Private giving to the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) helps to ensure that the college and our departments can continue to meet the diverse educational needs of our students. Although much of the support for our college comes in the form of cash donations, many donors choose to leave their legacy, and realize tremendous tax savings, through a planned gift. A planned gift is simply defined as a donation that requires some form of planning. Whether you seek to avoid capital gains taxes on appreciated stocks or are looking to transfer assets into a life-long income stream, there are countless planned giving vehicles that can create a win-win situation for you and our students. Several common planned giving vehicles include:
Gifts of Stocks and Securities
This giving option involves gifting a number of shares of stock that you already own. In most cases, this option allows you to bypass capital gains taxes and can even be tax deductible. The procedure simply entails a broker transferring stocks to an account owned by the UWSP Foundation. You can typically deduct the entire value of the stocks donated.
Gifts of Life Income
A gift of life income is one way for you to make a substantial gift to the benefit students while realizing an immediate tax deduction and a generous life-long revenue stream. Under this option, you can make a contribution to the UWSP Foundation, which is invested. The annual earnings on this investment are then paid to you or your beneficiary through over a
Gifts of Real Estate
The income tax benefits of gifts of real estate are similar to gifts of appreciated securities. You can avoid paying capital gains taxes on the appreciated value and receive a deduction for the full market value of the property. Gifts of property such as land, farms, or personal residences can be transferred by deed to the UWSP Foundation with no liability for income, estate or gift taxes on the appreciated amount.
Gifts of Life Insurance
Gifts of life insurance may allow you to give much more than you may otherwise through a cash gift. To establish a gift of insurance you can simply name the UWSP Foundation as the primary or secondary (contingent) beneficiary of a life insurance policy. While this offers no immediate income tax deduction under current tax law, the death benefit passes on to the UWSP Foundation free of any estate tax liability for your heirs. You can also name the UWSP Foundation as the owner of a life insurance policy; either a policy owned now or a new policy purchased specifically for this purpose.
Gifts of Bequest
The most common form of a planned gift, a bequest, gives you the opportunity to provide for others beyond your lifetime. For many naming the UWSP Foundation as the beneficiary on a will or trust document means making a much larger gift than otherwise possible while still drawing an income from their investments. Such bequests are exempt from federal and state estate taxes, and when properly planned can even increase the amount of an estate passed onto your heirs. You may make specific bequests of property, or allocate a percent or dollar amount from your estate in your will. Another method is to allocate “the residue” of an estate, or what is remaining after all other bequests or terms of a will have been met.
Corporate/Business Partnerships
Private funding plays a critical role in sustaining liberal arts education. While public funding fluctuates, donor and corporate support provide stability. Your support directly strengthens educational quality, expands opportunity, and ensures that future generations develop the creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills that today’s workforce needs.
- Align your brand with creativity, culture, and community impact.
- Gain visibility with engaged arts-loving audiences.
- Retention tool for your employees.
- Demonstrate meaningful community investment.
Partners play a vital role in ensuring these programs remain vibrant, inclusive, and impactful! Click here to learn more about Partnerships in the College of Fine Arts & Communication.
Create a COFAC Student Scholarship
The Need
Scholarship support makes a critical difference to deserving students who could not otherwise fulfill their dreams of earning a college degree.Today, half of UWSP students are the first in their family to pursue a college education and more than 72% of our students receive some form of financial aid. Tuition increases and cuts to federal and state aid have tremendously increased the need for scholarship support.
Our ability to offer generous scholarships helps to recruit and retain the most promising students while providing an investment in our students’ futures as they prepare to become trailblazers, not only regionally, but throughout the world.
Establishing a scholarship endowment ensures that a transformational UWSP education will be accessible to outstanding and deserving young people for generations. It’s also a very meaningful way to honor family, friends and faculty.
Ways to Give
Many generous alumni and friends contribute to enhance the impact of any of our existing scholarship funds. Each department and many emphasis areas have established scholarship funds making it easy to invest in student success. Gifts can be made in honor, memory or celebration of an individual, experience or milestone.
Annual named scholarships can be established with an outright gift. Unlike an endowed scholarship described below, an annual scholarship is not a permanent fund and is awarded only as long as contributions are made to the fund.
Endowed scholarship funds are designed to be permanent and perpetual. Investments in endowed scholarships can be contributed in full at the outset or with an initial commitment that is added to over time. The principal of the fund is invested with other UWSP Foundation assets to produce income, and annual awards are made to students.
