If you believe in the mission of Cottey College, if a Cottey education made a difference in your life or in the life of someone you know, you can help the next generation of students through your support of the College. There are many ways to assist talented and deserving young women to achieve their goal of becoming a Cottey College graduate.

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COTTEY FUND

Your gift, every year. Gifts to the Cottey Fund supplement Cottey’s annual operating budget and provide a flexible and instantly available source of funding that can be used when and where it is needed the most. These contributions help cover the cost of financial aid, enhancements to the campus, and the services that Cottey provides at no additional cost to students. These amenities include such things as student wellness programs, tutoring in the writing center, coffee in the library, admission to performances and athletic events, music lessons, and technical assistance from Cottey’s IT staff. Gifts to the Cottey Fund impact all students, faculty, and staff.

UNRESTRICTED GIVING

Unrestricted gifts provide a pool of funds that are not designated by donors for specific programs. These gifts allow the College to allocate funds wherever the need is greatest and to take advantage of unique opportunities as they arise. Unrestricted gifts help offset the cost of financial aid, equipment, facilities, new academic programs and other expenses associated with a quality education. Unrestricted gifts are so vital to Cottey College that they are often described as the greatest gifts donors can make.

DESIGNATED AND RESTRICTED GIFTS

Gifts may also be designated to a specific program, group, or priority area at Cottey. These gifts allow the donor the satisfaction of supporting a program that has personal significance to him or her. Designated and restricted gifts may be labeled for current use or endowment. Current use gifts provide funds for immediate use, whereas endowment gifts are designed to provide financial security over a longer period of time.

ENDOWED FUNDS

Establishing an endowment is a powerful way to make a lasting gift to Cottey College. They are essentially never-ending donations because only the income earned on the principal is used by the College. This type of gift allows the corpus of the gift to remain intact, thereby ensuring the future strength and viability of the College.  Endowments may be established for almost any educational or related purpose at Cottey. They may support faculty chairs, scholarships, leadership and cultural programs or other programs of the donor’s choosing. Earnings on unrestricted endowments help to support the general operations of the College.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Gifts to scholarship funds make it possible for Cottey College to recruit outstanding young women who benefit from an education that is both personal and demanding. Donors may support Cottey’s general scholarship fund through gifts of any size. These awards are distributed annually to students who demonstrate financial need.

There are two ways of establishing a scholarship at Cottey:

• An Endowed Scholarship can be established through an outright gift or through your will or estate plan. The minimum contribution for an endowed scholarship is $10,000. The principal funds are permanently restricted, and the earnings on the principal are used to provide an annual scholarship for a Cottey student, allowing the fund to grow and continue to provide scholarships for future generations of Cottey students.
• A Named Fund Scholarship may be established with a minimum gift of $5,000. Unlike an endowed scholarship, the principal is not invested and all funds are awarded over a pre-determined number of years.

If you wish, eligibility for your scholarship may be limited to students with criteria agreed upon by you and the College, such as demonstrated financial need, a particular course of study, new or upper level students, or participation in arts or athletics. However, more open criteria make scholarships easier to administer and ensure that eligible student(s) can be found each year.

Both endowed and named fund scholarships may be established in your name, your family’s name, the name of your chapter or in honor or in memory of another individual.

CAPITAL FUNDS

At various times the College conducts special campaigns for capital gifts. These funds are used for new construction, major renovations, equipment and other capital improvements to campus. Gifts designated for capital purposes may be made at any time, even when a campaign is not in progress.

THE INNOVATION FUND

Good ideas can come from anywhere but need resources in order to implement. The Innovation Fund is designed to provide seed money for innovative ideas that will generate lasting benefits for Cottey College in terms of an enhanced student experience, increased recruitment and retention, and long term efficiencies. Providing faculty, staff, and students with the resources that encourage bold, creative, and strategic thinking will help solidify the reputation of Cottey College as an institution of higher education that provides students with the foundation for lives that will impact our world.

ALUMNAE GIVING

When Virginia Alice Cottey served as president, students and alumnae celebrated her birthday with gifts and cake. Early on, the founder asked the students to eliminate the celebration centered on her personally and instead to contribute to the College. Alumnae have been doing so ever since with six active endowed funds to which they contribute. Many classes have chosen to establish Class Funds for scholarships, library support, leadership programs, or faculty professional development.

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ESTATE AND TAX PLANNING

There are many ways to give to Cottey College. In addition to outright gifts of cash, individuals can contribute appreciated securities, real estate, tangible personal property and life insurance. Gifts can be made through a will, revocable living trust, life insurance and retirement plans. Some gifts provide lifetime income through charitable remainder trusts and gift annuities. Cottey College does not render legal or tax advice. Your attorney, accountant or other professional advisor should be consulted for specific assistance.

THE STOCKARD SOCIETY

You are invited to join the Stockard Society. The Society is open to all who provide future support for Cottey in their estate plans through wills, trusts, life income gifts, retirement plans, life insurance designations, and other vehicles.

To show appreciation, Cottey College created the Stockard Society to recognize the visionaries who include the College in their wills and estate plans. While some donors chose to remain anonymous, the College commissioned a donor wall to honor those who share their name to inspire others. New names will be added to this wall each year. If you are interested in discussing a planned gift, please email us at advancement@cottey.edu.

Click here to join The Stockard Society.

PLANNED GIVING

Click here to learn more about planned giving opportunities.