The NATS Endowment + Named Funds
Funding the Future
We are teachers, and teachers believe in the future. When you contribute to a fund in the NATS Endowment, you are shaping the future by ensuring consistent support for programs that are most important to you. Your gift is immediately invested and produces annual income to support the fund’s purpose. Taken together with the rest of the NATS Endowment, your investment represents financial strength for our shared agenda.
Below is a list of current funds. If you wish to establish a new fund please contact the NATS Development Director.
Providing support to the voice professional
- Joan Frey Boytim Awards for Independent Teachers*
- Winnifred Collier Ringhoffer Memorial Fund
- Barbara Hill Moore “Teachers Who Sing” Fund
- Richard Sjoerdsma Award for Excellence in Writing
- Clifton Ware Group-Voice Pedagogy Award
Providing funding for the NATS Artist Awards
- Edward Baird - Bruce Lunkley Award Fund*
- Orville Borchers Award Fund*
- James Browning and Dorothy Kirsten Award Fund*
- Irvin Bushman Award Fund*
- Lee Cass Award Fund*
- Berton Coffin Award Fund*
- Irma Cooper Award Fund*
- Todd Duncan Award Fund*
- Annemarie Gerts Award Fund*
- Ruth & Robert Grooters Award Fund*
- Louis Nicholas Award Fund*
- Oklahoma Memorial Teachers Fund*
- Herald Stark Award Fund*
- Bernard Taylor Award Fund*
- Karl Trump Award Fund*
- William Vennard Award Fund*
- Mary Wolfman Award Fund*
- NATS West Central Region Award Fund*
Providing funding for the National Musical Theatre Competition
- Florence Birdwell Award Endowment
- Linda J. Snyder Award Endowment
- Bill Hayes Fund*
- National Musical Theatre Competition Endowment
Providing funding for the NATS National Student Auditions
Providing funding for speakers at NATS Conferences and Workshops
Providing support to students of NATS Teachers
- The NATS NSA Scholarship Endowment
- Susan Randolph Braden Memorial Endowment
Providing support for the NATS Intern Program
- William “Bill” Vessels Endowment
- James McKinney Endowment*
- Barbara Doscher Endowment*
- Ellen Faull Endowment
- NATS Intern Program Grants: Established by the 2021 Master Teachers
Providing general support for NATS Programs
- Geraldine Cate Fund*
- Roy Delp Fund*
- Jean Westerman Gregg Fund*
- Paul Kiesgen Fund*
- Alpha Mayfield Fund*
- Kenneth Pennington Fund*
- Harvey Ringel Fund*
- Circle of Friends - NATS General Support Fund*
Region and Chapter Funds
Regions and chapters may establish funds and endowments for specified purposes or for unrestricted support of their programs and activities. These funds are managed by the NATS Endowment, and the proceeds are directed by the chapter or region that established the fund.
- The Sandra Franks Award for an Outstanding High School Singer (Mid-South Region)
- Texoma High School Vocal Music Fellowships
- William McKoy Scholarship Fund
- Wisconsin Vocal Arts Scholarships
- Linda Poetschke Award Fund
The NATS Foundation Heritage Fund
The Heritage Fund honors the legacy of the NATS Foundation which merged with NATS Inc. in 2021. Created in 1976, the NATS Foundation generated assistance to aspiring and talented singers and teachers through the development and management of various endowment funds used to provide prize money for the NATS Artist Awards Competition for Singers (NATSAA) and the National Musical Theatre Competition (NMTC). The Foundation also co-sponsored the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship. Those funds are preserved today in the NATS Endowment and continue to be used for their established purposes. Interest from the Heritage Fund also helps finance innovative programs such as the NATS Intern Program, the NATS Emerging Leaders Award, and the Voice Pedagogy Award.
*Named funds that originated with the Foundation Heritage Fund are starred in the list above.
