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MORE ABOUT GIVING

Types of Donations

Donations to the Foundation are categorized as either “Designated” or “Un-Designated,” meaning that if you wish to support – in a tax-deductible way – a specific sports booster club, for example, the Foundation’s Trustees will see that your donation goes only to the program or organization that you have designated. When you make a general, or un-designated, contribution the Trustees will use the donation to support and improve student access to the “Four-A’s” – Agriculture, Academics, Arts and Athletics – in a balanced manner. We may also use general donations to support larger projects and fundraising campaigns established in conjunction with the TJUHS District Board and Administration. Which is a long way to say that sometimes we take on big projects to benefit the District and the Tulare community.

Donations from Individuals

As with any philanthropic organization, the Foundation relies most heavily on the generosity of individuals in our community. Some are simply supporters of the Tulare community as a whole, or alumni who wish to provide for our current High Schools and students. Some of our donors, on the other hand, are parents or relatives of students and wish to provide financial support a specific sport or club in which their student is enrolled through a Designated donation. In both cases, however, they are contributing through the tax-exempt Foundation, and this is specifically why the Foundation was set up. And we will provide you with a receipt for your donation that hopefully will help you out at tax time.

We are very happy to receive donations at our mailing address at any time, and the Trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to utilize your donation as you wish. If no designation is made either on the check or in an accompanying note, we will default to our support for the “4-A’s”. But you should feel free to designate funds for a specific purpose if you wish. That can be a general designation, such as “Agriculture,” or a very specific request such as “Mission Oak Girls Volleyball Uniforms.”

Donations from Businesses

Business and industry in the greater Tulare area are among our largest supporters, and this makes sense because giving back to the Tulare community through the High School Foundation has direct, positive effects for companies doing business here.

First, it is an investment in the development of our local Tulare workforce. We constantly hear from businesses that finding qualified local workers is a mission-critical endeavor, especially in the “post-Covid” world we now live in. When your company invests in our Tulare High Schools, you are not only supporting the children of some of your workforce, you are developing the future workforce for years to come. The TJUHS District and Administration work hard at establishing programs, Academies, and Paths that are relevant to our students as well as our employment environment. We very much need an increase in the financial backing on the part of local businesses to support those efforts. This is not only self-serving, but tax-deductible as well!

Second, the Foundation can serve as your “gatekeeper” for the many, many individual requests for donations that your business receives from booster clubs, sports programs, etc. One of our most important Foundation partners provides us with an annual large donation and then re-directs all individual requests for funding to the Foundation. We are not only happy to provide this service, it’s part of our job as Trustees. And if you wish to designate some or all of your donation to specific programs we will honor that request.

In summary, local business and industry support for the Tulare High School Foundation achieves several objectives you already value: local workforce development, improvement of our schools – thereby making it easier to attract talent to Tulare, and eliminating the time you spend dealing with numerous individual donation requests. Please contact us directly to discuss your direct support for the Foundation.