ScholarCIP is an effort to connect the nationwide network of ENF scholarship recipients with Elks and service through Community Investments Program grant projects. This year, the Community Investments Program approved 4,427 grant projects, an average of about 2.5 grants per Lodge. This wealth of charitable projects presents a chance for the nearly 3,500 Elks scholars to give back. Not only satisfying the scholars’ desire to serve their community, ScholarCIP also facilities a closer connection with Elks whose donations to the Foundation are an investment in their futures.

The CIP encourages Lodges to use their grants in an active way to be visible in the community. Engaging local scholars can expand the Lodge’s connections to a younger generation, and gain extra volunteers to amplify the project’s effect. Additionally, Legacy scholars are required to volunteer with a Lodge at least three times during their undergraduate years, making this partnership mutually beneficial in more ways than one.

While there are high concentrations of Elks scholars at certain universities—such as Notre Dame, Brown, and Stanford—the schools that scholars attend are as geographically diverse as Elks Lodges. Between the four scholarships offered by the ENF, current Elks scholars attend nearly 320 unique colleges nationwide.

Studies show that young people are keen to give back—what better place to do so than at the local Lodge! If you’re an Elk wondering if there are scholars studying in your area, check out the Scholar Database. Or, if you’re a scholar looking to get involved with the local Lodge’s grant projects, reach out to scholarship@elks.org or LodgeGrants@elks.org.

For 2023-24, the Elks National Foundation allocated nearly $16 million to fund the Community Investments Program. Lodges meet local needs through CIP grants that offer Elks opportunities to serve their community in ways that will raise the Lodge’s profile, energize the membership, encourage former members to return to the fold, and gain the notice of people who want to be part of an organization that’s doing great things. To learn more about the Community Investments Program, please visit elks.org/cip.