Give Tomorrow and Beyond

Giving at Hiram

For more information, contact:

Office Phone: (330) 569-5190
Toll-Free (800) 705-5050, ext. 5190
Email: painleypa@hiram.edu

Hiram College Bancroft House
PO Box 67
Hiram, OH 44234

CREATE A LIVING LEGACY WITH A NAMED ENDOWMENT

Your gift contributing to or establishing an endowed scholarship can directly impact Hiram College students. Endowed scholarships can be established to cover tuition, study abroad, internship expenses and more.

For students, scholarships can make the difference in being able to afford a Hiram College education or not, in studying abroad or missing out on a life-changing opportunity due to expenses, in completing an unpaid internship that would offer valuable career experience or working a summer job back home to make ends meet.

Endowed scholarships can be established in a family name or in honor or in memory of a Hiram College professor or employee who made an impact on your own college experience. Contact Peggy Painley, Director of Planned Giving, if you are interested in establishing a new endowed scholarship or contributing to any one of our more than 250 existing endowed scholarships.

Hiram College’s endowment is made up of monetary gifts to the College, made by alumni and friends, that is then invested. The sum of that money, or the principal, is placed in the College’s investment portfolio, which is managed so that it continues to generate income. Only the interest earned is spent, ensuring the endowment will support future generations of students.

By giving to the endowment, you are making a gift that will impact Hiram College and its students for years to come.

Hiram College has over 300 named endowment funds established by donors. You may choose to name an endowed fund after yourself, a family member, a former classmate or professor, and more. We will work with you to finalize a name that meets your philanthropic goal and ensures your fund is unique.

With $25,000 or more, you can create an endowment for:

Student Scholarships – You can make a gift to establish a named endowed scholarship for students and we will work with you to determine the awarding criteria for student selection.

Infrastructure – You can make a gift to establish a named endowment to provide resources for campus infrastructure. While there are nearly an unlimited number of possibilities, some examples include endowed funds for indoor or outdoor physical spaces, buildings, maintenance, gardens, furniture, equipment, recreational and athletic spaces, and more.

Academic Positions – You can make a gift to establish a named endowment to provide annual salary and programming support for an academic department or positions such as faculty, professorship, school director, or department chair.

Academic Engagement – Similar to Infrastructure, there are nearly an unlimited number of possibilities for creating endowed funds to offer an enhanced Hiram experience for students, faculty, staff, and the greater Hiram community. You can make a gift to establish a named endowment to provide support for things like faculty and staff awards, campus events, student internships, study abroad, faculty-led student research, lecture series or guest speakers, professional development, conferences, and more.

For more information, contact Peggy Painley, Director of Planned Giving at painleypa@hiram.edu or 330.569.5190.

“There can be a role for everybody. Endowment is different from other fundraising because it is about longer term goals. People support endowment in many ways. Endowment can be your personal legacy to the school that made such a difference in your life.”

Kathleen A. Coleman ’87, Trustee

Planned Gifts

If you are interested in making a gift but are also concerned about your future needs, keep in mind that beneficiary designation gifts are among the most flexible of all charitable gifts. Even after you complete the beneficiary designation form, you can take distributions or withdrawals from your retirement, investment or bank account and continue to freely use your account. You can also change your mind at any time in the future for any reason, including if you have a loved one who needs your financial help. You can designate us as a beneficiary of a retirement, investment or bank account or your life insurance policy. A beneficiary designation gift is a simple and affordable way to make a gift to support Hiram College. You can designate us as a beneficiary of a retirement, investment or bank account or your life insurance policy.

Benefits of a Beneficiary Designation Gift
  • Support the causes that you care about
  • Continue to use your account as long as you need to
  • Simplify your planning and avoid expensive legal fees
  • Reduce the burden of taxes on your family
  • Receive an estate tax charitable deduction
How Do I Make a Beneficiary Designation Gift?
  1. To make your gift, contact the person who helps you with your account or insurance policy, such as your broker, banker or insurance agent.
  2. Ask them to send you a new beneficiary designation form.
  3. Complete the form, sign it and mail it back to your broker, banker or agent.
  4. When you pass away, your account or insurance policy will be paid or transferred to Hiram College, consistent with the beneficiary designation.
  5. Be sure to let us know of your intentions so we may direct your eventual gift appropriately. We will also welcome you as a member of our Burke A. Hinsdale Society.

A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make. With the help of an advisor, you can include language in your will or trust specifying a gift be made to family, friends or Hiram College as part of your estate plan.

Benefits of Making a Bequest
  • You leave a lasting legacy to be remembered
  • You lessen the burden of taxes on your family
  • You may receive estate tax savings
How Do I Make a Bequest?
  1. You can gift a specific dollar amount or asset
  2. You can gift a percentage of your estate
  3. You can gift from the balance or residue of your estate
  4. You can make a beneficiary designation of certain assets
Sample Bequest Language

Bequests can be specific or general. A specific bequest is one in which you give a specific amount, a specific percentage, or a specific asset to Hiram College.

