Ways to Give

• Give Online: Online gifts can be made through our secure online giving form. You can allocate your online gift any way you wish.
   
• Recurring gifts: Duchesne offers you the option to make a recurring gift through our secure online giving site. You determine the total amount you would like to contribute and evenly distribute it through the end of the fiscal year, or you may simply choose an amount to give each month. This is an efficient solution to make your gifting more affordable.

You are able to send a check directly to Duchesne. Please make checks payable to Duchesne Academy.

• Mail to:

Duchesne Academy
Attention: Advancement Office
3601 Burt Street
Omaha, NE 68131

Duchesne welcomes gifts of stocks or securities which can provide significant tax advantages to donors. To initiate the electronic transfer of stock, please contact Katie Risch Bakhit at 402-810-9989 for instructions and to share the name of the stock, the number of shares, and your gift designation.

Transfer a gift directly from your IRA to Duchesne as part of your Required Minimum Distribution. If you are at least 70½ years old, you can donate up to $100,000 annually from your IRA and receive tax benefits in return.

As an alumna or friend of Duchesne, you likely know the legacy of St. Philippine Duchesne and her commitment to education. Her selfless life work and sacrifices set the foundation for thousands of young women. You can help secure the future of Duchesne Academy for thousands more young women through thoughtful, long-term gift planning. By working with a qualified financial planner, attorney or tax advisor you may discover that in addition to ensuring the vitality of the school, many charitable gifting strategies offer valuable financial benefits and tax advantages.

• Asset Diversification—If too much of your money is tied up in one asset, you may be able to diversify and reduce income taxes with a charitable gift to Duchesne.
• Estate Planning—Reduce the value of your estate or shift income to the next generation. Your charitable gift to Duchesne may help relieve estate and gift taxes.
• Income Tax Deduction—All gifts to Duchesne are 100% tax-deductible to the extent of the law.
• Increased Income—Charitable gifting to Duchesne can help create additional cash flow.
• Lifetime Cash Flow—With proper structuring and management, you can defer income or guarantee income for life with your charitable gift to Duchesne.
• Retirement Planning—If qualified plan regulations are limiting the amount you can put away for retirement, a charitable gift to Duchesne may help.
• Tax-free Conversion—With a charitable gift to Duchesne, you can transfer your highly appreciated assets without incurring income taxes.

If you have already included Duchesne Academy in your estate plans, please contact V.P. of Advancement Katie Risch-Bakhit.

An endowment is a pot of donated money intended to provide a reliable stream of income for educational purposes over the long term. Endowment funds are invested into perpetuity and a portion of their value is harvested each year.

While all gifts to Duchesne support the high quality of education, endowments are particularly meaningful as they offer a dependable and perpetual source of funding. Endowed funds differ from others in that the total amount of the gift is invested. Each year, only a portion of the income earned is spent while the remainder is added to the principal for growth. In this respect, a gift to the endowment is a perpetual gift.

Duchesne endowed scholarships begin at $50,000, funded fully at its initiation or made as a pledge, payable over up to five years. Donors may contribute any amount to an existing endowed program or pool resources with other like-minded individuals or companies to create a new endowment.

Endowed Scholarships

A gift designated for the endowment (minimum of $25,000, also known as the corpus) is left intact into perpetuity, with the interest earned used to provide scholarships as specified by the donors. Endowed scholarships are most often created in honor of a loved one, thus serving as a meaningful way to recognize one’s legacy at Duchesne. The histories of endowed scholarships tell beautiful stories about sacrifice, generosity, and a caring concern for the future of Sacred Heart students.

You are invited to contribute to these endowed scholarships with gifts added to the corpus. Your gift will join in the loving tribute to those for whom the scholarship has been established.

Please contact the Advancement Department with questions about endowed scholarships. 

