There are many ways you can make a gift to Oak Knoll and show your support for the mission of Holy Child education. Oak Knoll’s development staff can assist in tailoring a giving plan to meet each donor’s philanthropic objectives. Following are details on current giving opportunities: the Oak Knoll Annual Fund, capital giving, planned giving, and endowment.
The Oak Knoll Annual Fund
To ensure the continued health and strength of our school, we ask all those within the Oak Knoll community – current parents, trustees, faculty and staff, alumnae/i, parents of graduates, grandparents, and friends - to participate in the Oak Knoll Annual Fund. Contributions to the annual fund meet the needs of the present – of the students attending today and the faculty teaching today. Unrestricted gifts to the annual fund are most appreciated and are used where the need is greatest. Donors may also designate their gifts to one of five special funds including community service, creative arts, athletics, faculty development, or financial aid. The annual fund campaign runs every year from July 1 through June 30.
Oak Knoll appreciates and recognizes gifts of all sizes. Leadership gifts are the cornerstone of the Oak Knoll Annual Fund. The Founder's Circle recognizes gifts of $2,500 or more and gifts of $500 or more from young alumnae/i. We hope you will consider joining. (Matching gifts count towards your annual fund giving level.) With your generosity, Oak Knoll will continue to maintain its excellence. For annual fund information or to make your gift by phone contact Bea Fagan, director of annual giving, in the development office at 908-522-8105. You can also make an online donation.
Capital Giving
Oak Knoll has been fortunate throughout its history to have at its helm exceptional individuals, capable of vision and planning. Since 1924, Oak Knoll leaders have looked to the future by renewing facilities to meet the changing needs of students and faculty. Oak Knoll is grateful to all those who have given so generously their resources and time to help the school attain its present position of strength. If we are to continue to offer an education that challenges students to achieve their best in all areas of school life, we must properly maintain and enhance our physical plant to meet the needs of future generations.
Capital campaigns are periodically organized at independent schools to raise income for extraordinary expenditures, such as the construction of a new building, the renovation of an existing facility, or to secure additional endowment funding to strengthen the school for the future. Since the entire Oak Knoll community shares in the benefits of a capital campaign, all of our constituents are asked to participate. Contributions are generally pledged over several years.
Annual gifts help us live. Capital gifts help us grow.
Planned Giving
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Planned gifts are made by donors who believe in Oak Knoll and desire to make substantial gifts to the school through estate planning. Gifts may take various forms, with bequests through wills perhaps the most familiar. Gifts through other instruments can provide the donor with a lifelong income, as well as immediate and long-term tax benefits.
The school’s board of trustees clearly recognizes the importance of planned giving and wishes to thank, recognize, and honor planned giving donors during their lifetimes. To accomplish this, the trustees have established The 1924 Society, named in honor of the year the school was founded. Membership is automatic upon notification of a donor’s intention to include Oak Knoll in his or her estate plan.
The 1924 Society, Oak Knoll’s planned giving society, serves to acknowledge the school’s donors whose vision and generosity are helping Oak Knoll chart its future. Members of The 1924 Society embrace the commitment of the school’s founders, the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, to provide students with an Catholic independent education of the highest quality.
We encourage you to join the founding members of The 1924 Society and consider a bequest in conjunction with your other methods of giving to the school.
By including Oak Knoll in your estate plan, you will not only receive the satisfaction of contributing to Oak Knoll, but you also can take advantage of resulting tax benefits. You can:
- Name Oak Knoll as a residuary beneficiary; that is, leave the balance of your estate to the school after all your specific bequests are honored.
- Leave a specific bequest of money or property to Oak Knoll.
- Make Oak Knoll a contingent beneficiary, meaning that, should your primary beneficiaries predecease you, your estate, or some portion of it, would be left to Oak Knoll instead of passing to unintended beneficiaries or to the state in which you reside.
- Establish a charitable testamentary trust in which income would be paid to someone for his/her lifetime and upon his or her death, the remaining principal would be left to Oak Knoll.
- For further information, contact Kathleen Smythe, CFRE, director of development at 908-522-8187.
Endowment
To ensure the preservation of Oak Knoll’s rich Holy Child heritage for future generations of students, the school recognizes the importance of building endowment. Endowment funds are financial assets that generate income through wise investment of the principal. Individuals may establish endowed funds through outright gifts, bequests, or other forms of planned giving. This on-going effort provides the school with the financial reserves necessary to sustain a student body reflective of today’s world, attract and retain the most able teachers, maintain the school’s exceptional facilities, and offer the best academic, athletic, and extracurricular programs.
If you are interested in helping to continue the growth of a healthy and effective endowment for Oak Knoll, please contact Kathleen Smythe, CFRE, director of development at 908-522-8187.