I give and bequeath the sum of ($_____) to Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, to establish an endowed scholarship in my name to be awarded to students who major in history.

OR

I give and devise the interest I may own at my death in the real property located at 1234 Garfield Avenue, Hiram, Ohio to Hiram College. It is my desire that the College sell such property and add the proceeds to the General Scholarship Endowment Fund.

OR

I give all shares of General Electric stock, including all dividends whether declared before or after my death, to Hiram College to be used for such purposes as the governing board shall determine.

A general, or residuary bequest is not limited to a specific asset or amount.

I give the residue of my estate to Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, to be used for general operating expenses.

Join the Burke A. Hinsdale Society today.

One way we can all support Hiram College is by considering a planned gift. Planned gifts can be made in one or more of several forms, including simple will provisions; full or partial beneficiary designations of life insurance, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), or bank accounts; and charitable trusts or gift annuities that provide the donor(s) a lifetime income stream.

The first planned gift to Hiram College was secured while Burke A. Hinsdale was Hiram’s president, over 150 years ago; and Andrew Squire, Class of 1872, donated his family homestead as part of his planned giving, which we have all known as “Squire Hill” (the current site of the Kennedy Center). Today, the Burke A. Hinsdale Society has over 300 members who have documented more than $40 million in planned gift commitments ensuring a robust pipeline of support for generations to come.

Is Hiram a part of your gift planning or estate plan? We are always available to provide donors and their advisors with information and ideas concerning the simple ways you can make planned gifts to Hiram College. Share your intentions with us today and help us secure the future of Hiram College. We would love to welcome you as our newest member of this prestigious group.

Contact us today for a free Estate Planning Guide.

Are you interested in giving to a campaign or making a significant gift this year? Are you thinking about making a bequest or multi-year gifts? Blended gifts use a variety of giving strategies by combining the power of current gifts and planned gifts including bequests. Blended gifts can be a very attractive way for you to achieve your financial, tax and estate planning goals. There are many combinations of gift options that can make your giving go farther than a simple gift of cash or property. Blended gifts are gifts that help you see the impact of your giving today and continue to support our mission in the future.

Benefits of Blended Gifts
  • Increase the impact of your giving
  • Preserve wealth for you and your family
  • Enjoy greater tax savings
  • See the results of your giving today
How Do Blended Gifts Work?
  • A planned gift can be added to your annual gifts of cash or property this year to increase the impact of your giving, provide greater tax savings, preserve wealth for you and your family and further our mission.
  • Some ideas for you to consider include a charitable bequest, charitable gift annuity and charitable remainder unitrust.
  • If you have already included a bequest in your will or created another planned gift, you could begin to see the impact of your giving today by making outright gifts of cash or property. You can avoid capital gains taxes by making a gift of your real estate, stock or other appreciated investments.

You transfer your cash or appreciated property to our organization in exchange for our promise to pay you fixed payments (with rates based on your age) for the rest of your life. You may be tired of living at the mercy of the fluctuating stock and real estate markets. A charitable gift annuity is a gift made to our organization that can provide you with a secure source of fixed payments for life.

Benefits of a Charitable Gift Annuity
  • Receive fixed payments to you or another annuitant you designate for life
  • Receive a charitable income tax deduction for the charitable gift portion of the annuity
  • Benefit from payments that may be partially tax-free
  • Further the charitable work of Hiram College with your gift
How Do I Establish a Charitable Gift Annuity?
  1. You transfer cash or property to Hiram College.
  2. In exchange, we promise to pay fixed payments to you for life. The payment can be quite high depending on your age, and a portion of each payment may even be tax-free.
  3. You will receive a charitable income tax deduction for the gift portion of the annuity.
  4. You also receive satisfaction, knowing that you will be helping further our mission.

If you decide to fund your gift annuity with cash, a significant portion of the annuity payment will be tax-free. You may also make a gift of appreciated securities to fund a gift annuity and avoid a portion of the capital gains tax. Please contact us to inquire about other assets that you might be able to use to fund a charitable gift annuity.

A gift of your life insurance policy is an excellent way to make a gift to Hiram College. If you have a life insurance policy that has outlasted its original purpose, consider making a gift of your insurance policy to Hiram College. For example, you may have purchased a policy to provide for minor children and they are now financially independent adults.

Benefits of Gifting Life Insurance
  • Receive a charitable income tax deduction
  • If Hiram College retains the policy to maturity, you can receive additional tax deductions by making annual gifts so that we can pay the premiums
  • If Hiram College cashes in the policy, you will be able to see firsthand how your gift supports our charitable work
  • If we retain the policy to maturity, or you name us as a beneficiary, once the policy matures, the proceeds of your policy will be paid to our organization so that we can use the proceeds to further our charitable work
How Do I Make a Gift of Life Insurance?

To make a gift of life insurance, please contact your life insurance provider, request a beneficiary designation form from the insurer and include Hiram College as the beneficiary of your policy.

Donating part or all of your unused retirement assets, such as your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension or other tax-deferred plan, is an excellent way to make a gift to Hiram College.

