FAQs

Yes! We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Please note that Lowell is charged a 3% processing fee with your gift.

Yes! Please make your check out to “Lowell School” and mail to:

Development Office
Lowell School
1640 Kalmia Road NW
Washington, DC 20012

Yes! You can set up a regularly occurring credit card charge online by checking the box next to “I would like to give my donation in installments” and choosing from the options listed on the menu that appears. Enter the amount and frequency of your gift.

You may also set up automatic payments through your bank, payable to Lowell School. Please designate the fund to which you want to direct your gift (e.g., Annual Fund, Capital Campaign, Endowment, etc.)

Please click on the button “GIFTS OF SECURITIES” on this page.

The Annual Fund is money raised from current parents, grandparents, alumni, parents of alumni, current and former faculty and staff, foundations, and friends to support the school’s most pressing needs. It increases the breadth of opportunities available to our children, supports teacher salaries and professional development, provides the school with more flexibility to respond to interest in new programs and technology, and ensures our commitment to financial assistance.

Like virtually all independent schools, Lowell deliberately sets tuition below the actual cost of educating each student. Gifts to the Annual Fund help keep tuition within reach of more families, allowing all Lowell families to benefit from the richness of our diverse community. The Annual Fund directly supports the current year’s operating budget and is the most important way the school fills the gap between tuition and the actual cost of a Lowell education. Unlike tuition, gifts to the Annual Fund are fully tax deductible.

You may make a gift:

• With cash
• By sending a check made out to “Lowell School” to the attention of the Development Office
• Online through Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover
• With appreciated securities

The Annual Fund provides essential, unrestricted funds for the current annual operating budget of the school and supports:

• Competitive salaries and benefits for the skilled, insightful, and dedicated teachers at Lowell
• An innovative and rigorous curriculum that prepares students to be leaders, problem-solvers, and lifelong learners
• A low student-to-teacher ratio
• A financial assistance program to sustain the school’s socioeconomic diversity
• A skilled staff that includes language arts and math specialists; a director of diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives; a school counselor; a director of student support services; and a full-time nurse
• Up-to-date technology that supports students’ needs and advances the curriculum
• Maintenance and reinvestment in our one-of-a-kind campus and teaching environments

We encourage you to give as much as you can. Our hope is that all Lowell families will make their child’s education a priority in their charitable giving. We are a financially diverse community with donors who give at all levels--gifts to the Annual Fund range from $5 to $30,000. Any amount is welcome and everyone is invited to give as generously as possible.

Yes! Small gifts make a statement that you care about Lowell and want to support its ongoing success. Many modest gifts add up and demonstrate to our lenders and other funding sources the strength of our community’s commitment and engagement.

Donations are recognized as follows in our Annual Report:

In addition, every gift is acknowledged with a letter from the head of school. The letter also serves as a receipt for tax purposes. We are proud of our historically high rate of participation by current parents—consistently above 90%—and 100% participation by faculty, staff, and trustees.

We appreciate you notifying us as soon as possible about your charitable intentions. You have until June 1st to pay your pledge in full, although many people try to make their tax-deductible gift by the end of the tax year on December 31st. After you receive your Annual Fund appeal, please fill out a pledge envelope and send it to us to the attention of the Development Office as soon as possible.

Each fall, a group of volunteer parents spend an evening calling other Lowell parents to encourage them to make a gift to the Annual Fund. Class captains strive to achieve 100% participation in their classes. While it involves only one evening, the Phonathon has proven to be a great way to raise funds and meet other parents in the Lowell Community.

The gap is the difference between tuition and the actual cost of educating each child. The Annual Fund is our most important source of non-tuition funds and contributes approximately 5% of the budget each year to help make up the difference. Income from Summer Camp, other auxiliary activities, facility rentals, transfers from the endowment, and investment income also help fill the gap.

Yes! Many companies match employee and retiree charitable contributions. Please check with your employer to find out if your Annual Fund contribution to Lowell can be doubled or even tripled in value.

Contributions to the Annual Fund pay expenses in this year's operating budget. In contrast, capital campaigns raise funds for longer-term goals relating to special programs, building projects, or the endowment. Gifts to capital and endowment campaigns are typically larger than those to the Annual Fund and are often pledged over a three- to five-year period. A major gift is a tax-deductible investment in the future of the school, typically $25,000 or more, often for an item already on the school's wish list.

Lowell is not currently conducting a capital campaign. Our most recent capital campaign—Building on Success—helped renovate and expand Parkside Building. Completed in 2014, it enabled us to enrich our program for all students as well as provide our Middle School students with an inspiring, leading-edge learning environment.

The long-term nature of a planned gift provides a legacy Lowell can count on in planning for the future. Through planned giving, it is no longer just the very wealthy who can leave a legacy and take advantage of the significant tax benefits to their estates.

When planning and executing a bequest of this nature please talk to your financial advisors and attorneys about what is best for you. There can be significant tax benefits to your estate. If you should decide to honor Lowell with a bequest or you need additional information, please contact our development office.

There are several options to leave a legacy for Lowell in your will, including:

• Name a lump sum amount to go to Lowell.
• Leave a percentage of your assets to Lowell, or a percentage of your residual estate after payment of specific bequests and estate expenses.
• Leave appreciated securities such as stocks or bonds, personal property such as jewelry and art, or real property in marketable condition.
• Name Lowell as a beneficiary of an individual retirement fund or pension plan.
• Name Lowell as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Other forms of gifts include:

• A charitable remainder trust gives the donor the opportunity to donate assets to Lowell and continue to receive the income from them for life.
• A charitable lead trust can provide immediate cash to the school for a designated term, while retaining ownership of the asset by the donor or his designee.

When planning and executing a bequest of this nature please talk to your financial advisors and attorneys about what is best for you. There can be significant tax benefits to your estate. If you should decide to honor Lowell with a bequest or you need additional information, please contact our development office.