Contact Patty Kellam, Executive Director ESCC Foundation at 757.789.1749 or pkellam@es.vccs.edu for more information.
Cash (usually in the form of a check or credit card) is the most common way to give. Gifts of cash can be deducted up to 50% of your adjusted gross income in the year you make the gift; any unused deduction can be deducted in any of the next five tax years. Please mail your check to the ESCC Foundation, 29316 Lankford Highway, Melfa, VA 23410 or donate online by credit card.
Stocks and Bonds are, next to cash, the most popular way of making a gift. Giving securities owned for more than a year creates an income tax deduction equal to the securities’ cash value, while avoiding capital gain tax.
Real Estate or real property gifts are considered by the ESCC Foundation on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the property’s marketability or the location’s usefulness to the college among other factors. Please obtain professional advice regarding any tax benefits of giving real property.
Personal Property with a use in the college’s educational programs are welcomed as Gifts in Kind (see below). Other valuable property such as antique furniture, works of art, or otherwise will be considered for acceptance by the ESCC Foundation. Please obtain professional advice regarding any tax benefits of giving personal property.
Gifts in Kind includes any tangible personal property which the college can use in its educational programs, such as some works of art, certain computer equipment, certain industrial equipment or machinery, books, school supplies, etc. Please contact Patty Kellam to discuss a gift in kind at 757.789.1767 or pkellam@es.vccs.edu . Please also obtain professional advice regarding any tax benefits of giving personal property.
Honorary or Memorial gifts recognize special individuals, anniversaries or events. Memorial gifts recognize the lifetime accomplishments of those who have passed away. Honorary or memorial gifts can be unrestricted or designated for a specific use. A letter is sent to the surviving family mentioning the name of the donor, but not the amount of the gift. Named scholarships can be established through memorial / honorary gifts totaling $500 and endowed gifts totaling $10,000.
The Impact of Your Gift
Unrestricted Gifts
Unrestricted gifts are allocated to the area of greatest need, as determined by the college administration and the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Endowment
Gifts to endowment create a fund designed to last forever. The Foundation invests all endowment gifts, drawing a limited amount from the return on the invested fund every year for the college’s needs. The fund principal remains intact, and may increase with excess investment returns, to continue to provide for the college’s needs in future years. Draws from endowment funds may be for the unrestricted needs of the college, or may be for specific purposes named by the donor of the fund.
Scholarships
Helping deserving individuals gain access to education at ESCC is the Foundation’s greatest priority. Gifts to current scholarship funds are used now to help today’s students pay college tuition and expenses. Gifts to a scholarship endowment create a fund designed to last forever, one that will provide scholarship assistance to students for years to come.
Planned Gifts for Eastern Shore Community College: Your Legacy for Your Community
Hope, achievement, fulfillment, and success – all these things come from an educated mind. Of course, so do more concrete necessities like nurses, accountants, and technicians. People on Virginia’s Eastern Shore look to ESCC for the education and skills they need to succeed. Meanwhile, the community as a whole has come to depend on skilled workers who train in ESCC programs.
Whether the motive is gratitude for a good start in a career, or simple understanding that this college brings good things to our community by bringing out the best in its people, many citizens have acted to create a legacy for the college in their estate plans.
You can give, and –
Keep your resources as long as you need them.
- A bequest in your will – Look at some approaches that have worked for alumnae and friends of the school, complete with sample bequest language.
- Giving with retirement plans – By including ESCC in your IRA or 401(k) plans, you can make a gift without changing your will.
- Giving with life insurance.
Receive an income back from your gift.
- A secure lifetime income – Charitable gift annuities provide both fixed and secure lifetime payments, and a gift to the school.
- An income with flexibility – Charitable remainder trusts can provide variable or fixed income for persons, and for a time period, chosen by you.
Pass assets along to heirs more easily, at lower tax.
- Giving with retirement plans: Giving part of your retirement plan to the school will save you taxes, whether you are concerned about estate taxes or not.
Join the Legacy Society
Several long-standing supporters of ESCC have joined the Legacy Society by including ESCC in their financial or estate planning and informing the school of their decision. Their gifts, large and small, take many different forms. Common to all planned gift donors is a desire to perpetuate their support for the college’s mission to brighten their community’s future.
Please let us know. By creating a legacy for your community here at ESCC/joining the Society, you lead by example. If you have included the school in your plans, or when you should do so, please let us know. Doing so creates no legal obligation, but simply allows us to say “thank you,” and encourages others to follow your lead.
Please also let us know of any gift that you wish to designate for a particular use. Advance planning will help the college observe any restriction in a way that brings satisfaction to all concerned.
To inform the college and the foundation or your gift, or to hear more about giving, please contact Patty Kellam, ESCC Foundation Executive Director, at 757-789-1749, or email pkellam@es.vccs.edu.