THE LEGACY CAMPAIGN
The vision for Camping & Education Foundation’s legacy campaign will focus on three areas: endowment growth, capital projects and the organization’s annual fund. The primary emphasis will be on expanding our endowment through planned giving. Restricted and unrestricted gifts to the endowment will be accepted, and we will encourage gifts to be largely unrestricted to give the organization the most flexibility as we plan for the future.
Last Updated: 11/22/24
endowment Gifts
Simply stated we are endeavoring to grow the Camping & Education’s endowment so we will be able to keep tuition within industry standards, offer competitive staff salaries, provide first class programming and scholarships to those in need, and maintain our physical infrastructure, all of which contributes to our annual operating expenses. These annual costs are currently supported, in part, through our annual fund. Expanding our endowment will allow us to significantly reduce our dependency on this annual fundraising effort.
Last Updated: 12/11/24
capital projects
Camp Kooch-i-ching campus
Would you have guessed there are over 70 structures on Deer Island? Camper cabins, staff cabins, docks, buildings for morning classes, the Trips Center, Welcome Center, lodge, pop shack, workshops, post office, and on and on. We repair what we can and replace what we must.
Ogichi Daa Kwe Campus
After 20 years in Franks Bay, Ogichi Daa Kwe’s first priority is to round out its campus with additional program areas to enrich the camper and staff experience. The second area is creating a place for its growing alumnae community as well as a place to engage family trip groups like a father/ daughter or mother/daughter experience. The third area is housing that is suitable for young families.
Wilderness Trips Program
Across our programs we need over 200 canoes, 500 life vests and paddles, and 150 tents! We do our best to take care of all of this equipment and repair what we can, but replacing equipment becomes inevitable. We’ve also been experimenting with new communications equipment to help keep our campers and staff safe.
Transportation
The Camping & Education Foundation spends about $100,000 a year on transportation. While fuel prices have remained relatively stable for the past five years, the cost to lease buses and vans has nearly doubled. Add in the complexity of finding vehicles that are suitable for towing trailers, and there is little doubt that investing in our own fleet makes economic sense.
Last Updated: 12/12/24
annual fund
As a non-profit enterprise, the Camping and Education Foundation strives to be competitive with camper tuitions; however, sustaining our excellence and operating from a remote location are challenging objectives. The Foundation’s annual fund ensures that the quality of our programs continues by providing the financial support, which funds staff salaries, scholarships, instructional programming, campsite improvements, maintenance, and so much more. Gifts of all sizes are required to help sustain this annual fund of approximately $900,000 per year over the course of the five-year campaign.
Today
Tuition and program fees cover 65% of our expenses. The draw from our endowment covers an additional 10%. The remaining 25% needed to meet our operating needs and fund major projects must be raised each year.
OUR FUTURE
A successful Legacy Campaign will increase our endowment, allowing a larger draw, which will reduce the need to raise significant funds on an annual basis.
Tim Heinle Legacy Circle
Tim Heinle, the beloved Kooch-i-ching director, lived by words, “Many hands make light work.” He inspired a generation of young men with his belief in the power of collective action—and the importance of giving back. The Tim Heinle Legacy Circle honors those who have included the Camping & Education Foundation in their estate plans, thereby demonstrating a commitment to the strong future of our programs.
To learn more about the Legacy Circle, please contact Hugh Haller at hugh@campingedu.org or (773) 294-6355.
HOW TO GIVE
Cash GIFTS
A cash donation is the easiest way to support the Camping & Education Foundation. Cash donations can be made by check or credit card. Checks should be made out to the Camping & Education Foundation and mailed to 3515 Michigan Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45208. Credit card donations can be made online, or by calling our office at (513) 772-7479.
Stock Gifts
The Camping & Education Foundation accepts gifts of appreciated stock and mutual fund shares. Such gifts may be tax-deductible, and do not incur capital gains. Click below to download our stock transfer instructions.
Matching Gifts
If you work for a company with a matching gift program, your employer may match your donation to the Camping & Education Foundation. To make a matching gift, simply obtain a matching gift form from your employer and complete it according to your employer’s guidelines.
Real Estate & Property
A gift of appreciated property can provide generous support for the Camping & Education Foundation and may generate significant tax savings for you. Almost any type of real property—personal residence, farm, vacation home, commercial building or undeveloped parcel of land—can constitute a gift.
Bequests
A charitable bequest is a simple and powerful way to support the Camping & Education Foundation. Bequests offer considerable flexibility, allowing you to tailor your gift so that you and your heirs can reap the greatest benefits. The provisions in your will depend on the type of gift you make, as well as your specific circumstances. Please consult your attorney when considering any legal matter.
An unrestricted bequest is one intended for the general and best use by the Camping & Education Foundation. Such a bequest might read:
“I give, devise and bequeath to the Camping & Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization located in Cincinnati, Ohio (“the Foundation”), the sum of $_______ in cash or in-kind as an unrestricted gift to be used for the general purposes of the Foundation.”
Retirement PlanS
Naming the Camping & Education Foundation as a beneficiary of your retirement plan is a tax-wise way to donate. Because retirement contributions are often made with before-tax dollars, those assets are taxable when withdrawn. If passed to heirs in an estate, retirement assets may be subject to estate and income taxes, which can diminish their value. Those same assets, however, can fund a charitable gift at a relatively low cost to your estate.
Life Insurance
Life insurance is a straightforward way to support the Camping & Education Foundation. The most common method—especially if you have a policy your family no longer needs—is to designate the Camping & Education Foundation as the owner of that policy. This option allows an immediate income tax deduction. Or you can simply name the Camping & Education Foundation as a beneficiary.
Charitable Remainder TrustS
Through a charitable remainder trust, you transfer assets of cash, securities or other property to a trust for the Camping & Education Foundation’s benefit. In return, you or another beneficiary receives an income for life or for a term of years. After that term ends, those assets become a charitable gift to the Camping & Education Foundation.
Charitable Gift AnnuitIES
A charitable gift annuity is a contract that you sign with the Camping & Education Foundation. You make your gift directly to the Camping & Education Foundation and we agree to pay you or your designated beneficiary a fixed income (based on a percentage of your gift) for the remainder of your or the beneficiary’s life.
Charitable Lead Trusts
A charitable lead trust is a valuable and often-overlooked way for individuals with sizable estates to support the Camping & Education Foundation. Established during life or through a will, lead trusts sometimes provide a larger inheritance to heirs than an outright bequest or taxable gift.