Giving

Giving Opportunities

Giving

Giving to Chesapeake Academy

Chesapeake Academy relies heavily on the time, talents and financial contributions of its past and present community members. This support allows us to offer the standard of excellence for which we are known and helps make the dreams we have for our students and their teachers become a reality. For more information on how you can help, please contact Debbie Cook at 804.438.5575 or dcook@chesapeakeacademy.org.

The Development Office is a community of people, both staff and volunteers, dedicated to the advancement of the Academy by communicating its philosophy and mission and shared values of character education.  As we seek philanthropic support, we encourage and appreciate all levels of participation whether it is in the form of time, treasure, or the sharing of one’s talents.

Time and Talent

Volunteerism at Chesapeake Academy takes many forms through membership on CAPPA committees, Board of Trustee committees, being a PALS volunteer, volunteering in the Development Office, helping at various events throughout the year, or doing your volunteer work from home. We appreciate every minute you can share with us!

To help with CAPPA or events, please contact Catherine Emry, Development Associate.

Treasure

NEW!  ON-LINE DONATIONS! Donate to Chesapeake Academy's Annual Fund through the convenience of on-line giving. Simple to use, reliable and a quick, easy way for you to get involved. Make your donation today!

Annual Fund
As tuition only covers 70% of the full cost of educating each student, the Annual Fund helps meet our ongoing academic and co-curricular programming costs by supplementing our operating budget. Your support for annual giving helps us meet our mission of providing the best opportunities for each and every child by your contribution increases our ability to succeed and to show the strong commitment our constituency has for the Academy.  Each individual gift, no matter the size, has a positive impact on the school in many ways.  Your gift combined with other gifts truly makes a difference!  Our fiscal year closes on June 30.

Ways of Giving

Donors may choose one or a combination of several different outright and deferred gifts to fulfill commitments to Chesapeake Academy. Listed below are brief explanations of various ways to give. They are meant as a guideline only.

Cash
Cash gifts are an easy way to give. Cash gifts of any size can have an immediate impact on the Academy. The donor receives an income tax deduction as prescribed by law. Gifts of cash are deductible up to 50% of adjusted gross income, the remainder of the deduction can be carried over for up to five years.
 
Appreciated Securities

A gift of stocks or bonds that are (or will be) readily available are a win-win opportunity for you and Chesapeake Academy under current tax laws. The deduction for the outright gifts of appreciated long-term publically traded securities (held more than one year) is equal to the fair market value on the date you relinquish control of the assets to the Academy. None of the appreciation is taxable for capital gains purposes.

Gifts of stock of a private corporation receive slightly different treatment. You may avoid capital gains on appreciation of closely held stock while attaining a tax deduction on the stock's fair market value. You may obtain an immediate tax deduction of up to 30% of adjusted gross income. If the gift amount exceeds 30% of adjusted gross income, the remainder of the deduction generally can be carried over for up to five years.

Please contact Debbie Cook by calling 804-438-5575 or emailing dcook@chesapeakeacademy.org to learn how to make a gift of securities.

Matching gifts

Many companies will match the contributions that employees, and sometimes retired employees, make to non-profit organizations such as Chesapeake Academy. Under a corporate matching gift program, gifts made by a company's eligible employee or employee's spouse are matched with company or corporate foundation funds. To initiate a matching gift, ask your personnel office for the company's matching gift form and send it along with your donation to the Academy. Please note that matching gifts do not increase your charitable deduction.

Planned Giving

The Faye Society
To recognize invaluable contributions to the long-term growth of the Academy through bequests and other planned gifts, The Faye Society was established by the Board of Trustees in the Spring of 2001 in memory of Captain and Mrs. James Faye who named Chesapeake Academy as a beneficiary of their estate in 1987. Their foresight and generosity made a tremendous impact on the Academy’s fiscal stability and future, and for generations of families. Membership in the Faye Society recognizes patrons of Chesapeake Academy whose philanthropy extends beyond life. 66 members have made estate plans which we have already received through their bequest or include building the Academy's endowment through charitable remainder trusts, transfer of owned life insurance, real estate intentions, and bequests through their Last Will and Testament.

Making provisions to include the permanent endowment, managed by the Chesapeake Academy Foundation, is an excellent way to receive tax credit now while investing in the future of children from the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. 

