Clarkson Legacy 2022-2023 Annual Report

CLARKSON Legacy

Annie Clarkson Society

2022-2023 Annual Report

ENSURE THE CLARKSON EXPERIENCE

The Annie Clarkson Society

Annie Clarkson, niece of Thomas Clarkson, was born on December 21, 1856. Known as “Miss Annie” (a term of endearment of the time), she was a model philanthropist who began a lifelong relationship with Clarkson College at its founding in 1896. Annie was the first secretary on the Board of Trustees and was the closest family member involved in the development of the school. In addition to annual and special gifts, in 1922, Annie gave a large tract of land near Holcroft House for use as an athletic field, and, in 1927, she gave the remaining real estate to the College. At her death on October 2, 1929, she left the bulk of her estate, valued at more than $1 million, to the College.

The “Miss Annie Society” was created in 1993 to honor Annie and recognize those who plan estate gifts to Clarkson. In 2007, the Society was renamed the “Annie Clarkson Society” to better reflect Annie’s leadership and service to the University. In 2012, the Society opened membership to those who fund endowments at the University in recognition of their lifelong relationship with Clarkson.

Today, the Society is growing to better serve Clarkson and honor Annie’s life. Our educational and service programs cover outright as well as deferred gift planning strategies, and we also serve and educate a younger generation dealing with new economic realities as they begin to explore their philanthropy.

Together, we celebrate our shared mission to ensure the Clarkson experience for students today and tomorrow. Thank you for being a part of the life of Clarkson University.

Explore your philanthropy and how you can help Clarkson at annie.clarkson.edu

THE BEST THING ABOUT THE ANNIE CLARKSON SOCIETY

Kellie Hitchman Director of the Annie Clarkson Society khitchma@clarkson.edu

As staff, we are fortunate to have numerous opportunities to engage with alumni as they volunteer in different capacities to support Clarkson’s mission, at special events and in one-on-one meetings, just to name a few. During one of the events at Reunion this past summer, I found myself in a conversation with a current Annie Clarkson Society member and a small group of his classmates celebrating their 50th Reunion. After enjoying some of their stories as they reminisced about their time at Clarkson, I pointed out his Legacy pin and thanked him for his membership. This piqued the interest of his classmates.

Many questions were asked and answers given. The one that sticks out most was “What’s the best thing about the Annie Clarkson Society?” The truth is, there isn’t one single best thing about the Annie Clarkson Society. There are many unique components that make it exceptional overall.

We have nearly 700 active members who have documented intentions to, one day, gift more than $123 million dollars to the University. While the total of these commitments is measurable, the effect this will have on campus and in the lives of students is immeasurable.

The opportunities these commitments will make available to students are exceptional. Scholarships that will offset the cost of a high-quality Clarkson University education will be created. Other gifts will bolster specific programming that will provide students with hands-on experience, making them more prepared for the next steps of their journies. Unrestricted gifts, when realized, will enable University leadership to prioritize needs on campus, allowing Clarkson to continuously improve the student experience in a variety of capacities.

Each year, we are privileged to add new members and a variety of planned gifts to the Annie Clarkson Society. The continued recognition, by a growing number of people who join the ACS, of the impact of legacy gifts at Clarkson is exceptional. We are grateful for your dedication.

The need for...

Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design

STRATEGIC GIFT PLANNING AT WORK

Long ago, Bob ’48 and Milly Hill took an interest in the SPEED Program and the extraordinary real-world experience it provides to students as they are presented with a challenge and work to strategize, solve problems and achieve results. They first became members of the Annie Clarkson Society by funding their first of seven charitable gift annuities in 2001 — the remainder of which, at a point in the future, would establish the Robert ’48 and Mildred Dear Hill Endowed Fund for the SPEED Program to support operating costs and enhance the quality of the SPEED Program.

As the program continued to grow and produce excellent results, the Hills became interested in

“Being a part of Baja has been the best decision I have made during my undergraduate career. The hands-on experience I have acquired is something that simply cannot be taught in a classroom. My time as captain has thoroughly prepared me for leading design teams for the rest of my career.”

