Planned gifts allow donors to support Sidwell Friends’ mission and future for generations to come.
Whether through a bequest, charitable trust, or beneficiary designation, planned gifts help ensure a consistent, long-term source of funding for the School. Donors create a legacy that aligns with their own values and often inspire others to follow in their footsteps. We asked several members of the Sidwell Friends community about the impact they are making through planned giving.
“From the time I first walked into Sidwell’s 1st grade class until the present day, this remarkable School remains in the forefront of my life,” says Marika Moore Cutler ’64, P ’94, ’95, GP ’28, ’31, who has served Sidwell in many roles. Having recently joined the board of trustees, she says, “My experiences as a student, alumna, parent, grandparent, and now a member of the board have created this lifelong connection. No other institution has provided me with more friendships, volunteer opportunities, or reinforcement of Quaker values.”
Through a planned gift, Cutler and her husband, Barry, have established an endowed fund that will support students with learning differences or physical challenges. “In establishing this endowed fund, it is our hope that it will help students who may benefit from the support of an occupational therapist or learning specialist,” she says.
For John and Patricia Koskinen P ’89, ’91, planned giving is a natural extension of decades of giving. “We have been Sidwell supporters for many years, long after our children attended and benefited from all that Sidwell has to offer its students,” they say. “Planned giving allows us to ensure that this support will continue into the future, which gives us a very good feeling.” Their focus is on financial aid to “ensure students from a range of backgrounds are able to attend.”
Kevin Johnson ’91 says his desire and intention to give back to Sidwell Friends is firmly grounded in a profound sense of appreciation and gratitude for the opportunities and experiences that were extended to him as a student. “My philanthropy is informed by a duty and a responsibility to provide financial support for future students to prepare them to reach their full potential as leaders and significant contributors to their local communities and to society at large,” he says. To that end, his gift helps to broaden access to a Sidwell Friends education for talented students.
Ellen Rue Pierson, who worked at Sidwell from 1969 to 2013, sums it up simply: “As a retired staff member for over four decades, I appreciate the importance of Friends’ testimonies in the life of the School and give to support this mission.”
It’s never too early to establish a planned gift. Donors of all ages have a variety of planned giving options available to meet their goals. In fact, the high number of Millennials now creating wills and estate plans are gaining interest in planned giving conversations.
As Morgan McGill ’89 says, “I am proud to be a part of Sidwell’s future through my planned gift. Sidwell instilled the value of giving back to my community. I benefited from the small class sizes and the atmosphere where the faculty mentored and supported students. I cherish the bonds formed and the lifelong network created through membership in the Class of ’89 cohort, and I hope my gift can impact the unique and caring environment that Sidwell fosters.”
Donors who make planned gifts become part of the Thomas and Frances Sidwell Society, which recognizes those who follow in the tradition of Thomas Sidwell, who survived Frances and wanted his estate to help further the School he founded. Please contact Megan Dom Lynch, planned & major gift officer, at lynchm@sidwell.edu if Sidwell Friends School is part of your estate plans.
