Foundation

By investing in Southeast Community College, you are investing in an educated workforce in our 15-county area, the state of Nebraska and beyond. The SCC Educational Foundation was established on June 17, 1975 as a separate, non-profit, tax-exempt corporation whose purpose is to support the mission of SCC as a fundraising organization. We do this by assisting students, staff and our communities through the development and wise use of financial resources.

The Foundation’s primary revenue source is donations from businesses, grant funders and individuals both locally and from all over the United States. Our donors share a special commitment to provide SCC students a valuable educational experience. In return, the Foundation seeks the highest possible return consistent with a prudent regard for legal consideration, fiduciary responsibility and safety of capital. In short, our team works for you, our donors, to ensure the long-term financial stability of SCC.

Your gift to SCC can be designated for a particular purpose (scholarships, capital or program, greatest need) or will be deposited into our general fund. We will also work with you if your business or family would like to establish a scholarship at SCC.

Our Mission

The Southeast Community College Educational Foundation's mission is to
boldly support the vitality and growth of SCC, empowering the students,
staff, and broader communities it serves by creating a legacy of educational
opportunities that foster economic enrichment and shared benefits for all.

Our Vision

Empowering Futures, Together. By establishing a foundation of dynamic
governance, innovative fundraising, and strategic partnerships, the SCC
Educational Foundation aims to craft a legacy of impact where donor
generosity meets strategic vision. The Foundation creates transformative
opportunities that shape the educational landscape for southeast Nebraska
students and communities and inspires future generations.

Your gift to the SCC Educational Foundation and SCC matters. By investing in SCC you have the potential to impact over 10,000 students by creating life-changing opportunities for them. Your investment also makes a commitment to our 15-county region and the future workforce.

Ways to Donate

Donating to SCC is easy. Your options include:

Online: Your online donation can be designated to our Path to Possible Campaign, new or existing scholarships, facilities or greatest need (general Foundation Support for Operation).
Mail: To donate via check, make your check payable to the SCC Educational Foundation and mail it to:
SCC Educational Foundation
8800 O St, STE 227
Lincoln, NE 68520
Please use the memo line to direct your gift for a specific purpose (ie, scholarships or facilities). If the memo line is blank we will put your gift to the area of greatest need.
SCC12 (new!): You can make monthly payments when donating with a credit card online. Simply mark “Monthly” under the Type of Request and “Recurring” under the Number of Monthly Payments.

By supporting scholarships, facilities and operations, your investment in the annual Path to Possible Campaign will continue to enhance the educational experience of more than 10,000 students each year. Every gift makes an impact, and your participation will create a lasting legacy for our students.

Your gift to the Path to Possible Campaign helps sustain academic programs, scholarships, innovative programming, student support services and state-of-the-art facilities. Most importantly, your gift has the power to transform the lives of our students, helping them achieve academic success and economic mobility. Investing in SCC students is an investment in our local community and the future workforce of Nebraska.

Donations to the annual fund are unrestricted, which gives the Foundation the flexibility to allocate support where it is needed the most. You do have the option of designating your gift as well to support any of the following:

Greatest need – General Foundation Fund
Existing Scholarship Fund
New Scholarship Fund (Contact us at 402-323-3411)
- Minimum of $500 for annual and $10,000 for endowed scholarship fund
Facilities Fund

How to Make a Gift

How to Make a Gift Online

Please click the Make a Donate button to access our secure online credit card processing service. You have the option to make a one-time gift or set-up a monthly recurring gift to your designated scholarship, program or project of your interest.

Make a Donation

Via Check

Please make your check payable to and send to:

SCC Educational Foundation
8800 O St, STE 227
Lincoln, NE 68520

You may indicate the intended use for your donation in the memo line. Thank you for your continued support!

Please make your check payable to and send to: SCC Educational Foundation's Scholarship Fund.

Providing an affordable education for SCC students is at the heart of the SCC Educational Foundation. In 1978, the foundation started the scholarship program with each of our three campuses receiving $1,000 for first year scholarships. For Fiscal Year 2023-2024, 4,104 scholarship were awarded to 2,149 students at a value of more than $2.5 million!

Many of our scholarship donors are SCC alumni paying it forward. Without their generous support, many of our students would not be able to realize their dream of being a college graduate in a successful career. Each gift to the Scholarship Fund represents a level of confidence in SCC’s tradition of providing a high-quality education to our future workforce. Make an impact on someone's life by contributing to the SCC Educational Foundation's Scholarship Fund.

