Your gifts of time, leadership, and financial support provide invaluable opportunities to the College of Arts + Architecture. Although UNC Charlotte is a state-supported institution, state funding does not cover the College of Arts + Architecture's total budget. The difference is generated by investment income (endowments), student fees, and private gifts from individuals and corporations. This funding is critical as we strive to provide expanded arts and architecture degree programs and community and campus partnerships, while attracting and retaining the brightest and best arts and architecture students and faculty. Please contact Mark Colone, Major Gifts Officer, for more information.
Annual Giving
Each year, UNC Charlotte contacts College of Arts + Architecture alumni through our telefundraising campaign. Gifts made during this campaign provide vital operating support for priority initiatives within the College. By investing in the College of Arts + Architecture, as an alumnus you demonstrate your support of the College and its mission. Your annual gifts support such things as: student scholarships; travel for competitions and course enhancement; guest lecturers and guest artists; and program support.
Major Gifts
Major gifts serve two primary purposes at the College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte: they create long-term financial stability for the college, and they provide opportunities to merge donors' interests with the college's needs and initiatives. Donors who support the college through major gifts may designate their support toward a specific purpose such as a scholarship or program that matches their personal interests with the college's initiatives. Major gifts also provide a means for recognition that may either honor or memorialize a special person of the donor's choosing.
Areas of support for major gifts may support scholarships, faculty development or research, international studies, or guest artist or lecture series. Major gifts fall into the following categories:
Endowment Gifts
An endowment gift is an enduring legacy investment that supports the future efforts of the college and is a gift that lives in perpetuity. Endowment gifts are invested and managed by the UNC Charlotte Foundation. At UNC Charlotte a minimum of $25,000 is required to fund an endowment and may be paid through a multi-year pledge. No distribution will be made until the fund is fully endowed and has achieved a 12-month earning cycle. In accordance with UNC Charlotte Foundation's spending regulations, only income from the gift's principal may be expended. Currently that spending rate is 4.5% with the remainder of the earnings being reinvested into the principal of the fund to help build the corpus. By doing so, this will provide for future generations at UNC Charlotte.
Restricted Current Use Gifts
Gifts may be designated for any purpose that contributes to the college's mission and initiatives. Such designations may be for a named scholarship, faculty research, or fellowships. Unlike endowed gifts, restricted current use funds are not invested and are depleted over a specific period of time. The most common type of current use gift is an annual scholarship. Named annual scholarships may be established with a minimum annual gift of $1,000 and a three-year commitment to ensure continuity within the program it supports.
Unrestricted Gifts
Some of the most useful and flexible gifts to the college are those that are unrestricted. Unrestricted gifts are used to support those opportunities that present themselves throughout the year and that benefit the entire college, including student travel, general scholarship funds, teaching needs, and studio/lab upgrades.
Estate and Planned Giving
Many UNC Charlotte alumni and friends choose to support the university's work through planned gifts, which include gifts of marketable securities such as stocks and bonds; estate gifts through a bequest in a will or through a trust; charitable gift annuities or charitable remainder trusts that provide a lifetime income stream to the donor; and other gifts of real estate or tax-deferred retirement assets.
Planned gifts provide financial flexibility and various tax benefits. Planned gifts also provide an effective means of financial stewardship, redirecting money to needs that would otherwise become lost to estate taxes, capital gains, or income tax. Because a planned gift requires careful consideration of a donor's personal, financial and charitable goals and desires, we encourage you to consult with your financial, tax or legal advisor.
By making your planned gift to UNC Charlotte, and in honor of the founder of UNC Charlotte, you'll become a member of the prestigious Bonnie Cone Society. Membership in this society recognizes those individuals who have included the university in their long-term financial and estate planning. The following are various planned giving options:
- Bequests from Wills
- Charitable Gift Annuities
- Life Insurance & Annuity Contracts
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
- Qualified Retirement Plans
- Retained Life Estates
For your convenience, in addition to the information provided above, UNC Charlotte's planned giving staff is please to offer additional information or assistance. Please contact Leslie Antionel, Major Gifts Officer, for assistance. Phone: 704.687.7223 | Cell: 214.783.6906
Matching Gift Programs
Does your employer (or your spouse's employer) have a matching gift program? Corporate matching gifts can double, or even triple, the value of your donation. They do not however, pay down your pledge or your pledge balance. To help increase your gift's impact, please be sure to check with your human resources department to see if your company matches gifts of its employees