— Taylor Clayton ’24

seeing their gifts at work during their lifetime. They elected to make an outright gift to establish the endowed fund in 2005. As their ability and interests in supporting Clarkson continued to develop over time, they went on to establish an endowed scholarship to support an undergraduate engineering student, as well as collaborating to fund a professorship in Mechanical Engineering. Through a combination of outright gifts and strategic deferred gifts, the Hills had both the pleasure of seeing the impact of their gifts while living and the peace of mind that comes from knowing their estate plans would support their areas of interest in perpetuity.

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“Since the 1980s Clarkson students have had a rich history of successful participation in engineering design competitions, such as Sunrayce, Formula SAE, Concrete Canoe and Mini-Baja SAE. These events provide a solid foundation of project experience that emphasizes hands-on, real-world multidisciplinary efforts while incorporating many of the training elements our industry partners have told us are critical to the development of engineers, scientists and business persons. The dedication and support from Bob and Milly Hill who shared these same hands-on values during their lifetime have played a critical role in allowing us to offer these opportunities to over 230 undergraduate students now competing on thirteen SPEED project teams in 2023. The program has tripled in size since the 1980’s and is the signature hands-on learning program of the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering.”

— Robert Davis, Director of SPEED

"The SPEED program has truly been a cornerstone of my college journey. Being part of this transformative experience has not only enhanced my abilities in leadership, engineering fundamentals, and program management but has also provided unique opportunities unmatched by any other program on campus. The skill sets and experiences gained enabled me to secure a full-time offer for my dream job as a Propulsion Test Engineer at Relativity Space in Mississippi before the start of my senior year."

— Benjamin Ellis ’24

GROWTH OF THE ANNIE CLARKSON SOCIETY IN FISCAL YEAR 2023

Fiscal year 2023 was another year of steady growth for the Annie Clarkson Society. New members joined the ranks, and a number of existing members documented their commitments that will support a variety of interests on campus and enhance the experience for Clarkson students now and in the future.

31

Number of New Members

9

Total New Endowments

278

Gifts Made to Existing Endowments

4

New Unconfirmed Provisions

8

New Documented Bequests

2

Life Insurance/Retirement Plan Designations

$3,200,000

Total of New Plans or Additions to Existing Plans

Total Added to Existing Endowments NEARLY

$1,000,000

The Annie Clarkson Society processes all realized estate gifts. Clarkson received 28 estate distributions and gift-with-income terminations totaling nearly $6.4 million in fiscal year 2023. The gifts supported several areas:

Eleven gifts totaling more than $400,000 were received unrestricted, and were used to support areas of greatest need, student recruitment and retention, facilities maintenance and academic needs, including the continued development of Clarkson’s microcredentialing program and student industry trips.

Thirteen gifts totaling more than $5.4 million were created or added to scholarship endowments.

Two gifts totaling nearly $600,000 were added to an endowed fund supporting SPEED teams.

Additional estate gifts supported the Alumni Gateway Lounge Endowment and the unrestricted general endowment.

TOTAL RECORDED DEFERRED GIFT PLANS

Membership in the Annie Clarkson Society includes a number of planned giving opportunities. This graph illustrates documented intentions and the approximate value of each. These gifts, when realized, will enhance various programs and opportunities on campus. More information on gift opportunities is available by visiting annie.clarkson.edu.

Future Provisions: $80,840,000

Charitable Gift Annuities: $2,090,000

Charitable Remainder Trusts: $18,900,000

Retirement Plan Gifts: $17,800,000

Life Insurance Gifts: $3,800,000

Total Expectancies: $123,430,000

ENSURE THE CLARKSON EXPERIENCE

IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVERS, also known as Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD), transferred directly to Clarkson are excluded from your taxable income, unlike a regular withdrawal from an IRA. Interested donors who are 70 ½ and older may make a tax-free gift of up to $100,000 to support their areas of interest at Clarkson.

Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)

• RMDs are required when individual account holders reach age 73

• A QCD helps satisfy individual RMDs for the year

• Typically, they must be taken by December 31st of each year

• Most accounts are subject to penalties of up to 50% of the RMD that should have been drawn out of the account

To make your QCD, provide the following information to your IRA administrator:

Clarkson University

8 Clarkson Avenue

Potsdam, NY 13699

Tax ID Number: 15-0543659

Where to Give

• Make your annual gift to The Clarkson Fund

• Support a Share Clarkson Scholarship

• Establish or add to an existing endowment

• Fund a Charitable Gift Annuity

WE CAN HELP DETERMINE WHICH PLAN IS BEST FOR YOU.

