We believe that all gifts are important.  As you review our giving opportunities, be reminded of the privilege and responsibility we have to be good stewards. When you support AHCS, you demonstrate your commitment to Kingdom Education that is helping our students develop the vision, ability, character, and courage to make the world a better place.

AHCS parents, grandparents, friends, and alumni can find a number of opportunities to consider when making a gift. To learn more about how you can support Auburn Hills Christian School, contact the office at (248)373-3399.

Areas You Can Contribute to

AHCS Fund
Auburn Hills Christian School’s annual AHCS Fund strengthens its programs and departments through funding for operations and special program support. This money helps bridge the gap between the cost of educating students and tuitions and fees.

Through the AHCS Fund, parents, alumni, grandparents, and friends of AHCS are asked to make regular, yearly gifts at whatever level is appropriate for each individual donor. All donations are tax-deductible. Gifts to the AHCS Fund may be eligible for a match from employers.

Capital Projects and Facilities
Donors may designate gifts toward the planning and development of facilities, including construction of new buildings, utilities, site work, or renovation projects. Auburn Hills Christian School gladly welcomes gifts for capital purposes.

Scholarships
One priority of Auburn Hills Christian School is to address the needs of our top graduating students. Parents, grandparents, alumni, and friends of AHCS can help provide scholarships to our top graduating students with a gift to this area. For information on establishing a named scholarship, please contact the office at (248)373-3399.

Endowments
Endowments are the gifts that keep on giving. The funds are invested by Auburn Hills Christian School, and the interest generated by that investment is used for the purpose you wish to support — financial aid, merit awards for students, supplemental support for programs, facilities, and more. A portion of the income is re-invested each year, enabling the endowment to continue to grow and provide a predictable, stable stream of income over time.

In-Kind Gifts
In certain circumstances, Auburn Hills Christian School accepts donations of equipment, materials, and supplies that AHCS can use. For information on making an in-kind gift, please contact the office at (248)373-3399.

Ways to Give

Regardless of how donors have chosen to participate, their gifts to Auburn Hills Christian School make an investment in human potential and enhance opportunities for all of us as well as future generations through their support of learning.

The following giving vehicles of giving provide donors the flexibility they seek in making philanthropic decisions. You may request more specific information from the office at (248)373-3399.

Outright Gifts

Outright gifts remain a valuable and viable source of donations for Auburn Hills Christian School and its programs. Regardless of size, an outright gift is an effective way of assisting AHCS to fund areas the donor considers important.

Auburn Hills Christian School appreciates all levels of support for current operations, endowment, and capital purposes, and gladly accepts gifts of cash, securities, and certain types of property.

A gift of cash is the simplest form of giving, whether a donor wishes to support the Annual Fund, create a scholarship or endowment, benefit an academic program, or designate monies to a capital campaign.

Cash gifts provide the most immediate benefits for the donor and AHCS.

An alternative to cash is a gift of appreciated securities, which can offer income tax deduction benefits as well as savings on capital gains.

Through corporate matching, charitable contributions can often be doubled or even tripled. The process is as simple as completing a standard matching gift form from your employer and mailing it with a gift to AHCS.

Learn whether your employer has a matching gifts program. You may also contact your Human Resources Department directly.

Trends in philanthropy show that more and more contributors are opting for planned giving donations. Through planned gifts, a donor arranges a gift to AHCS for realized benefit in the future.

A contributor to AHCS may find that planned giving offers attractive benefits. It can increase current income for the donor or others, reduce the donor's income tax and avoid capital gains tax and pass assets to family at a reduced tax cost, while offering a significant donation to AHCS.

Gifts associated with a will and the final distribution of an estate offer donors and AHCS a great deal of potential. A bequest, or gift by will, is an attractive option when a donor is currently unable to make an outright gift, but wishes to make a contribution to AHCS in a meaningful way.

A specific bequest will involve donating a set amount or percentage of assets from an estate to AHCS. Residual bequests are left to AHCS after all debts, expenses, and taxes have been paid from an estate.

A trust is a legal agreement that specifies how the assets placed under the trust will be managed. A living trust can be established to take effect during a donor's lifetime.

Benefits include possible savings in estate taxes if a charity is the beneficiary of the trust remainder. Also, the terms of the trust can be changed at any time.

A qualified retirement plan remains one of the most ideal ways to accumulate wealth and a secure future. Yet, this may be an ineffective way of transferring wealth or preserving assets after a lifetime. A large portion of assets from a qualified retirement plan, such as profit sharing, a 401(k), a 403(b), or an IRA, can be exposed to taxation of up to 75 percent.

Income and estate taxes can be reduced through a charitable gift of retirement plan assets. A donor can choose the most ideal type of planned giving arrangement for transferring the balance on an account to Auburn Hills Christian School. Some of the possibilities include naming Auburn Hills Christian School as the beneficiary of retirement assets through the plan administrator. A benefactor also can transfer retirement assets at death to a tax-exempt deferred giving plan, such as a charitable remainder unitrust or a charitable remainder annuity trust.

The procedure for donating a life insurance policy is simple and is a popular way to give with little expenditure. Whole life insurance can be offered by naming Auburn Hills Christian School as the irrevocable owner and beneficiary.

Charitable contributions from the donor to AHCS in the amount of any premiums may be required with gifts of life insurance policies.

Donors often choose the charitable remainder trust as a way to achieve a variety of financial goals while making a significant gift to AHCS. (A trust is a legal agreement that specifies how the assets placed under the trust will be managed.)

Through a charitable remainder trust, a donor can contribute assets to the trust and receive a life income. The remaining principal will go to the charity, specifically Auburn Hills Christian School.

There are two types of charitable remainder trusts — the unitrust and the annuity trust. Under a unitrust, annual income to the donor is paid as a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the assets. Under the annuity trust, the donor receives annual income as a fixed payment equaling based on a certain percentage of the value of the asset at the time the deferred-giving agreement is signed.

The advantages of establishing a charitable remainder trust include an income stream for life, avoidance of taxes on capital gains for appreciated securities or real estate, and reduction of estate taxes, a charitable contribution income tax deduction based on life expectancy.

The exact reverse of a charitable remainder trust is a charitable lead trust. This type of deferred gift offers a charity, specifically Auburn Hills Christian School, an income for a period of time after which individual beneficiaries receive the remainder of the trust.

Creating a charitable lead trust will allow a donor to share surplus income with AHCS, and then pass the principal to family at greatly reduced gift and estate taxes. The donor may also opt to retain the asset after the term of the income stream is completed.