Ways to Give

I am just one person – does my gift really make a difference?

Great institutions rely not just on major gifts but on the dedicated participation and ongoing investment from thousands of stakeholders. High levels of engagement form alumni is often one of the key indicators of excellence for academic programs. Your decision to contribute to the Jackson School, is vital to our long-term success. Additionally, combining your gift with your company’s corporate matching program can help to further stretch the impact of your investment.

How are unrestricted dollars spent?

At the Jackson School, we are fortunate to have a permanent endowment with revenues that allow us to “keep the lights on.” This provides us the unique opportunity to put unrestricted dollars to use in ways that truly benefit students and further advance cutting edge research. In recent years, those funds have been utilized to meet critical needs more quickly. Examples include creating a Writer in Residence position to assist students with scientific writing and improving an outdated HVAC system to allow our labs to function at full capacity.

Endowments at The University of Texas at Austin are a sound investment in a better future. With an endowed gift, you provide permanent support for the University. Your gift is invested — never spent — and each year a distribution, like dividends on a mutual fund account, is made to your chosen program or area. Investment earnings above the dividend rate help the endowment value grow over time, to keep pace with inflation and maintain your endowment’s spending power.

You may take up to five years to fund an endowment, and once it is officially established, you or anyone else may continue to add to its principal at any time. Moreover, by selecting the title of your endowment, you can forever link your name, or that of a family member, friend, or organization, to scholarly excellence at the University.

Various types of endowments are listed below, but endowments can cover other purposes that may fall outside of these general categories:

• Student Scholarships and Graduate Fellowships enable the University to attract and recognize the best undergraduate and graduate students regardless of their financial circumstances. Your assistance allows students to concentrate on their coursework while participating more fully in extracurricular programs that will enhance their personal development. Gift Level for Scholarships: $50,000, Gift Level for Fellowships: $100,000

• Program Endowments and Excellence Funds support excellence in specific or general programs throughout the University. You can choose to support the area in which you earned your degree or another program that interests you. Gift Level: $25,000 and above

• Chairs and Professorships are awarded to deans, department chairs, and outstanding faculty. These endowments are crucial to the University’s efforts to recruit and retain the best teachers, researchers, and administrators. When you read or hear a news story about a UT professor’s groundbreaking research or other achievements, that professor is probably the recipient of endowment support. Gift Level: $250,000 to $5M

The impact of endowments cannot be overstated. They provide long term support to achieve the visions and dreams of our students, faculty and research scientists. An endowment of $1MM provides approximately $45K in annual program support. We suggest consideration of higher endowment levels to assure that the impact of your philanthropy is effectively felt within the Jackson School.

Like the leaders and supporters who have gone before, you can choose to develop a philanthropic plan that will ensure a secure future for the Jackson School and its students. By including the Jackson School in your retirement and estate planning you can diminish tax burdens while supporting students and faculty.

Charitable gift annuities, which provide immediate fixed payments for life, with the remaining funds distributed to the Jackson School, offer one option.

Or you may find it more attractive to do a charitable remainder trust that converts significant appreciated assets into cash payments while eliminating capital gains taxes. If created through your will, this is one of the best ways to roll over qualified retirement-plan assets to leave more for both your heirs and your charitable interests.

You can get started today, using the sample documents below:

• Estate Intention Letter
• Will Endowment Gift
• Will Non-Endowed Gift
• Trust Endowment Gift
• Trust Non-Endowment Gift

For more information, please contact Andrew West.

Here’s how a single gift can make a greater impact. If you document a new future gift of $100,000 or more through your estate plan, the Jackson School of Geosciences will make an immediate donation (while funds last) to the department, program, project or area in the school that you choose! Your gift will make an impact today and a lasting one in the future.

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