Your gift to Clarkson helps to provide needed financial support to students and ensures they have access to extraordinary experiences that will impact their lives forever.

Learn more at engage.clarkson.edu/

Kellie Hitchman, Director, Annie Clarkson Society

315-268-7894 | anniesociety@clarkson.edu

Make an impact at Clarkson with an IRA Charitable Rollover

ACKNOWLEDGMENT FOR MEMBERS/LOGIN INSTRUCTIONS

The Annie Clarkson Society was established to honor forward-thinking donors who have demonstrated their commitment to Clarkson through deferred gifts or the creation of an endowment. Our mission is to help ensure the Clarkson experience for students today and tomorrow. The commitment and thoughtful generosity of our membership is essential to achieving this mission and propelling the University forward for many generations to come. In recognition of this dedication to Clarkson, we maintain a record of all members, past and present, as well as hundreds of endowed funds that support current students and programs or will be created with future gifts.

A complete listing of members and endowed funds is available exclusively to Legacy members in the Good Knights Guild. The secure listing is available by logging into our newly launched Alumni Portal. In addition to viewing Legacy information, you can update your profile, review your five-year giving history and learn more about the Good Knights Guild. Please follow the steps below to log into the Alumni Portal. For more information on membership and endowments, or for assistance logging in, please contact anniesociety@clarkson.edu or call 1-315-268-7894.

1. Visit clarkson.edu.

2. Click on Alumni in the upper left corner.

3. Click on Alumni Portal in the upper right corner.

4. If you have never logged in, click forgot password. Provide your email address and birthdate. This will send an email to the address provided.

5. Using the email, set your permanent password.

6. To view the Annie Clarkson Society membership list and endowed funds click on the Good Knights Guild tab and select Legacy.

First income recipient date of birth:

Relationship: q Self q Spouse q Other _______________________________

Second income recipient name: _______________________________________________________

Second income recipient date of birth: ___________________________________________

q Spouse q Other

Relationship:

Additional Information:

q I have a provision for Clarkson in my estate plan. Please enroll me in the Annie Clarkson Society.

q Although it is not required for membership in the Society, I would like to document, confidentially, the following:

q The value of my provision is $ .

q Additional information regarding my provision: _____________________________________________________________________________________

Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

STATE ZIP

Please send the following: Workbooks

q Estate Planning Organizer

q Gift Planning With Non-Cash Assets

q Personal Affairs Organizer

q Philanthropic Planner

q Will a Gift-With-Income Plan Work for Me?

q Pooled Fund

q Real Estate Gifts

q Retained Life Estates

q Retirement Plan Gifts

q Reunion Counting Guidelines

q Share Clarkson Scholarships

q The Clarkson Fund q

Fact Sheets

q Bequest Language

q Charitable Trusts

q Deferred Annuities

q Donor-Advised Funds

q Endowed Funds

q Gift Annuities

q Gifts of Cash q Gifts of Savings Bonds

q Gifts of Stocks and Bonds

q IRA Charitable Rollover

q Life Insurance Gifts

CITY

Telephone: Email: ____________________________________________________________________________________

Please send a gift-with-income illustration based on the following: Amount of gift: $

q Please contact me; I have questions. Please fold and tape closed before mailing.

q Stock: original cost $ _____________________________________________________

q Cash

First income recipient name: ___________________________________________________________________________________

It All Began With Annie

Clarkson established the Annie Clarkson Society in 1993 to carry forward Annie Clarkson’s passionate commitment to higher education and the school named in memory of her uncle, Thomas. The mission of the Society is to ensure the Clarkson experience for students today and tomorrow through educational and service programs related to gifts of all types. The Society recognizes and thanks its members who have created lifelong relationships with Clarkson through deferred gifts and endowments, and encourages others to consider similar plans.

Clarkson University

8 Clarkson Avenue

Box 5522, Woodstock Lodge

Potsdam, NY 13699

annie.clarkson.edu