Joliet Catholic Academy offers 2022 year-end giving tips

Year-end charitable giving can have a positive impact on your tax situation, your overall estate plan, and ultimately our community by supporting students at Joliet Catholic Academy. If you are considering a gift to support our current Angels and Hilltoppers, here are some tips from the JCA Development office:

• Support JCA’s Annual Appeal

The Annual Appeal is the foundation of fundraising to maintain academic achievement within our school. The school community of parents, alumni, faculty/staff, and friends contribute financially to help bridge the gap between the cost to educate a student and the cost of tuition. JCA’s tuition covers only 86% of the actual cost of educating a student. As a faith-based school our mission is to limit tuition increases for all families. Donors can designate to specific funds such as tuition assistance, the school’s greatest need, or their specific interest. Make sure checks are dated and postmarked no later than December 31, 2022. JCA also offers the Annual Appeal via an easy to navigate and secure online giving website: https://www.jca-online.org/annual-appeal/

• Invest in a JCA Student through Illinois’ Tax Credit Scholarship Program: Donate before December 31, 2022 for your contributions to count towards the 2022 tax year

At Joliet Catholic Academy, we believe like you do, that ALL kids should have access to their best-fit school, regardless of family income or zip code. The Invest in Kids Act Scholarship Program is the exact policy and program that can expand quality educational options for K-12 students in Will County. We need your support now – your voices, your stories, and your investment in current JCA students, so that future generations of Angels and Hilltoppers can continue to make an impact in Will County and all over the globe.

Currently, 25 students at JCA are receiving Invest in Kids Act scholarships through Empower Illinois, our Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). An additional 125 students are eligible to receive scholarships, totaling over $1.5 million for the 2021-2022 school year. Already this year, nearly $5 million has been raised for Diocese of Joliet students through the Invest in Kids Act.

• Planned Giving – JCA’s Legacy Circle; Giving from Assets, not Income

The vast majority of wealth for most people is in their asset base - homes, retirement accounts, non-retirement securities portfolios, life insurance, etc. - as opposed to their income stream. Giving from one’s non-cash asset base generally has much greater tax advantages than donating cash. The simplest way to donate from your asset base is through a bequest in your will or trust. Gifting long-term appreciated stock is a great, tax-efficient way to give today. There are even ways to create an income stream for life, receive a tax break today, and make a major gift to Joliet Catholic Academy. Bequests, charitable trusts, life insurance, retirement assets, and the like – can play an enormous role in establishing or growing scholarship funds and/or JCA’s endowment. For many benefactors it is easier to leave $10,000 or $25,000 or $100,000 in a bequest gift than to make an outright gift, for example. Planned gifts can significantly boost the principal amount of scholarship funds over time. Documented planned gift intentions to JCA are recognized by the benefactor’s inclusion in JCA’s Legacy Circle, which includes over 50 alumni and friends who have left a piece of their legacy to JCA.

I ask you to join JCA as a donor. Ensure that this legacy of excellence in education provided by the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate in our community since 1869, the Carmelites since 1933, and together as Joliet Catholic Academy since 1990 continues on. This is a BIG, BOLD MISSION rooted in a simple belief that every child should have access to high quality educational options.

Please contact the JCA Office of Institutional Advancement at rquigley@jca-online.org or (815) 741-0563 for more information about the benefits of supporting JCA.

Continued Blessings,

Ryan Quigley ‘03 Director of Institutional Advancement