How do families support Wakefield Country Day School? Let me count the ways…

Each year, alumni, friends and neighbors provide much needed financial assistance through outright gifts of cash, securities, or other properties, which offer immediate benefits for you and Wakefield Country Day School; and deferred gifts, which allow you to arrange a gift now that has a future benefit for the school. Recent improvements to programs and infrastructure the WCDS community has financed include: new classroom space, science labs, etiquette classes, and additional buses, scholarship funds, paving of the parking lot, landscaping, new playground equipment, and improved sports programs.

You may choose the first avenue of charitable giving, giving today, by offering yearly support through participation in auctions, the annual appeal, and other fundraisers as they occur and by the immediate transfer of assets, stocks, and securities.

WCDS has two main auctions each year, Art from the Heart in the fall, and the Spring Auction in the spring. In addition we have an annual appeal, where we ask families to make a contribution, if they are able, above and beyond their tuition and fee payments.

You may choose the second avenue of charitable giving, giving tomorrow, through planned giving which involves making a decision now about the transfer of a financial asset to Wakefield Country Day School at a future time.
 

Planned Giving
Planned gifts include provisions for Wakefield Country Day School in Wills, Life Insurance policies, or other types of gifts, which may allow donors to retain use of or income from their gifts for a specified time. These gifts allow parents, grandparents; alumni and friends to make tangible statements of support that ultimately become a lasting legacy for the school.

Attention: Green Eye Shades

A few words about estate taxes
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (the 2001 Tax Act) gradually eliminates federal estate taxes by increasing the amount that is exempt from these taxes over several years, from $1 million in 2002 and 2003, to 45 percent in 2007 through 2009, and finally repealing estate taxes for persons who die after 2009. However, under a provision in the law, pre-2001 Tax Act rules will return after 2010.

What are the tax benefits of donating to charity?
Congress has sweetened the pot for taxpayers who donate to qualified charities. First, you generally receive an income tax deduction in the year you make the gift. Second, you do not have to worry about gift tax because federal gift tax does not apply to charitable gifts. Third, charitable gifts serve to reduce your taxable estate, thus reducing your potential estate tax liability.