Each year, VSS alumni, parents, and friends contribute gifts to sustain and enhance the School's mission. These gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and represent both current and deferred giving. Some of the most typical gifts are described below. For more information on the most appropriate way for you to invest in the Vincent Smith School, please consult with your financial advisor.
Cash
The most frequent way that individuals invest in the Vincent Smith School is by making a current gift of cash. Please make checks for this purpose payable to Vincent Smith School.
Matching Gifts
Hundreds of employers will match their employees' charitable contributions, thus enabling many individuals to double the value of their gift. Check with your employer's Human Resource Department to determine the availability of such a program. If so, simply enclose your employer's matching gift form along with your gift.
Securities
Stocks or other investments that have grown in value can become a substantial gift made at a low net cost to you. A gift of appreciated stock generally offers a two-fold tax saving. First you avoid paying any capital gains tax on the increase in value of the stock. Second, you receive an income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock at the time of the gift. In order to do this, your stock generally must have been held long-term (more than one year).
Bequests
By including the Vincent Smith School in your estate plans, you play a vital role in the School's long-term financial stability. Estate gifts may be an effective way to make a gift that may not otherwise be possible during your lifetime, and they often represent a fitting capstone to a lifetime of generosity and commitment. Bequests may be for a percentage of your estate, outright (designating a specific dollar amount, certain securities, or other real property), contingent (taking effect only if the primary beneficiary indicated in your will pre-deceases you), or in the form of a testamentary trust (in which the principal transfers to the School upon the death of a lifetime beneficiary of the trust).
Life Income Gifts
You may hold certain assets that would make a substantial gift, but they are serving a purpose right now. Transferring these assets to a charitable gift annuity or to a charitable remainder trust may allow you or another beneficiary to receive an income for life, sometimes at a higher rate of return than you have been receiving. At the end of a specified timeframe (such as the donor's or beneficiary's lifetime), the remainder of the assets would come to the Vincent Smith School.
Life Insurance
It is possible to name the Vincent Smith School as beneficiary of all or a percentage of a life insurance policy. Perhaps you have a policy that has served its original purpose - to protect children now grown or a loved one now deceased. To receive a deduction, designate us as both the owner and beneficiary of the life insurance policy. If the policy has a cash value, you can take a deduction approximately equal to the cash value at the time of the gift. Annual premiums are tax deductible each year.
Real Estate
Giving homes, land, farms, or commercial properties may offer you a variety of options concerning your tax situation. If you are interested in making such gifts, please contact the Development Office.
Gifts in Memory and in Honor of Others
Making a gift in memory of or in honor of a special person is a wonderful way to recognize the important role that others have played in our lives. When making such a gift, please provide the name of the person being remembered, and please also let us know if an acknowledgment card should be sent to a specific person.
To make a gift, secure online forms are provided for your convenience. If you would like to discuss your gift intentions with a VSS staff member, please call the VSS Development Office at (516) 365-4900 or email .
Donation Form PDF
Your investment in The Vincent Smith School allows us to continue our mission to provide a small, supportive educational setting for reluctant learners and students with special education needs where they can achieve academic success and learn valuable life skills in order to become participating members of society. Making a gift to VSS strengthens the School for current and future students.
The following form may be submitted electronically or printed out and sent by mail to:
Development Office
Vincent Smith School
322 Port Washington Blvd.
Port Washington, NY 11050
All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you have any questions, please contact Debra Galinsky (516) 365-4900 or email
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“The way we were treated and what we learned will always be a reminder of how much devotion Vincent Smith has for each and every student and because of this the school will always remain special to us for a lifetime. Doing a little something for the school to help perpetuate it seemed like a very natural thing to do. It is with the greatest of pleasure that we give back a little something monetarily to help offset what has been given to us.”
Arthur Geoffrion ’54 and
Gilbert Geoffrion ‘56 |
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