Types of Giving

Annual Giving/Operating Expenses

The Annual Fund provides operating expenses—opening the doors each day, conducting numerous academic programs, providing tuition assistance and housing to seminarians, maintaining technology for teaching, learning and administration, and maintaining the physical plant.  Simply put, the Annual Fund and its Bishop Fenwick Society enable Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology to meet daily operating needs.

Special Gifts

Special gifts provide support for the Seminary infrastructure to sustain its long-term health and academic vitality, improve facilities and provide for special programs.  These investments in bricks and mortar projects or other needs beyond normal operating expenses are fundamental for the long-term sustainability of the Seminary as a premiere center for theological studies.

Special gifts, which are usually in addition to a donor’s gift to support operating expenses, typically are made from a donor’s assets.  Gifts of a certain magnitude may be sued for naming opportunities—for example, a classroom or a scholarship fund (burse) may be named for the donor or in honor of another person of the donor’s choosing.

Special projects include:

  • Buildings and campus improvements
  • Technology
  • Endowed funds to support faculty, students, programs and projects

Endowment Opportunities/Priorities

An endowment agreement between the donor and the Seminary permanently defines the purpose of the fund.  Endowment assets are invested, and each year, a portion of the value of the fund is paid out to support the fund’s purpose, and any earnings in excess of this distribution are used to build the fund’s market value.  In this way, an endowment fund can grow and provide support for its designated purpose in perpetuity.

Income from unrestricted endowment is a permanent and predictable source of revenue that funds and supports every dimension of the Seminary.  As the unrestricted endowment grows, we can rely more on endowment income, relieving our dependence upon tuition revenue and providing the flexibility to shift those dollars to more pressing needs like financial aid, faculty support, information technology and deferred maintenance.

Gifts to unrestricted endowment help support and sustain the excellence of academic and programs at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology.

Restricted Endowment

A restricted endowment fund is limited to a specific purpose or cause.  In an ever-changing world, restricted funds provide a stream of permanent income to safeguard the programs and organizations that matter most to you.

Scholarships (Burses)

  • $25,000 will establish a scholarship endowment, also known as a burse.  A portion of the income from the fund each year will help offset the cost to educate our students, and in the case of our seminarians, also provide room and board.  To fully fund the cost of one year of seminary requires a burse of $700,000.

Endowed Positions

  • Endowed chairs and professors recognize exceptional faculty and academic leaders. The extra funds generated by such an endowment allow the Seminary to attract and retain faculty members of great prestige. Such faculty provide an enhanced experience for their students and a richer collaborative environment for all faculty.
  • $1,500,000 will establish an endowed chair to support a full professor.
  • $2,00,000–3,000,000 will establish an endowed chair to support a faculty member holding the distinguished designation of chair of an academic studies/department or dean of an academic division/institution.

Legacy Gifts

What are your ultimate philanthropic goals?  What legacy do you want to leave?  We invite you to prayerfully consider supporting Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology through a bequest designation or another estate gift.  Your gift allows you to make a statement of support during your lifetime which will benefit countless generations to come.

There is no minimum gift amount required from your estate, only a firm belief in the mission of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology.  Your charitable gift also may benefit you and your family by providing an income tax deduction, helping you to avoid capital gains, reducing your estate taxes or providing a steady stream of annual income.

Popular Legacy Gifts

  • Include the Seminary in your will for a specific amount or percentage of your estate
  • Create a Charitable Gift Annuity or Charitable Remainder Trust
  • Make a gift using Retirement Assets, a Charitable IRA Rollover or Life Insurance

For sample language to use for designating Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology in your will, click here.