Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation, Inc.  »  Giving to MWCC Foundation, Inc.

Giving to MWCC Foundation, Inc.

Thank you for considering a gift to MWCC Foundation, Inc. All gifts make a great impact and are greatly appreciated. Your gift can be made as a one-time contribution or a multi-year pledge to maximize the size of your contribution. The foundation year runs from July 1 through June 30.

Designating Your Gift: Restricted or Unrestricted

Unrestricted gifts allow the college to immediately use your gift to provide support to areas of greatest need. Restricted gifts allow you to designate your gift to a program, department, or project. Restricted gifts are held in trust for their designated purposes. If given for an endowment, your gift can begin gaining usable earnings.  Many donors do both with multiple gifts.  Although both restricted and unrestricted gifts are welcome, unrestricted gifts are of critical importance.

How You Can Give

Individuals, corporations and foundations may give in a number of ways. Individuals may contribute cash through an annual gift or pledge. Gifts include cash, checks and credit cards, appreciated securities, personal property or real estate. Examples of planned gifts include charitable trusts, gift annuities, bequests and will provisions, and paid-up life insurance policies. Another option is a matching gift through which corporations match gifts made by their employees.

  • By Phone
    With a credit card, you can call to make a donation, (978) 630-9387. Discover, MasterCard, and Visa are accepted.
  • By Mail
    • Gifts can be sent to:
      MWCC Foundation, Inc.
      444 Green Street
      Gardner, MA 01440
    • Checks made payable to:
      MWCC Foundation, Inc.
  • Personally
    Please stop by! The MWCC Foundation office is located at MWCC’s Gardner campus in room 101.

Giving Levels

The size of your gift is entirely up to you. Contributions of all sizes are important and are gratefully accepted.  Your gift to the MWCC Foundation, Inc. Annual Fund directly supports the educational, social, recreational, and cultural mission of the college and benefits the communities we serve. Show your support for MWCC by making a gift to the Annual Fund this year. Giving levels:

  • Friend’s Circle up to $249
  • Wachusett Circle $250 – $999
  • Dean’s Circle $1,000 – $2,499
  • Foundation Circle $2,500 – $4,999
  • President’s Circle $5,000 and up

Faculty and Staff Giving

MWCC Foundation Inc. is proud of faculty and staff commitment and dedication to making MWCC an outstanding educational provider and leader in community service. The campaign’s goal is 100 percent participation by all college employees. No gift is too small or too big. Faculty and staff can contribute by:

  • Check, cash, or credit card during the annual Faculty and Staff Campaign, payroll deduction or direct debit from checking account.

Faculty and staff giving is not restricted to the annual Faculty and Staff Campaign. Gifts are welcomed year-round.

Participation signifies faculty and staff commitment to MWCC and the students. When the foundation solicits gifts from the community, the generous support of faculty and staff encourages others to give.

Gifts are Tax-deductible

All gifts to MWCC Foundation, Inc., on behalf of MWCC, are tax-deductible within certain limits provided by law. The foundation is established under sections 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code—FID #23-7136083. Consult a financial planner or tax advisor to determine the exact tax advantages of any gift.

Trust and Fiduciary Responsibility

Gifts made to the foundation for the sole benefit of MWCC are voluntary investments from individuals, corporations and philanthropic foundations. The foundation structure legally preserves the private nature of the gifts and the donor’s anonymity when it is requested. The foundation gives donors additional confidence that their gifts will be used in accordance with their wishes and to enhance programs rather than replace state support. The foundation issues individual reports to donors who have established endowments, providing specific information about how funds have been managed and used.

Answers to basic questions about private giving to MWCC Foundation, Inc. are addressed below. If you have a question that is not included, or if you need more information, call (978) 630-9276.

MWCC’s need for private support

Private philanthropy is and will continue to be what transforms good colleges into extraordinary ones. MWCC has become a state-assisted, rather than state-supported, institution. The amount of state allocated operating funds has gone from 85 percent ten years ago to 30 percent today. This is happening at a time when the college is in a period of substantial growth and student enrollment is the largest in history. At MWCC, private giving allows the college visionary leadership to focus on creating outstanding centers of educational excellence.

Endowments and naming gift opportunities

An endowment is similar to a savings account in which the generated earnings from the principal provide a permanent source of funding for a particular purpose at the college such as a scholarship/grant, civic engagement initiatives, or student/program support. Since an endowment’s principal is never spent, the funds create financial stability, allowing MWCC to be less dependent on unpredictable sources of revenue, such as government supported grants. MWCC endowment funds are professionally invested and managed by external investment advisors.

Named endowment funds offer donors an opportunity to associate the name of a family, individual or company with a project or program of enduring worth. Gifts to endowment entail careful planning and are often made over a period of years. Endowment funds can become family traditions, with succeeding generations adding gifts to the principal established by the founding donor. There are several naming endowment opportunities, including student scholarships/professional development awards, program chairs, and civic engagement initiatives. Generally speaking, the minimum level to establish a named endowment is $10,000, depending upon the purpose of the endowment.

Equipment or supplies donations

If you donate equipment or supplies, referred to as a gift-in-kind, you will be recognized for the value of the gift. Documentation through a receipt, invoice, or other instrument must be submitted at the time of a gift-in-kind contribution.

MWCC Foundation, Inc’s accountability to donors and the college

The volunteer Board of Directors monitors all foundation activities. All gifts are used in strict accordance with the donor’s wishes and are deposited directly into an existing or newly created fund to benefit a purpose designated by the donor.

The details of the foundation’s expenditures that benefit the college have always been available to the public through the Report of the College. The foundation’s financial statements are audited annually by a national accounting firm, and college officials and state auditors receive copies of these audited statements.

Specific information about revenues, expenses and operating costs is available to the public though the foundation’s annual tax returns, Form 990, providing details of fund raising, management and other revenues and expenses. These forms are on file with the Secretary of the State.