, Early Education, GRSP Scholarship, Boy Scouts, Rotaract, Interact, Laws for Life, Polio Plus and many more RCB projects and programs! This is efficient use of your tax-exempt contributions.
Foundations Officers for Rotary Year 2023-24 are:
President: J. Tyler (Ty) Tippett, 404-217-6369
Treasurer: Greg Davis
Secretary: Brent Adams
Each year the Buckhead Rotary Foundation names an Otis Jackson Scholar, and provides each named Scholar with a scholarship to cover tuition and related expenses at Oglethorpe University. The amount of the scholarship generally increases every few years, depending on the growth of the Buckhead Rotary Foundation's endowment, and will be $18,000 total over two years beginning in FY2016.
Applicants must be enrolled in an Oglethorpe University program intended to result in the conferring of a recognized degree. It is a merit-based scholarship, and financial need is not a consideration. The Scholar is selected with equal weight based on their demonstrated academic achievement, athletic ability, character and leadership qualities. There can be no discrimination of any kind in the selection process, except no Rotarian, their children or relatives can be a recipient.
Former Club president Frank Stevenson founded the Otis Jackson Scholarship Trust in 1987 to provide for an annual scholarship at Oglethorpe University. The Otis Jackson scholarship is now embedded in BRF. This year’s Otis Jackson scholar is Ebonee Johnson. Victor Rohifs is in his second year as OJ Scholar.
The Scholarship is named for Otis M. Jackson, Salutatorian of his class of 1924, outstanding athlete and captain of the basketball team, a leader on campus and subsequently elected to the Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame. Otis Jackson was a member of the Rotary Club of Buckhead.