• Tess Acuff Memorial Scholarship
• Frances and Leo A. Ambrose Endowed Scholarship
• Kathleen McCaffery Adams Memorial Scholarship
• Mary Gatewood Batchelder Memorial Scholarship
• Margaret Bradley Scholarship (OAEF)
• Elizabeth Thurmond Brownrigg Memorial Scholarship
• Children of Mary Scholarship
• Lucille R. Circo Memorial Scholarship
• Collingwood Fund
• Nora Condon Memorial Scholarship
• Jim Conway Memorial Scholarship
• Beverly Dillon Crotty Memorial Scholarship
• Clare “Tupper” Cunningham Scholarship (OAEF)
• Kelli Fitzgerald Draper Scholarship
• Ann Marie Assmann Duffy Memorial Scholarship
• Educator of the Sacred Heart
• Mary Jane McGowan Edney Memorial Scholarship
• W. ” Woody” and Jean M. Egermayer Scholarship
• Barbara Miskell Fitzgerald Scholarship
• Joanne Fitzpatrick RSCJ Scholarship
• Lois Flick Memorial Scholarship
• Catherine Ann Foley Memorial Scholarship
• James and Ruthellen Hollander Memorial Scholarship (OAEF)
• Sheila K. Haggas Honorary Scholarship
• Elizabeth McKim Hotz Hartigan Scholarship
• Tish Gardiner Hawkins Memorial Scholarship
• Dick and Peggy Herman Perpetual Scholarship
• Therese Quinlan Huerter Memorial Scholarship
• Katherine Schutz Kathol Scholarship
• Deb Kouba Memorial Scholarship
• Emily Kozlik Scholarship (OAEF)
• Anne Madden RSCJ Memorial Scholarship
• Margaret March Memorial Scholarship
• Betty Wranic Marchese Memorial Scholarship
• Marcil Family Scholarship
• Mary Jo Martin Scholarship
• Dorothy and Robert Matthews Memorial Scholarship
• Diane Hanus McCabe Memorial Scholarship
• Phoebe McCarthy Scholarship
• McElligott Family Memorial Scholarship
• Mary Jane Mullin Meyer Memorial Scholarship
• Clifford J. Miller Foundation Scholarship
• Adele Moore Memorial Scholarship
• Sarah Jane Nelson Memorial Scholarship
• The Nipp Family Scholarship
• Vita O’Connor and Margaret O’ Connor O’Neil Scholarship
• James and Joan Peter Scholarship Fund
• Rosemary Baudo Pogge Scholarship Fund
• Helen F. Proulx Memorial Scholarship
• Betsy J. Rahn Reed Scholarship
• Ivel Jones Reed Memorial Scholarship
• Daniel R. Reynolds Memorial Scholarship
• Yvonne Dascher Rucker Endowed Scholarship
• Mary Pat Ryan, RSCJ Alumnae Association Scholarship
• Sacre Coeur Honorary Scholarship
• Eugene Skinner Memorial Scholarship
• Saint Cecilia Pastor’s Scholarship
• Saint Patrick Scholarship
• Joan Kervick Sanders Memorial Scholarship
• Kate Sommer Literary Scholarship
• Maureen and Patricia Tighe Scholarship Fund
• Susan Boggust Zoucha Memorial Scholarship

Annual Scholarships are awarded each year based on gifts received that year. Most often awarded to a student whose family demonstrates financial need, annual scholarships make a Sacred Heart education possible for a student who otherwise would not be afforded such an opportunity. Annual scholarships are not endowed.

• The Bradley Family Scholarship
• Courtney Ann Emery Ministry Fund
• Angelyn Wollen Annual Scholarship
• Lori Fickenscher Zacher Memorial Scholarship

Click here to support an annual scholarship

“In this struggle concerning education, the Heart of Jesus asks from us not our blood but our minds. We must strengthen our studies by intellectual work.
Present day society will be saved by education.”– Madeleine Sophie Barat

The Sophie Society is an endowed fund that supports the stability and growth of faculty salaries so we might continue to attract and retain the most qualified, dedicated and inspired educators for future generations of Duchesne students. As with any endowment, the corpus is invested in a special account and remains there into perpetuity. The funds earned annually through the market return will be used to support faculty salaries and ensure that Duchesne continues to offer competitive salaries and maintain an exceptional teaching faculty.

Separate from annual giving, capital campaigns, or other fundraising priorities, the Sophie Society is a unique opportunity that involves the unification of women who share a love for Duchesne and Sacred Heart education. The goal of the Sophie Society is to secure pledges, in the amount of $1,000 a year, for five years in order to create a million dollar endowment. To ensure an opportunity for all, there are additional membership opportunities available. One is the Barat Family membership which involves any number of women joining efforts and together pledging $1,000 a year for five years. There is also a Little Sister membership available to women age 35 and younger who pledge $100 a year for five years. You may indicate which membership you prefer on the Sophie Society pledge card.

Please contact our Advancement Department to learn more about joining the Sophie Society. 

The Duchesne Fund is an annual giving program that supports the school’s operational costs. Between 65-70% of the school's total operating revenue is from tuition; the remaining amount is a result of fundraising efforts. Your gift to the Duchesne Fund helps make up the difference between the cost of tuition and the true cost to educate each student. It immediately supports an education that carefully balances technology and the liberal arts, retreats, service learning, health and wellness, and other initiatives that remain important components of educating the whole student. 

The Duchesne Fund includes:

• Alumnae Drive
• Friend/Past Parent Drive
• Grandparent Drive
• Parent Drive

Click here to support the Duchesne Fund

You are able to specify which drive you'd like to support under "designation".

Gifts may be made to Duchesne in Memorium or in honor of a loved one. Memorial gifts are often a source of comfort during an otherwise difficult time as they help carry on the legacy of a loved one who has passed away. You may also make a donation in honor of a loved one's birthday, anniversary, or other momentous occasions. Please indicate the name of the person you wish to memorialize or honor.

Click here to make a Memorial League/Living Tribute gift

Your gift to the preschool helps offset the cost of supplies, curriculum and technology, and benefits families who qualify for need-based tuition assistance.

Click here to support our Preschool

Restricted gifts support specific expenses that are above and beyond the operations budget. Please indicate the project for which your gift is restricted.

Click here to make a restricted gift