WEDU  ENDOWMENT 

The Berkman Family Challenge $1.5 Million

Community Foundation of Tampa Bay Challenge $50,000

The Joy McCann Foundation Challenge $500,000 Complete!

Learn More About WEDU’s Endowment

Perhaps the single most important long-term goal of WEDU is to create a permanent financial base – a strong Endowment Fund – to preserve and sustain the educational programs and services for which we are so well known. To this end, WEDU is actively seeking named endowment gifts. You can be part of building our $10,000,000 endowment by 2010! As our endowment grows, it provides stable funding to really make your program dreams come alive!

Endowed support will allow us to develop even more innovative local programs, and keep WEDU strong and creative. These funds are invested strategically to preserve their principal value with earnings generated each year to support WEDU program development and production.

WEDU staff will work with you and your advisors to establish an endowment fund that accomplishes your goals for your charitable giving. The best thing is that your endowed gift will live on as a permanent gift to your community and to WEDU. In addition, if you arrange an endowed gift TODAY it can be matched through a challenge grant from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

Your Endowment Gift Over Time

   Calculations based on 8% growth and 5% payout.

Endowment Fund Restricted Purpose

WEDU offers a variety of Endowed Funds to fit your area of interest within WEDU’s mission of programming and outreach excellence. Named Endowed Funds start at $50,000. For more information on these opportunities, contact Susanna Grady, Vice President of Development at (813) 254-9338 ext.2205 or sgrady@wedu.org

• Children’s Programming and Outreach

• Arts Culture and Entertainment

• Health and Science

• Local Programming

• General Programming

What Your Gift Could Provide

Crafting Your Legacy

Philanthropy offers a rich resource for sharing your values and life’s work with others. Giving through endowments allows your gift to continue to grow and nurture others in perpetuity.

As you consider your legacy, there are a variety of tools you may use to help you craft your legacy both in terms of tangible goods as well as your personal values.

WEDU’s endowments allow you to choose the area you feel most strongly about supporting, the institution you wish to manage your gift including one of our Community Foundation partners, and the recognition that will support your goals in giving.

Why I Give

Donor Benefits and Recognition

Donor Levels

Gifts of all sizes are deeply appreciated and make a difference at WEDU. General unrestricted endowment gifts are invested in WEDU’s General Endowment Fund protecting and preserving WEDU’s programs for future generations. Named Endowed Gifts start at $50,000 and allow the donor to restrict their gift to an area of interest and receive recognition in perpetuity.

Named Endowed Gifts

With a named endowed gift, you advance the station’s mission of education, entertainment and enrichment well into the future. Depending on the level of support and desired area of support, donors may be recognized on the air, on commemorative plaques, in WEDU’s publications and on its web site. Here are some examples.

Ways to Give

There are many ways to give to WEDU, and in addition to supporting a treasured community asset, your gift may afford you significant tax benefits. For further information on planned gifts, visit WEDU’s Planned Giving page. For further information on WEDU Endowed Funds and opportunities for “Named” Endowed Gifts, contact, Susanna Grady, Vice President of Development at (813) 254-9338 ext.2205 or sgrady@wedu.org

Gifts of Cash

WEDU will gratefully accept gifts of cash and you will be entitled to an income tax deduction for the year in which the gift is made. WEDU accepts credit cards as well: American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. Pledges may be made over a 3 year period.

Gifts of Securities

You may give readily marketable, publicly traded securities to WEDU. When you give securities worth more than you paid for them, you may benefit two ways. First, you pay no capital gains tax on the amount of the increase in value and secondly, your income tax deduction is equal to the value of the security at the time of the gift.

Remainder Gifts

Using Charitable Remainder Trusts, you may make a gift of property to WEDU yet retain the right to receive income of at least 5% of the value of that property each year for a term of years, your life, the joint life of your spouse, etc.

Income Interest Gifts

Through a Charitable Lead Trust you may give property to a trust which pays income to WEDU for a term of years, i.e., a donor’s life. You or the person you name gets the property back at the end of that time, even if it has appreciated in value. Income, gift, and estate tax benefits are available.

Real Estate Gifts

WEDU may accept gifts of real estate. If you donate your residence, you may reserve the right to occupy it for the rest of your life or for the joint life of you and your spouse.

Gifts of Life Insurance

You may transfer ownership of an existing life insurance policy to WEDU and deduct its value, or you can purchase a new policy making WEDU the owner and beneficiary. In both cases, you can obtain an income tax deduction for the annual policy premium.

Bequests

You may provide gifts to WEDU under your Will or Trust. These gifts can be outright or of an income or remainder interest as described above.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an endowment?

In everyday language, an endowment is similar to a savings account. It is a special savings account where you never withdraw the money you have deposited. Instead, you wait for the bank to give you the interest earned on your account; you spend some of it and re-deposit some of it back into the account so that your balance can keep up with inflation. By doing this, you benefit from what Albert Einstein referred to as “the miracle of compound interest,” where your interest earns interest. In this way your gift will last forever, working for generations to come. You will truly leave a mark that time will not erase.

Why doesn’t WEDU already have a large endowment?

In the past, individual donors have established a small endowment fund for WEDU. Other priorities, such as paying for the digital transition, have meant that this small amount was never built upon and has not reached its full potential. Our 50th anniversary has given us an ideal opportunity to think how we could make the next 50 years more secure for WEDU. Additionally, to celebrate our anniversary, the Berkman Family has given us a generous challenge gift of $1.5 million with the sole objective of inspiring others to also give for this special cause. Together we can ensure WEDU’s presence in our community in the 21st century.

Why does WEDU need an endowment?

Having an endowment will make a huge difference to WEDU as it will provide a steady income, giving us more financial security than we currently enjoy. Please remember, when you give to the endowment, consider this as an extra gift, over and above your regular donation. As we are working towards building our endowment/savings account, we need to pay our day-to-day bills, so your regular donations are still very important to us.