50th Reunion Giving
Our Giving Upswing Continues for Our 50th Milestone Reunion Year!
In each of the past two fiscal years, we have exceeded our class participation goals, in FY 2025 reaching 31% participation and our dollar goals by more than $170,000! You, our classmates, have grown our confidence, and that is reflected in our ’76 Milestone Reunion goals: to reach more than 50% participation in FY 26 giving (between 7/1/25 to 6/30/26), and to raise at least $2.5M for the five-year period since our last reunion, beginning 7/1/21 and ending 6/30/26.
Together we will exceed our goals again!
Please join your classmates in celebrating our 50th – and Smith’s 150th – with a special “stretch” gift. You can give a gift, including a pledge, to the Smith Fund for general purposes or designate a Smith Fund program important to you; make a gift to our Class of ’76 Endowed Scholarship Fund (’76 ESFund); or make a planned gift, through your will, trust, or IRA. We’ve described those options and how to give in this Class of 1976 Giving Document.
Save the date! You may also learn more details about planned gifts at a 50th Milestone Reunion Planned Giving Webinar: Giving from Your Retirement Accounts: A Smart Way to Support Smith Now and Later on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, from 4 to 5 pm EDT. Sam Samuels, Smith’s Director of Gift Planning, will explain how your IRA or other retirement accounts can be a tax-savvy resource for supporting Smith. Sam will also share tips on charitable giving strategies aligned with changes in the tax code, effective January 1, 2026, and how it could affect your decision on how—and when—you give to Smith College and other nonprofits. You can register by clicking on this link: 10/22 Planned Giving Webinar.
The Class of 1976 Endowed Scholarship Fund
As announced earlier, our classmate, Anne Cohen, has committed $100,000.00 to establish the Class of 1976 Endowed Scholarship Fund (’76 ESFund). Combined with a $50,000.00 match (by an anonymous alumna for the Here for Every Voice scholarship campaign), we have met the $150,000.00 minimum required to establish a named endowed fund.
What is this fund? A class-endowed scholarship generates annual income that can be awarded to an eligible student or students for the financial support they need at Smith. It supports the goal of Here for Every Voice, which is to dismantle the financial barriers that can deter even the most promising students from applying to Smith.
Our thanks to Anne for her commitment to our class in making this ’76 ESFund a reality. We are thrilled that this class-supported endeavor will provide assistance to future generations of Smithies and demonstrate the impact of the Class of ’76. Please consider a gift to the ’76 ESFund today!
Milestone Reunion Gifts
During the five years leading up to the reunion, all gifts, pledges, and bequest intentions will be counted toward our class’s Milestone Reunion giving. To contribute to The Class of 1976 Endowed Scholarship Fund, or to donate otherwise, go to www.smith.edu/1976/give, call 1-800-241-2056, or mail a check to Smith College Gift Accounting, 33 Elm Street, Northampton, MA 01063. You can also consider a gift in memory of or in honor of a classmate.
Gifts Using Retirement Accounts
Happy birthdays, classmates! Many of us have turned 70, 70 and a half, or 71, and we have suggestions about a way to mark that birthday AND fund your 50th Reunion gift. You can direct your IRA custodian to send up to $108,000 per calendar year directly to Smith as a Qualified Charitable Distribution, or you can send a one-time gift of up to $54,000 from your IRA as a Charitable Annuity and create a lifetime income stream (currently approximately 6.4%). Either gift can be directed to the Smith Fund or our ’76 ESFund.
Contacts
For more information, please talk to Isla Grant, our Treasurer/Planned Giving Chair at 610-453-9090 or email her at islagrant331@gmail.com. For additional information, attend the webinar on October 22 with Sam Samuels of the Development Office (details above).
And if you have any other questions about giving options, please contact our Class Fund Team co-chairs, Lib Butler at ebutler@ebutlerllc.com or Kaarina Salovaara at kaarina.salovaara@outlook.com, or Isla Grant.