If you are like most people, you probably will not use all of your retirement assets during your lifetime. You can make a gift of your unused retirement assets to help further our mission. Did you know that 60%-70% of your retirement assets may be taxed if you leave them to your heirs at your death? Another option is to leave your heirs assets that receive a step up in basis, such as real estate and stock, and give the retirement assets to Hiram College. As a charity, we are not taxed upon receiving an IRA or other retirement plan assets.

Benefits of Gifting Retirement Assets
  • Avoid potential estate tax on retirement assets
  • Your heirs would avoid income tax on any retirement assets funded on a pre-tax basis
  • Receive potential estate tax savings from an estate tax deduction
How Do I Make a Gift of Retirement Assets?

To leave your retirement assets to Hiram College, you will need to complete a beneficiary designation form provided by your retirement plan custodian. If you designate Hiram College as beneficiary, we will benefit from the full value of your gift because your IRA assets will not be taxed at your death. Your estate will benefit from an estate tax charitable deduction for the gift.

Other Giving Options

Gifts of appraised art collections and other valuables can provide financial resources to support myriad programs at Hiram College. If you have tangible property that you might consider donating to the College, please contact Walter C. Williams, VP for Alumni Relations & Development at williamswc@hiram.edu or (330) 569-5839.

Benefits of Gifts of Cash
  • You can make an immediate impact on our mission
  • You can take a charitable income tax deduction
How Do I Make a Gift of Cash?

Online gifts via credit card – complete our online donation form today. Your gift will be processed quickly and safely using our secure server.

Mailing gifts via check – You can send us a check or money order. Please let us know if you want your gift used for a specific purpose by indicating that purpose either in the memo line or in a letter to us. Gifts to the Hiram Fund or other designations should be made payable to Hiram College. Did you know that you can mail a check on December 31st and, even if the check is not received and cashed by Hiram College until after the new year, the IRS will allow you to take a deduction in the year the check was mailed? Keep this in mind for year-end tax planning!

Please mail gift checks to:

Hiram College Development Office
P.O. Box 67
Hiram, OH 44234

Congress has enacted a permanent IRA charitable rollover, so if you are 70½ or older, an IRA charitable rollover is a way you can help continue our work and benefit this year.

Benefits of an IRA Charitable Rollover
  • Avoid taxes on transfers of up to $100,000 from your IRA to our organization
  • Satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year
  • Reduce your taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions
  • Make a gift that is not subject to the deduction limits on charitable gifts
  • Help further the work and mission of our organization
How Do I Make a Gift of an IRA Charitable Rollover?
  • Contact your IRA plan administrator to make a gift from your IRA to us.
  • Your IRA funds will be directly transferred to our organization to help continue our important work.
  • Please note that IRA charitable rollover gifts do not qualify for a charitable deduction.
  • Please contact us if you wish for your gift to be used for a specific purpose.

The value of your gift could double – or even triple – if your or your spouse’s current employer offers a matching gift program! Many companies continue to match retirees’ gifts, too. If your company does match gifts, call your Human Resources Office to request a matching gift form, complete the employee section and mail it to Hiram along with your gift check or pledge card.

Hiram College Development Office
Matching Gifts Processing
P.O. Box 67
Hiram, OH 44234

Mutual funds are valued on the date the gift is made. The value is usually the last redemption price quoted on the transfer date. Some mutual fund companies will sell the shares and pay the proceeds directly to Hiram College. Others require Hiram to open a separate account. The transfer of mutual funds may take several weeks to complete, depending on the company. If you are working against a deadline, such as December 31, please be sure to allow sufficient time to complete the transaction.

Publicly-traded securities, particularly appreciated securities, make wonderful gifts to Hiram. You will not realize any capital gain on the gift to Hiram as you would if you sold your appreciated stock. Your gift will be valued on the date the irrevocable transfer to Hiram is made by taking the mean of the high and the low of the stock on the date of the gift. Gifts of stock can be made through electronic transfer from your broker to Hiram’s account or by delivering stock certificates and executed stock powers to Hiram’s Development Office.

Benefits of Gifting Stock and Bonds
  • Avoid paying capital gains tax on the sale of appreciated stock
  • Receive a charitable income tax deduction
  • Further our mission today
How Do I Make a Gift of Stocks and Bonds?

There are special rules for valuing a gift of stock. The value of a charitable gift of stock is determined by taking the mean between the high and low stock price on the date of the gift. Mutual fund shares are valued using the closing price for the fund on the date of the gift. Listed bonds are valued at the mean of the high and low selling prices on the date the gift is made. To receive our DTC Stock Transfer Instructions or for more information about gifting publicly-traded securities to Hiram, please contact Peggy Painley, Director of Planned Giving, by email at painleypa@hiram.edu or by calling 330.569.5190 or 800.705.5050.

Series E and Series H Savings Bonds, which would otherwise result in income if cashed, can be transferred to Hiram, resulting in an income tax charitable deduction equal to the fair market value of the bonds. Your bank can supply information on transferring savings bonds.