About Hawken

Why We Give

Students with limitless potential deserve a school with unlimited opportunities. Our gifts help remove financial barriers, retain outstanding faculty, and provide exceptional learning spaces. The unimaginable becomes possible.

Why should I plan a long-term gift to Hawken School?
  • You believe in the mission of Hawken School to prepare students for the 21st century. 
  • You are grateful for the Hawken education you, your children, and/or grandchildren received.
  • You want to provide a legacy gift that can support future generations of students and faculty
  • You want to join the 190 other members of the Sheffield Society, Hawken’s planned giving recognition society.
What are the benefits of making a gift plan?
  • It may allow you to make a gift greater than you would during your lifetime.
  • It allows you to direct your gift the way you want it…to those charities that have made the greatest impact on you and your family.
  • It can provide current tax benefits and tax-efficient charitable strategies.
Three key changes to charitable giving in 2023 and beyond
In late 2022, the "omnibus spending bill” was signed into law with three key changes impacting charitable giving:
  • The new law increases the age retirees must begin taking taxable withdrawals to 73 in 2023 and 75 by 2033, up from the current 72. The bill does not, however, increase the age an IRA owner can take a qualified charitable distribution or QCD. That age remains at 70 ½ years.
  • The new law adjusts for inflation the $100,000 annual limitation on direct gifts to qualified charities from an IRA.
    The new law also allows for a distribution from an IRA to fund a life-income gift.
  • This one-time election for a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA could be made to fund a charitable gift annuity (CGA), which provides guaranteed income for life.
 

Plan Your Gift

 

Most Common Forms of Planned Gifts

Gift Planning Options: The Basics

There are many options available to make a planned- or legacy- gift to Hawken. Your financial or tax advisor can guide you on what’s best for you. We list below a few of the most common options used by a majority of legacy donors to the School:

Bequests:
One of the easiest ways for you to support Hawken School's mission is to leave us a bequest in your will, living trust, or with a codicil. One significant benefit of making a gift by bequest is that it allows you to continue to use the property you ultimately leave to charity during your life.

There are several ways you can make a bequest to Hawken School.

Specific Bequest: A specific bequest involves making a gift of a specific asset such as real estate, a car, other property or a gift for a specific dollar amount. For example, you may wish to leave your home or $10,000 to Hawken School.

Percentage Bequest: Another kind of specific bequest involves leaving a specific percentage of your overall estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 10% of your estate to Hawken School.

Residual Bequest: A residual bequest is made from the balance of an estate after the will or trust has given away each of the specific bequests. A common residual bequest involves leaving a percentage of the residue of the estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 30% of the residue of your estate to Hawken School.

Contingent Bequest: A contingent bequest is made to charity only if the purpose of the primary bequest cannot be met. For example, you could leave specific property, such as a vacation home, to a relative, but the bequest language could provide that if the relative is not alive at the time of your death, the vacation home will go to Hawken School.

Gifts of Retirement Assets
Donating part or all of your unused retirement assets, such as your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension, or other tax-deferred plan, is an excellent way to make a gift to Hawken School.

If you are like many people, you probably will not use all of your retirement assets during your lifetime. You can make a gift of your unused retirement assets to help further our mission. To make a gift of retirement assets, contact your investment advisor and let them know what you’d like to do.

Gifts of Whole Life Insurance Policy
A gift of your life insurance policy is an excellent way to make a gift to Hawken School. If you have a life insurance policy that has outlasted its original purpose, consider making a gift of your insurance policy to Hawken School. To make a gift of your life insurance policy, contact your insurance agent to obtain the documentation needed.

Charitable Gift Annuity
A charitable gift annuity is a great way you can make a gift to Hawken and benefit yourself for the remainder of your life. You transfer your cash or property to Hawken School in return for a promise to make fixed payments to you for life at a rate based on your age. With the impact of inflation increasing interest rates the past 18 months, a charitable gift annuity is more attractive now than at any time in the past number of years.

  • Quote 1

    I included Hawken in my estate plan because three of my daughters graduated from Hawken, and I wanted to help secure the future of the school that played such an important role in shaping their intellect and character — and because my service as a trustee and my family’s sponsorship of the Writing Center were so rewarding and consequential.

    P. Jeffrey Lucier
    (parent of Kathryn ’85, Madalyn ’05 and Caitlin ’06).

  • Quote 2

    I am very grateful for the education that I received at Hawken School and for the many friendships that it fostered. Hawken has come a long way since my being a part of the second graduating class and it is important that the quality of education, traditions and social interactions that are generated by its existence continue for future generations.