Bequests
A bequest is a gift made through a donor’s will and is the simplest and most common planned gift. The advantages of making a gift through a bequest are that the donor does not have to part with any property until after death. Gift and estate taxes are avoided. Distributions can be made either as a specific dollar amount or as a percentage of the estate.

Retained income gifts
An easily established trust can provide a current charitable deduction for you in addition to income to you and/or the Academy during your lifetime. This meaningful gift can be especially appealing by increasing the income you receive from low-yielding stocks. The income can be distributed to you, your spouse or other designee, after which the assets would be distributed to the Academy.
 
Real Estate with Retained Life Tenancy
You can give your house, summer house, or farm to the Academy while retaining the right for yourself (and a surviving spouse) to live there. You receive an immediate income tax deduction and avoid many of the cares and expenses of ownership.
 
Tangible Personal Property

You may give appreciated items such as art, coins, or other valuable items for the Academy to sell, the proceeds designated for the educational programs.
 
Life Insurance Gifts
The contribution of a life insurance policy can provide a significant gift in a manner that can be especially attractive to younger donors. Chesapeake Academy offers recognition for the amount of the annual premium. By designating Chesapeake Academy as both the owner and beneficiary of a life insurance policy, the premiums are tax-deductible to the donor.

New rules for charitable giving (from the USAA website)

Don’t let the name of the 2006 Pension Protection Act, passed last August, confuse you. Part of the legislation outlines important new tax implications for charitable giving.

Get receipts
Beginning with the 2007 tax year, if you want to claim monetary gifts to charities as a deduction, you’ll need detailed receipts, canceled checks, or bank records, regardless of the amount.

Even that $5 you drop in the Salvation Army kettle will require proof of payment if you want to add it to your deductions. In the past, you only needed to obtain a written acknowledgement for a single cash contribution of $250 or more.

Give away good stuff
Rules for noncash donations, such as old clothing and certain household items, also got more strict. Now you can only claim value for things designated in “good used condition or better” (though the act doesn’t define “good”).

To claim a deduction on anything worth more than $500, like furniture or electronics, you’ll need to include a qualified appraisal with your tax return.

Taking it from your IRA
For anyone over 70 ½ , you can withdraw up to $100,000 per year from a Roth or Traditional Individual Retirement Account by having your IRA custodian or trustee give it directly to a qualified charity – without having to count the withdrawal as taxable income. Keep in mind that no tax deduction for the charitable contribution would be allowed.

To learn more about these and other related changes brought by the new act, consult the IRS website or your financial advisor.

Use Your IRA as Never Before
On Aug. 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law new tax incentives for charitable gifts from donors who are 70½ or older. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 encourages financial support of charitable organizations across the United States.

Under the law, you can make a lifetime gift using funds from your individual retirement account (IRA) without undesirable tax effects. Previously you would have had to report any amount taken from your IRA as taxable income, then take a charitable deduction for the gift, but only up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income. In effect, this caused some donors to pay more in income taxes than if they didn’t make a gift at all.

Fortunately, now these IRA gifts can be accomplished simply and without tax complications. Plus, you can make the gift now—while you are living and able to witness the benefits of your generosity.

You may contribute funds this way if:

  • You are age 70½ or older
  • The gift is $100,000 or less each year
  • You make the gift on or before Dec. 31, 2009*
  • You transfer funds directly from an IRA or Rollover IRA
  • You transfer the gift outright to one or more public charities, but not supporting organizations or donor advised funds
  • You cannot receive benefits from us in exchange for the gift

(*The extension of this deadline to Dec. 31, 2008 is in a bill in the Energy & Tax Extenders Act of 2008 but has not yet been passed as of this printing.)

Endowment and Major Gifts

Over and above supporting operations through the Annual Fund, Chesapeake Academy has been strengthened by gifts supporting the Endowment.  Rather than being spent immediately, these funds are directed to the school’s endowment or to specific facilities projects that will serve students for generations. Endowment gifts may be unrestricted or designated for specific purposes such as scholarship assistance, faculty enrichment, technology, campus renewal or other recurring costs.

 The $748,658 Endowment is managed by the Chesapeake Academy Foundation.

To learn more about charitable tax-wise ways of giving to Chesapeake Academy, please contact Debbie Cook at 804.438.5575.