Establishing a Scholarship

Annual:
Annual scholarships are awarded based on yearly donations. To remain active, these scholarships need to be funded each year, or maintain the minimum award amount set in the scholarship criteria.

Endowed:
Establishing an endowed scholarship is a wonderful way to leave a legacy, help students achieve their dreams, and provide an everlasting gift to support SCC students or programs. Endowed scholarships create a permanent fund in which contributions are invested to ensure the scholarship retains its value in perpetuity. Scholarships are awarded from the interest accrued while the principal is never touched.

Endowed scholarships require a minimum initial investment of $10,000 and may be added to at any time.
Interest rates are subject to change and they are reviewed every six months with a current payout rate of 5%. For example, a minimum of $10,000 is required to establish an endowed scholarship, which would generate approximately one $500 scholarship annually according to the current payout rate. An investment of $20,000 would generate approximately $1,000, etc.
After the fund has been invested for one full year, the SCC Scholarship Committee will make distributions from the fund.

How to Make a Gift

You may donate to any annual or endowed scholarship fund by donating online or by mailing a check to the SCC Educational Foundation.

Via Check

Please make your check payable to and send to: SCC Educational Foundation
8800 O St, STE 227
Lincoln, NE 68520

You may indicate the intended use for your donation in the memo line. Thank you for your continued support!

Scholarship List

Make a Donation

For more information or to establish a scholarship, please email mbirkel@southeast.edu or call 402-323-3411.

The Path to Possible Legacy Society was established in 2021 to recognize the generosity of individuals and families who have included Southeast Community College in their will or other form of planned giving. Members of the Path to Possible Legacy Society will be recognized in our Annual Report and invited to special events throughout the year. These transformational gifts ensure SCC’s future and can also provide significant benefits to donors. For more information, contact Michelle Birkel at mbirkel@southeast.edu or 402-323-3411.

The three ways your donations will have the greatest impact on students are through scholarships, the food pantry and emergency fund.

The Southeast Community College Food Pantry aims to reduce the impact food insecurity has on the academic success of our students by providing a variety of non-perishable food items and basic necessities to students and their families.

There are currently three food pantries across the College: the Beatrice Campus, the Lincoln Campus at 8800 O St., and the Milford Campus. Each location provides different options to meet the short-term needs of students and are reliant on donor support for inventory.

Make a Donation

The Student Emergency Fund was created to support SCC students and their families who are, or could soon be, in need of emergency funds as a result of the global COVID-19 health crisis. Your donation will allow students to continue their education while struggling with the following challenges:

Food Insecurity: Nationally, 50% of community college students report food insecurity. This is likely to increase as unemployment rises.
Loss of Income: 83% of SCC students work at least part-time. Many work customer-service jobs, such as our students working in food service, and are most likely to lose their jobs. This will affect their ability to pay their rent and utilities.
Childcare Expenses: 15% of our students have children who live with them and/or depend on them for care. If they have lost their jobs, they will not be able to pay for childcare. This will force them to choose between leaving their children unsupervised while they attend classes or dropping out of school.
Medical Expenses: Students who get COVID-19 or with other health issues may choose to not seek medical treatment because they can’t afford it.
Technology: Students without updated technology may not be able to access SCC’s online delivery portal making it difficult to stay enrolled.

Make a Donation

SCC is in a transformational period guided by its 2020-2024 Strategic Plan. One of these phases involves increasing the College’s capacity to produce a skilled workforce by ensuring our students have access to state-of-the-art facilities. These are the current projects capital projects underway at SCC.

This new facility will support SCC’s ag and ag-related programs. As of the start of the 2021 Fall Semester, design and architectural plans were being finalized.

Make a Donation

This project involves construction of a 25,672 square-foot, two-story addition and renovation of 80,038 square feet of internal spaces, with 5,055 square feet of mechanical mezzanine. It addresses vital fire and life safety needs through: fire suppression that includes sprinkling the current gymnasium, appropriate firewall separations; appropriate egress all in adherence to current fire and life safety code. While the College addresses these needs, it is using the opportunity to modernize, expand and organize the spaces to improve access for students to these vital academic support needs.

Make a Donation

Renovating Nebraska Hall allows us to repurpose this iconic historic building from a residence hall to a centralized student hub. We want to create a collaborative space for students to gather which also houses the major student support services. Initial conceptual design ideas are being considered.

Make a Donation

Cash - Your gift by cash/check/credit card is an investment in our school and future workforce for Nebraska.

