Annual and Scholarship funds

These unrestricted gifts play a critical role for students such as augmenting scholarships, supporting student academic programs and enabling student development and research projects.

Select the option to designate your gift to an existing scholarship fund, then choose or write in the scholarship name.

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Major gifts

Throughout the years, our alumni and friends have made major gifts to create scholarships, support programs and provide the dean with resources to take advantage of extraordinary opportunities. Major gifts ensure a strong endowment and can also help build and restore facilities and sustain our classroom activities.

Major gift donors can choose to direct their support toward an area where their personal interest matches the needs and priorities of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. These gifts can be made in the form of pledges that can be paid over a multi-year period. They also can lead to unique recognition opportunities that can honor or memorialize a person who is important to you.

If you are interested in making a major gift, email Shelly Doucet.

Planned gifts

A charitable bequest is one or two sentences in either a will or living trust that lets you pass any amount you wish to benefit the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, free of estate tax. You can give cash, specific property or a percentage of your estate, with restrictions or without.

A charitable gift annuity involves a simple contract between you and UMKC in which you agree to make a gift to the university and we, in return, agree to pay you (and someone else, if you choose) a fixed amount each year for the rest of your life. This gift vehicle also creates a variety of tax benefits, including a federal income tax charitable deduction.

A charitable remainder trust allows you and other named individuals income each year for life or a period not exceeding 20 years from assets you give to the trust you create. Benefits include a partial charitable income tax deduction, potential for increased income and up-front capital gains tax avoidance.

A gift of real estate — personal residence, vacation home, timeshare property, farm, commercial property or undeveloped land — helps UMKC and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and it also benefits you. When you give UMKC appreciated property you have held longer than one year, you get a federal income tax charitable deduction. You also avoid paying capital gains tax and having to deal with the property’s maintenance costs, taxes or insurance.

A gift to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences through a life insurance policy could be a sensible and generous option for you. If you make us the owner of your policy, you will normally receive an income tax deduction for the policy’s fair market value on the date of the gift. If you name UMKC as a beneficiary of the policy and retain ownership, you won’t be eligible for current tax benefits because the gift is revocable at any time. Either way, your estate will not pay estate taxes on the policy proceeds we receive.

If you are interested in making a major gift, email Shelly Doucet.