Frequently Asked Questions About Creating a COFAC Scholarship
What are the tax benefits of funding a scholarship?
An outright gift in the form of cash or appreciated securities will allow you to receive immediate tax benefits in the year you make the gift to the UWSP Foundation.
You may also provide for your scholarship in your estate plans. Estate gifts or planned gifts are an easy way to establish a scholarship without affecting your current income or assets.
How are scholarships named and how is the selection criteria established?
You can establish a scholarship in your own name or choose to name it for a friend, family member or a favorite faculty member. Our Development Director will work with you to draft the criteria according to your intentions of the scholarship.
How are scholarships awarded?
Scholarships are typically offered through individual departments, or program areas. A selection committee carefully reviews each application and selects the most deserving recipient(s) per the donor’s selection criteria.
Will I receive notification when a student is awarded the scholarship?
You will be notified annually when the scholarship recipient(s) has been selected. Further, you and your scholarship recipient will also be invited to a scholarship reception if one is held, typically in spring.
Please Support the College of Fine Arts and Communication
We are very proud of the long-established, excellent programs in the college and hope that you will consider helping us maintain our presence in the community. Remember, the better our students and graduates do, the better your alma mater looks in terms of quality and reputation. Helping your school helps you!
The media studies students from Pointer Studios recently shared the impact of a gift that allowed them to travel to Los Angeles, CA to tour studios and learn from professionals in the industry.
Friends of COFAC
In the summer of 2018, the college launched its first Advisory Council including members from the regional community. In 2025, the group was renamed Friends of COFAC whose mission is to support the work of and advocate for the College of Fine Arts & Communication by engaging our local and wider communities.
If you would like to formally join the Friends of COFAC group or know of anyone who would have an interest in supporting our mission, please let us know!
Suggested Funds
Not sure where you gift should go? Check below to find a fund that matches your interests!
College of Fine Arts and Communication Funds
- 4259—COFAC Fund for Excellence: Helps ensure the college can address critical needs, enhance programs, support faculty development, and provide student scholarships.
- 4234—COFAC Great Artists and Speakers Fund: Brings guest artists and speakers to UWSP for direct interaction with students, campus, and the community.
- 8165—COFAC Creative Fund: Supports projects that are interdisciplinary between departments in the college as well as across campus and with the community.
School of Design and Communication Funds
- 9412—Design and Communication Fund: Supports student scholarships, guest artists, faculty professional development, and other School priorities.
- 4624—Art and Design Enhancement Fund: Supports student scholarships, guest artists, supplies, faculty professional development, and other priorities in Art & Design.
- 4257- Interior Architecture Program Excellence Fund: Supports student scholarships, faculty professional development, and other priorities in Interior Architecture.
- 4285—Communication Development Fund: Supports student scholarships, guest speakers, faculty professional development, and other priorities in Professional Communication and Media Studies.
School of Performing Arts Funds
- 4131—Friends of Music: Supports student scholarships, guest artists, faculty professional development, and other department priorities.
- 4618—Backstage Fund: Supports student scholarships, production enhancements, guest artists, faculty professional development, and other department priorities.
- 3579 – Paul Palombo Memorial Scholarship: Supports student scholarships in Arts Management
Aber Suzuki Center Fund
4853—Suzuki Education Enhancement Fund: Supports programming and scholarships for the Aber Suzuki Center.
Name Your Seat
You can name a seat in Michelsen Hall or Jenkins Theatre and a plaque will be placed on the seat you choose! After making your gift, you will see a window to indicate the wording you would like on your seat. Each inscription/wording can only be 2 lines of 30 characters, including spaces. We will try to accommodate requests for a particular seat but cannot guarantee that it has not already been named. Click here to name your seat today!
Click GIVE NOW to visit the online giving page.
(When making your gift, select Designation: Other Specific Fund, and type in a fund number from above.)
Learn more at Realize the Power of a Gift
Click for UWSP Foundation information
CONTACT US
For more information about the College of Fine Arts and Communication’s needs or to inquire about making a gift, please contact us.
upcoming cofac events
The College of Fine Arts and Communication offers more than 500 events open to the public each academic year! These include dance, music, and theater performances, master classes, guest artists, gallery exhibitions, SPTV broadcasts, WWSP radio programs, media and video productions among many other student-created pieces.
While the academic year has concluded, we have an exciting summer ahead! Watch our website for the 2026-27 theatre and dance season announcement, free public concerts during the American Suzuki Institute this July, Carlsten Gallery exhibits and more!