Endowments - A perpetual resource because the principal remains intact as the investment income is used to provide scholarships or support SCC programs. A new endowment requires a minimum investment of $10,000.

Stock, bonds, mutual funds - Stocks and securities provide an immediate gift to the SCC Educational Foundation and are a wonderful way to give, especially if they have appreciated in value. You receive two tax benefits, an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock (not just the original investment) and avoidance of any capital gains tax on the stock’s appreciated values. Donating stock removes it from your estate, saving you possible estate taxes.

Will Bequests - You can name the SCC Educational Foundation as a beneficiary in your will by leaving a gift of a percentage of your estate, a specific amount or a residual amount.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA) - At age 72, a traditional IRA holder (unlike a Roth IRA holder) must begin taking a taxable Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from their IRA. Instead of taking the RMD amount as income and paying income tax, you may donate the entire RMD or a portion directly to a 501(c)(3) charity like the SCC Educational Foundation to avoid paying tax on the amount up to $100,000 per year for an individual or $200,000 as a couple.

Gift Annuities - You can make an irrevocable gift to the SCC Educational Foundation and it provides income to you for life.

Gift annuity rates range from between 5 and 11 percent, depending on your age.
If you have stock or another appreciated asset you can contribute it to a gift annuity and avoid capital gains.
You receive annual payments.
You fund it with cash, securities, tangible property or real estate.
Your annual income depends on your age.
You receive an income tax deduction for a portion of the value of your gift the year you make it.
If you desire to make a gift but need stable annual income, a gift annuity is an option.
The asset you use to fund your gift annuity is removed from your estate, saving you possible estate taxes

Life Income Agreements (trusts, charitable gift annuities) - You can make an irrevocable gift and receive income payments similar to a gift annuity. The difference is that a charitable trust is a larger gift ($100,000 or more) and offers you more options.

You can receive quarterly, semi-annual or annual payments.
You name a professional trustee to manage the trust or you can name yourself as trustee.
You can create a trust that allows you to make additional payments when you desire or have the financial need.
You can create the trust to last for a period of years.
You receive an income tax deduction for a portion of the value you make the gift in the year you make it.
The asset you use to fund the trust is removed from your estate, saving you possible estate taxes.

Beneficiary of Life Insurance - You can donate either a paid-up policy, or start a new policy. In both cases, designate the SCC Educational Foundation as the owner and beneficiary of the policy, or the Foundation can be named as a secondary beneficiary, after your spouse or your children. A paid-up policy gives you a tax deduction equal to the cash value of the policy. Donating a new policy allows you to deduct the full value of the annual premiums you pay. When you make the SCC Educational Foundation the owner and beneficiary of the policy, it removes the life insurance from your estate, saving you possible estate taxes.

Retirement Saving or Insurance Beneficiary - You can make the SCC Educational Foundation the beneficiary of retirement funds, an insurance policy, annual dividends or donating a paid-up policy. Please contact and make arrangements through your retirement fund administrator, insurance company or professional advisor before making a decision.

Real Estate - Donating real estate gives you an income tax deduction for the fair market value of your property.

If you own your home, you can create a life estate. You’ll live in your home and enjoy full use of it while you are alive. Upon your death the SCC Educational Foundation assumes ownership of your home. You can claim a tax deduction in the year you create the life estate.
If you own a piece of property that currently provides little to no income for you, create a charitable trust with the real estate as the primary asset. You avoid any capital gains on the real estate when it is eventually sold. You receive a tax deduction in the year you make the gift. You turn a former, low-income producing asset into an asset that provides you with sufficient income.
Donating real estate removes the asset from your estate, saving you possible

Matching Gifts - Many companies will match an employee’s charitable contribution. All matching gifts benefit the same campus, college and fund as your original gift and allow you to double your gift to SCC. To double your impact:

Obtain a matching gift form from your company’s personnel office
Complete the donor/employee portion of the form and send it with your contribution to the SCC Educational Foundation. (Many companies also have an online process.)
Once we receive your form or online request, we will verify your gift so your company can make the match.

Note: This information is not intended as legal advice. For questions always consult your attorney and professional advisor(s) before making a decision.

The SCC Educational Foundation is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization making your contribution tax deductible. Thank you for helping us provide opportunities for students as we fulfill the needs of a skilled workforce.

The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of community members in the southeast Nebraska service area. Members represent varied backgrounds, bringing strength and diversification to the Foundation.

Ben Kiser