Women helping women reach for the stars - Please Donate To P.E.O. Foundation

Four multi-ethnic teenage students on campus — A group of four multi-ethnic teenage girls, 18 years old, standing in front of a school building carrying book bags and notebooks. They are high school seniors or freshmen in college.

P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. This circle of kindred spirits – bonded by their enthusiasm for women’s opportunities – eventually expanded to include women off campus as well. Through membership, the P.E.O. Sisterhood has brought together more than a half a million women in the United States and Canada who are passionate about helping women advance through education, while supporting and motivating them.

Friendship is the cornerstone of P.E.O. – it is the legacy left by our Founders and it thrives in our unique Sisterhood. P.E.O. exists to be a source of encouragement and support for women to realize their potential in whatever worthwhile endeavor they choose.

True to the mission of promoting educational opportunities for women, education continues to be the primary philanthropy of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. In fact, the P.E.O. Sisterhood proudly sponsors six international philanthropies, or projects, designed to assist women with their educational goals.

As a result, P.E.O. is clearly making a difference in the lives of women all over the world. More than 113,000 women have benefited from our organization’s educational grants, loans, awards, special projects and stewardship of Cottey College. As of April 2020, P.E.O. has awarded Educational Loan Fund dollars totaling more than $221 million, International Peace Scholarships are more than $42.1 million, Program for Continuing Education grants are more than $62.4 million, Scholar Awards are more than $28.2 million and P.E.O. STAR Scholarships are more than $12.8 million. In addition, P.E.O. has owned and supported Cottey College, an independent, baccalaureate-granting liberal arts and sciences institution, since 1927. In 2019-20, 70 percent of Cottey students were enrolled in a 4-year program.

Grant, loan and award recipients – as well as Cottey College students – need not be members of P.E.O. With the exception of international students who receive International Peace Scholarships, each recipient is sponsored by a P.E.O. chapter. This allows the chapter members to be a meaningful part of “their” student’s life.

Contributions to the P.E.O. Foundation

Each individual donation increases the impact and effectiveness of our P.E.O. grants, scholarships, loans and awards and provides additional financial assistance to help deserving women pursue their educational goals.
Gifts may be made by cash, bequests in wills, marketable securities, beneficiary of living trusts, retirement plan assets or life insurance. Cash gifts should be made by check payable to the P.E.O. Foundation; gifts of marketable securities should be transferred into the name of P.E.O. Foundation.

Checks from individual donors (which are tax deductible) should be made payable to the P.E.O. Foundation, and sent to the P.E.O. Foundation, 3700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312.

Chapter checks are to be made payable to your state/provincial/district chapter, and mailed to your state/provincial/district chapter treasurer (or paid assistant). Please indicate P.E.O. Foundation or the specific fund on the memo line.

For additional information on giving options, please reference the following:

Printable Annual & Planned Giving Options (PDF – updated 01/13)

Printable Information on Wills (PDF – updated 06/19)