Support
Time and Talent – We are a community that relies on the strength of its members. Being involved sets an example for students enhances personal relationships, and honors God by sharing our gifts. There are many ways to show support – praying, volunteering, coaching a sport, fundraising for athletics, fundraising for enhanced student experiences, working a lunchroom shift, or serving on School Board, just to name a few. Other ways to support Saint Matthew School that allow donors to utilize their time and talents:
- In-kind gift
- Shop to support at Kroger, Publix
- Scan receipts in the Box Tops for Education App
- Donations of a talent, skill, business service, etc
Treasure – There are many ways to give and many priorities for your financial gift. Ways to make financials gifts include:
- Online donations via credit card (see button above)
- Donate via Givebutter
- Mailing a check
- Transfer a gift of stock
- Direct transfer from a trust or retirement account
- Corporate gift matching
- Including Saint Matthew School in your estate planning/will
A Gift Every Year Makes a Difference Every Day.
The Saint Matthew School Annual Fund is an integral part of the school’s operating budget and provides support for the programs of the school. Tuition and parish subsidies do not provide the full financial resources required to provide an exceptional education for our students. Because the funds are unrestricted, they are available for current needs, giving the administration the flexibility to respond to challenges and opportunities throughout the year. In past years, funds have been used to expand the middle school math program to accommodate different learning styles, teachers have participated in professional development programs to enhance and broaden their skills, and middle school offerings have expanded to include Model UN, Drama/Forensics, Science Olympiad and Mathletes.
A robust Annual Fund provides that margin of excellence that distinguishes Saint Matthew from other schools. The current year’s goal is $125,000, but more importantly, to increase parent participation to 100% and join the Faculty, Staff and School Board who have participated at that level for the past six years.
So, are you ready to say #YEStoSMS and donate to the Annual Fund?
Alumni, parents and friends of Saint Matthew often seek ways to perpetuate their support for the school. Gifts made as part of your overall estate plan, which benefit you now and SMS later, are known as ‘Planned Gifts’ Planned giving allows you to provide future support for the areas and programs at Saint Matthew School that are of most interest to you and often allow you to make a larger gift than you might have thought possible.
Bequests
A bequest, or gift given through a will, is a simple and effective way to continue your contribution to SMS beyond your lifetime. You may make a gift to Saint Matthew School by designating SMS as a beneficiary in your will. Bequests permit donors to commit assets after their lifetimes while retaining the property during their lives. Bequests can allow for significantly larger gifts and can reduce estate taxes. A bequest can be made for a specified amount or as a percentage of the estate. Bequests can be unrestricted or used to establish operating or endowed funds to accomplish specific goals. Bequests of any size will help to secure the strength of the school for future generations.
A bequest can:
- endow one’s annual gift in perpetuity
- provide general endowment for SMS for future needs not yet imagined
- underwrite the critical needs of the school from resources you no longer need.
A bequest gift to Saint Matthew School is easy to make with an attorney’s help. Bequest provisions can be written to suit your exact inclination, whether that is to give the school:
- a particular percentage of your estate’s value,
- a specific dollar amount, or
- a specific item of real property.
Bequest alternatives
In addition to adding bequest language to your will, here are a few other simple ways for you to make a bequest to SMS.
- Make SMS a designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
- Make SMS a designated beneficiary of an IRA or other retirement plan.
- Make SMS a designated beneficiary of savings bonds.
- Instruct your bank to “pay on death” to SMS some or all of a specific bank account.
- Instruct your brokerage firm to “transfer on death” to SMS some or all of a specific brokerage or other financial account.
Your attorney can also draft a contingent bequest that takes effect only in the right circumstances.
An undesignated bequest gives SMS the flexibility to use the gift where it is most needed.
Please let us know if you have included SMS in your estate plans. We would welcome the opportunity to thank you for your thoughtful gift and to confirm that we can carry out your wishes.
Although you may hesitate to tell the school about its place in your estate plans, it is important to do so, especially if you intend to designate your bequest for a particular purpose. Notifying the school will help to ensure that your gift is used as you intend and confirms that the gift’s designation makes the maximum contribution to the school’s mission to set the pace of excellence in educating our students. The school pledges to keep all such information secure and confidential and to be good stewards of your gifts.
Donors who make documented planned gifts to Saint Matthew School are recognized as members of the The Saint Matthew School Legacy Society. To qualify as a charter member of the SMS Legacy Society, one simply must notify the school that it has been named as a beneficiary within the individual’s will, retirement or life insurance plan, charitable trust or annuity, or any means that conveys future real or personal property rights to the School. You may inform the school by contacting by completing our online form. Click here to access the form.
Want to learn more about including Saint Matthew School in your estate planning? Use the form above or contact Lori Bellante at 615-550-5106 or via email at LBellante@stmatthewtn.org
Our Kroger and Publix grocery programs directly benefit the SMS Haiti fund. These are incredible opportunities for the school to make money with very little effort on our part. It takes just a few minutes to sign up for each program and that’s it! You can shop as you normally would with the added benefit of earning money for our school.
When you pay with the Publix app or enter your phone number at checkout, a portion of each eligible transaction is allocated to the Publix Partners school associated with your Club Publix account. For every $37,500 in eligible purchases, your school earns $250. Anything less than $250 rolls over to the next quarter. Publix Partners schools receive checks up to four times per year based on earnings they accumulate from your purchases.
Anyone can sign up on behalf of our school so feel free to help grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends sign up as well. Please contact Jodie at jodiefelix@hotmail.com with any questions.