    I believe that Hawken is a confidence and character-building school and that the positive saying we all know so well, “That the better self may prevail”, was partially responsible for the success and good fortune in my life. I am also a believer that one should pay it forward when able to do so and it is for these reasons that I have recognized Hawken School in my estate plans.

    John M. Reed ‘65

  • Quote 3

    When I was a freshman at Chagrin Falls High School, my recently-divorced mother, who delivered the Cleveland Plain Dealer to help support us, confronted me one day with the declaration, "You need to go to Hawken." Given our finances, I wasn't sure how we could do it. Not even a scholarship was enough. Yet, in addition to a scholarship, Hawken hired me to paint the furnace room that first summer (with Bob Riser, Class of 1972), clean the windows at the Lower School one spring break (with Vic Schmelzer, Class of 1974) and, somehow, I made it. After graduation, I've taken Hawken with me throughout my life, sometimes without knowing it. From building vision statements to leading non-profit environmental organizations, Hawken's commitment to character and Fair Play has always resonated with me.

    Hawken invested in me when it felt like no one would. For the last 30 years, I've sought ways to repay it for its generosity and compassion. Beyond simply giving to the annual fund, I wanted to provide an enduring gift, particularly if it would help others like me who simply wanted the opportunity to excel. My centennial campaign gift recognized the financial aid office. Yet contributing to the endowment with a bequest from my estate seemed like the ideal way to contribute to the organization's long-term financial health long after I'm gone.

    So, we inserted Hawken as the beneficiary of a mid-six figure life insurance policy that we already owned. It pays out when both my wife and I pass so it doesn't affect our current finances. It was a very simple yet appropriate way to culminate my recognition of a school that has meant so much to me.

    Carl E. Smith ‘74

  • Quote 4

    Reflecting on my years at Hawken, I continue to appreciate my education and its influence in my life. I entered Hawken School in the fourth grade – two years prior to my mother Betty’s commencing her tenure as the librarian at the Lyndhurst campus – and graduated in 1970. My fondest memories include those of master teachers Herb Furst, Lorimer Robey, Hamilton Eames, and Chilton Thomson. They truly were dedicated to their students’ development of character and intellect. A number of years ago, I returned to Hawken to celebrate the School’s centennial and my 45th reunion. I reminisced and reconnected with many friends and former faculty members – and my admiration for Hawken was strengthened. As the School enters its second century, Head of School D. Scott Looney is setting the bar higher for secondary education across the country. I take great pride in his leadership, the future of Hawken School, and the next generation of students. It is an honor to acknowledge the value of a Hawken School education as a member of the Sheffield Society. 

    George H. Watkins, Jr. ’70

  • Quote 5

    Barbara and I will be forever grateful for the whole child education our four sons received at Hawken and the lifelong relationships they still enjoy although they're many years beyond graduation. The mentoring and confidence building education they received from dedicated Hawken teachers has clearly had an enduring positive effect on their future successes.
     
    That said, we also made a provision for Hawken in our estate plan, because we're tremendously impressed with Hawken's ongoing role as a PreK-12 education innovator. From intensives to entrepreneurship to mastery learning to health and fitness to its thoughtful approaches to Fair Play and DEIJ work, Hawken continues to expand the way that schools can better support the individuality and unique needs of every child. 

    We want to continue to support Hawken to benefit its future students and families, but also to benefit the students and families of other schools across the country that are emulating Hawken's innovations and best practices.

    Barbara and Alan Rosskamm

Next Steps

  1. Seek the advice of your financial or legal advisor.
  2. Contact Jeffrey M. Biggar ’68 at 440.423.2084 or email biggar@hawken.edu
  3. To include Hawken in your plans, use our legal name and federal tax ID:
Legal Name:
Hawken School
Federal Tax ID Number:
34-0714427
Address:
Advancement Office
PO Box 8002
Gates Mills, OH 44040

Would You Like More Information?

To learn more about planned giving, please contact Jeffrey M. Biggar ‘68, Co-Director of Advancement, at 440.423.2084 or biggar@hawken.edu.
 
For specific advice about the effect of any planning concept on your tax or financial situation or with your estate, please consult a qualified professional advisor.

Hawken School, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located at PO Box 8002, Gates Mills, OH, 44040. Federal Tax ID #34-0714427
An independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school, toddler through grade 12

Early Childhood, Lower, and Middle Schools, 5000 Clubside Rd, Lyndhurst, OH 44124
Birchwood School of Hawken, 4400 West 140th Street, Cleveland, OH 44135 
Upper School, PO Box 8002 (12465 County Line Rd), Gates Mills, OH 44040
Mastery School of Hawken, 11025 Magnolia Dr, Cleveland, OH 44106
Gries Center, 10823 Magnolia Dr, Cleveland, OH 44106

Directions  |  Log in  |  440-423-4446