The history of your Foundation

  • Feb 14, 2014
  • Jane L. Hanson, Trustee

When most of us think of foundations, we think of hushed conference rooms where trustees preside and lofty decisions are made concerning how to allocate abundant funds. We think of foundations formed as tax shelters, as playthings for wealthy individuals or corporations, and of trustees as faceless individuals whose chief focus is shuffling money to make more money for the foundation.

However, once upon a time, a group of forward- and independent-thinking fellow Mensans felt an altruistic need to extend Mensa's influence beyond its myriad social aspects and sought to find a way to serve the common good of human intelligence. They envisioned a Mensa Foundation "to assist intellectually gifted people in the development of their abilities and to contribute to and disseminate research relating to intelligence, education, and learning, all for the benefit of the community."

In March of 1971, the Mensa Education and Research Foundation was formed as a subsidiary corporation of American Mensa, organized under Pennsylvania law, and granted tax-exempt status in October 1973 under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Mensa Research Journal began publishing before that date and has continued to grow in both stature and subscriptions.

The assets of the Mensa Foundation surpassed $2 million before 2007 and continue to grow through frugal expenditures, conservative investments, generous donations from Mensa members, and income generated by such august events as the Mr. Mensa contest.

The Foundation website continues to grow — home to our mission statement, annual reports, interesting podcasts, as well as an overview of the many awards and scholarships it bestows on deserving students and researchers. The Foundation's Gifted Youth program is expanding rapidly and receiving accolades for its online magazine, website, and offerings. In 2005, the Mensa Foundation itself received a national President's Volunteer Service Award at the gold level for valued community service.

Much of the early history of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation is not recorded. In the words of Vince Bonzagni (known informally as Mensa's Archivist [Emeritus] and Trivia Guru), "MERF, unlike AML, did not dedicate the pages of its Journal to what MERF itself was doing; rather, it was dedicated to publishing scientific papers and the like." Sadly, many of the early Foundation supporters are not with us any longer, and anecdotal evidence is sparse. We do know that early attempts to build a capital base were fueled by donations for scholarships, associated with the names Gomez, London, Fowley, Seitelman, Schirmer, Levine, Deane, and Black, and such donations continue to be sought and prized by the Foundation. Abbie Salny recalls the genesis of the Grosswirth Salny scholarship. It was established through the donation of the entire royalty from the first Mensa Genius Quiz Book, written by Salny and Grosswirth, and now is supported by a percentage of later publications.

As time has passed, the cast of Foundation characters has changed. Those who labored for the good of the Mensa Foundation, its mission, objectives, and purposes, included a short-lived advisory council, which existed for a time to maintain continuity of leadership and foster input of new ideas for projects. (Note: the Foundation welcomes proposals for new projects from all Mensans.) The titles of some officers have also changed. For example, the Foundation's representative on the AMC was the "Research Officer" from 1965 to 1972, and the "Director of Science and Education" from 1972 through the 1990's. The number of trustees on the Board has also changed, moving from eight to 10 this past year.

The Foundation's Board of Trustees does not ostentatiously preside over, or carelessly play with, the funds of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation, and there is no hushed conference room to be found. (No surprise there!) We work to serve Mensa's Foundation, and we work to serve you. Remember: this is your Foundation; please invest in it and support it!