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We are currently accepting donations for the 2024 tax year for the VA Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program.
How it works
How it works
The Hague School Foundation is approved by the VA Department of Education's EISTCP program to offer VA state tax credits to individuals and businesses looking to support a high quality independent school education for students with financial need.
Effectively, once you have a VA EISTCP pre-authorization letter (obtained from us, typically within one business day), you can make a donation to support needs-based student scholarships at The Hague School or any of our partner schools and you will get 65% of your donation amount back as a reduction in your state tax bill, in addition to an income tax deduction, if you itemize.
Tax credits may be claimed for the taxable year in which the donation was made, and unused tax credits may be carried over for the next five succeeding taxable years or until the total amount of the credit has been taken, whichever is sooner. Donations can be made in the form of liquid assets (e.g. via check or ACH) or as a transfer of securities to our brokerage account (details below). For tax reasons, the latter option may be preferred if there is a large capital gain.
For businesses, tax credits can also be applied to the Virginia Bank Franchise Tax, the Virginia Insurance Premiums License Tax, the Virginia Public Service Corporations Tax, and Personal Income Taxes via pass-through entities such as S-Corporations, LLCs, and Partnerships.
Which school (and which students) will get the funds?
Which school (and which students) will get the funds?
Foundation donors specify their choice of recipient school, and that school will be given the first opportunity to find eligible students to use the funds. Neither donors nor the Foundation can specify which students will receive the funds. This is determined instead by the school. For students to be eligible, family income must be below 3x federal poverty guidelines, and the school (if not VA accredited) must be able to provide norm-referenced exam scores for that student.
How much funding can a school take from EISTCP?
How much funding can a school take from EISTCP?
A school may not take more than VA SOQ funding allotment (currently ~$7,500) per eligible student per school year. Any funds not disbursed to the donor’s choice of school will instead be allocated on the basis of student need within our portfolio of partner schools, or to another independent school in the Commonwealth.
Making payment
Making payment
Note: If making an tax-credit eligible donation, YOU MUST REQUEST AND AWAIT PRE-AUTHORIZATION FROM US (typically takes less than 1 business day) before transferring any funds.
Checks can be made out to The Hague School Foundation and mailed to 514 Fairfax Avenue, Norfolk VA 23507
Securities can be transferred using the following account information:
Clearing through: Raymond James
DTC #: 0725
Account Name: The Hague School Foundation
Account #: 4781R318
We welcome all contributions! With a caveat.
We welcome all contributions! With a caveat.
If this sounds too good to be true, there’s a reason for that. Unlike a simple tax-deductible gift, EISTCP donations are highly restricted. As a result, we encourage all donors to consider matching their tax credits with unrestricted donations to help ensure the financial viability of the recipient school's scholarship program. Before you donate, please take a moment to learn about the critical difference this makes...
EISTCP Gifts Used To Purchase State Tax Credits
Can cover up to ~$7,500 of annual cost per scholarship student.
In addition to making an itemized deduction, an individual or business can receive a VA State tax credit of up to 65% of the value of their gift. These gifts are restricted in the following ways:
We will seek to honor the donor's preference of recipient school, however we are required disburse funds to multiple schools in any given fiscal year, and our total disbursements to any given school are limited by student eligibility and VA SOQ per pupil funding caps. As a result, we cannot guarantee the donor's preference of recipient school.
The donor may not specify which individual student(s) will receive the funds. This is determined by the school in compliance with EISTCP student eligibility requirements, which require that the student's family must earn below 300% of current federal poverty level.
As of 2023, an independent school located in the catchment for the Norfolk Public Schools may only disburse at most $7,592 per pupil per year, as per the VA SOQ funding formula. For most area independent schools, including The Hague School, this amount covers less than half of the cost to educate the student. As a result, for schools to offer adequate need-based scholarships, additional funding is required.
Unrestricted Gifts That Apply As Tax Deductions
Critically necessary to cover the additional cost for scholarship students
For donors who itemize their taxes, any gift to a 501(c)(3) can be deducted from your taxable income. While the tax benefits may be less than that of a tax credit, these gifts are critical to the financial viability of a school's scholarship program.
The donor can direct these gifts to a specific school. These gifts cannot, however, be directed at a specific student.
Such a gift, unless otherwise specified by the donor, may be used to cover any expense at the school. Alternatively, the donor may choose to restrict the use of their gift to students in financial need, or a specific operating or capital need at the school.
Most independent schools count on between 25% and 30% of annual revenue in the form of charitable donations of this type. By pairing an unrestricted gift with a restricted gift, you are putting the target school in a much better position to sustain its programs while offering scholarships that are adequate to meet the full range of student financial need.
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