Annual Giving
Provides the resources needed for WVU Parkersburg to be the region’s premier college. Annual gifts help meet the colleges most immediate needs while offering exceptional opportunities for current and future students, as well as faculty and staff, for day-to-day resources in the classrooms, labs, and resource centers.
Major Giving
The Foundation works to secure and manage private support for the college. Major Gift levels of $25,000, or more have a major transformational effect on the college. Most major gifts are the result of long established relationships with the college, but others come from those who chose higher education or workforce development as their source of philanthropy.
If you want to provide significant support to WVU Parkersburg through a major gift, and are unsure how to make the most impact we can share funding priorities and can work with you to craft a gift opportunity that will help the college and be something you can be proud to support. We can also provide information on various gift vehicles you may wish to consider.
Corporate Giving
The Foundation works with the college’s president, deans, chairs and faculty to develop strategies and projects that fit with organizational objectives of both the college and its corporate partners.
Local enterprises can provide valuable workforce perspectives, professional services, and funding to support industry related projects that enhance the college and provide it’s maximum economic impact in the region. By working with corporate sponsors the Foundation helps the college build comprehensive service and capital projects that are win-win for everyone.
Endowments
Endowments provide vital, ongoing support for college progress. These donations are invested, with a portion of the annual income used to address immediate needs of the college, while the remaining funds are reinvested to ensure indefinite funding.
As a result, it is imperative that endowments grow at a rate that is sufficient to support their annual spending stream while preserving the endowment.
An endowment can also link the name of someone, honored in perpetuity. They are tailored to the type of asset used and to the donor’s preferred selection criteria to ensure that it funds the donors preferred student, project, or program.
Endowed gifts may also qualify you for a federal income tax charitable deduction on your taxes.
Scholarships
Scholarships help students seeking higher education, who might otherwise be unable to attain it. With the help of many charitable donors, the Foundation is able to provide approximately 200 scholarship awards each year. Over the past five years, over $850,000 has been provided to WVU Parkersburg students in need.
The minimum criteria for an unrestricted scholarship for new students are: 22 ACT score or 3.2 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale from grades 10-12. For previous college students, the criterion is a 3.2 cumulative grade point average. In cases where a new student does not meet the criteria, the Scholarship Committee may take other factors into account. Scholarship awards are made to students as determined by the WVU Parkersburg Scholarship Committee, which honors all requirements and preferences stated by the donor.
An endowed scholarship can link a donor’s name, or the name of someone honored in perpetuity to generations of graduates.
Scholarships can be tailored to the type of asset used and to the donor’s preferred selection criteria to ensure that it helps the kind of student they want to impact. All parameters of the scholarship are defined in a signed agreement between the donor and the Foundation.
Endowed scholarship donors receive a report on the status of their scholarships each January. These reports will provide an update on the endowment and the students who they’ve impacted. Donors are also featured in the Foundation Annual Report and receive thank you letters from the scholars they help.
Legacy Giving
This type of giving allows you to leave a legacy behind at WVU Parkersburg, once you’ve passed on.
You want to leave money to WVU Parkersburg in your will through the Foundation, but also want the flexibility to change your will in the event that life circumstances change, giving through your Will or Living Trust may be the right choice for you.
To name WVU Parkersburg as a beneficiary of an IRA, life insurance policy, or commercial annuity simply contact your benefits, account, or plan administrator to request a change of beneficiary. Typically, you can name several beneficiary’s, leaving a percent to each. You can also name the Foundation as a secondary beneficiary in the event a primary has also passed.
A bequest is a gift made through your will that directs your estate executor to make a gift from your assets upon death.
When donors leave a bequest to the Foundation, they can make a generous gift without reducing their current income or giving up ownership of the assets during their lifetime. Bequests may be used to provide gifts of money, stocks, real estate, or other personal property.
Donors can create funds in their name or in memory of a loved one and they are usually deductible in full for estate tax purposes.
You may choose to gift stocks or securities to the Foundation with a transfer on death (TOD) designation, making them payable to the Foundation after your lifetime.
Gifts in Kind
Gifts in kind include donations other than cash and marketable securities such as works of art, books, equipment, furnishings, automobiles, software or licensing.
Stocks or Securities
Stocks and securities are another popular way to give. When you donate appreciated securities or mutual funds, held more than one year, you can reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer. You may also be entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the securities at the time of the transfer.
If you transfer them as an outright gift, you receive the same income tax savings that you would if you donate money, but with the added benefit of eliminating capital gains taxes on the transfer. If you arrange a transfer on death (TOD) designation on your brokerage or investment account, it will be paid after your lifetime.
In Memory or Honor
Help a loved one’s legacy live on at WVU Parkersburg. Establishing a memorial or tribute gift is a meaningful way to honor your loved one or to celebrate a special occasion such as a birthday while supporting the work of our mission. Your memorial or tribute gift will be a lasting tribute to your loved one and make a difference in the lives of those we serve.
You may also benefit from a federal income tax charitable deduction and eliminate capital gains tax on the securities.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
These types of gifts may offer you tax benefits and the option for income. Charitable remainder trusts allow you to transfer assets into a separately managed trust that will provide you and/or your beneficiaries with fixed percentage payments for life or for a set period of time.
The person who establishes the trust selects the trustee as well as the charities that will receive future distributions. The donor earns a charitable deduction when the assets are transferred to a trust. Upon termination of the trust, the remaining assets are distributed to the charity and will be used for the charitable purpose specified by the donor.
Donor Advised Funds
A donor advised fund is like a charitable savings account that you set up, but is managed by the Foundation. The basis of these accounts are that you qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction whenever you contribute to the account, but you can’t direct where the funds go. The Foundation works with the college to determine what priority needs exist so the most benefit can be made from your gift.
Real Estate
Donating a highly appreciated real estate property has many benefits for the donor. When you give the Foundation appreciated property you have held longer than one year, you qualify for a federal income tax charitable deduction, which eliminates a capital gains tax.
You can deed the property directly to the Foundation or ask your attorney to add a few sentences in your will or trust agreement. You won’t have to hassle with selling the real estate or deal with ongoing maintenance costs, property taxes or insurance.
Real estate gifts include homes, farmland, cabins, commercial buildings, and undeveloped land. A current appraisal of the property is needed in order to use it as a charitable gift. Real estate may be given outright, used to fund a charitable remainder trust, or given as a life estate.
Charitable Gift Annuities
A charitable gift annuity involves a simple contract where you agree to make a gift to the Foundation, and in return, the Foundation agrees to pay you a fixed amount each year for the rest of your life.