GRACE SCHOLARS PARISH OR SCHOOL PRESENTATION Thank you, ___________. I am going to take just a few minutes of your time to tell you how you can make a no-cost contribution to GRACE Scholars. That’s right – I said a no cost gift. Sound too good to be true? Keep listening and you will become a believer. GRACE Scholars uses its donations to award scholarships to students seeking to attend Catholic schools in Georgia. Without GRACE assistance, their families would struggle to pay tuition. With GRACE assistance, the students have tuition assistance available for the entire time students attend the Catholic schools of their choice. GRACE supported schools are in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah. GRACE Scholars qualifies as a student scholarship organization – an SSO -- in Georgia. Because GRACE Scholars is an SSO, contributions Rev. 8/2019
are eligible for a 100 percent tax credit against state income taxes. You heard me right. A donation to GRACE Scholars earns the taxpayer a dollar-for- dollar tax credit. That’s the no -cost gift I was talking about. Give GRACE $1000 and lower your state of Georgia tax liability by $1000 (100%) of your donation. You cannot claim the amount donated to GRACE as a charitable contribution on your federal tax return because it is used as a tax credit on your state return. However, if you itemize on your federal return you can treat the donation as state or local income tax payments subject to the SALT cap. The legislature anticipated that the generous tax credit would be so popular that it put an annual limit on the amount of tax credits available. As of _____, Year, the Georgia Department of Revenue annual cap on tax credits is _______. You can become part of the GRACE movement, but need to act now to take advantage of this too- good-to-be true opportunity. Rev. 8/2019
There is no minimum contribution, but there are maximums: $2,500 for married head of household, $1,000 for single/head of household, $10,000 for owners of S corporations, LLCs, and partnerships. You may wish to support a nearby Catholic School. Each GRACE school is known for academic excellence in Christ-centered environment. Of course, you may already have a school in mind — terrific, it needs your help too! All in all, there are 34 schools that participate in the GRACE Program. There are also two general accounts, the Board Choice and the Economically Disadvantaged Family Funds, that the board uses to identify assistance where the need is greatest. But you may say, I have no ties to Catholic schools. I d idn’ t attend my self and have no children that attended. What’s in it for me? Rev. 8/2019
First, there are the kids that want to attend Catholic school but their families find the tuition an obstacle. Your no-cost gift can make a difference in the lives of these deserving children. Our former Archbishop, Wilton Gregory, was co-founder of GRACE Scholars and was a maximum donor since the program began in 2009. Our current bishops, Bishop Konzen and Bishop Shlesinger, are also strong supporters of the program. Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, Bishop of Savannah, has embraced GRACE Scholars as a leader and a donor. The bishops believe in Catholic schools and see GRACE as a key strategy for making them more affordable and accessible. Still not sold? OK try this. Maybe you’re like me. From time to time, I question about how the government spends my tax dollars. Well, here is your opportunity to do something more. You can act and help a cause you can trust. Rev. 8/2019
In any case, you have already said good bye to this money. You have a choice, however, where the money goes. You can send it to the Gold Dome in Atlanta or you can choose to donate to GRACE for financial aid to deserving students. The choice is yours. Signing up is easy. You can complete a GRACE pre-registration form in the narthex [or use local terminology such as “gather place.] You provide your name, Social Security number, address, phone number, the amount you want to contribute, and the designated school(s) that will benefit from your contribution. GRACE will pre- register you for the tax-credit with the Department of Revenue. You will be notified when you will be eligible to make your donation directly to GRACE. We also strongly encourage donors to go paperless by using our online application at www.gracescholars.org Rev. 8/2019
Well time to wrap up. I will be at the information table. We will be handing out forms and answering questions. Come by and say hello. Thank you and God bless. Rev. 8/2019
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