Make an Impact
Your gift supports GPCS’s mission and helps us invest in our students, faculty, and facilities. Every contribution—no matter the size—strengthens our Christian community.
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Give
Greater Portland Christian School has served our community for more than 50 years with your continued support.
Sharing your time, talent, and treasure all make a significant impact on our school, the students, and the families. Each year we rely on our Annual Fund to support our operating budget. These funds are raised though our Holiday Wreath and Poinsettia Sale, our Bowlathon and our annual appeals, are critical to our yearly budget, and support the school tremendously.
In recognition of reaching our 50-year milestone, we are launching a Capital Campaign to raise funds for more specific needs outside of our operating budget. The initiatives listed below provide for both physical plant and programmatic needs are essential we launch into the next decade.
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Growing the GPCS Family GPCS’s 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign
Donating to the GPCS 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign is an investment in GPCS’s People, Places and Programs.
The Goal:
- Attract and retain new families.
- Lay a foundation for Increasing faculty and staff salaries;
- Attain accreditation; and
- Build or purchase a new facility.
People: Strengthening Educators
- Provide continuing education and training for faculty and administrators;
- developing skills and expertise;
- Hire a full-time maintenance position;
- ensure facilities are clean and in good order;
- relieve burden on Head of School to focus on strategic vision;
- Plan for an Assistant Head of School position;
- shifting administrative duties from teaching staff;
- strengthening administration.
Places: An Environment for Learning
- Increase the appeal of GPCS to new families and visitors;
- Focus on cosmetic and safety repairs to our building:
- Repairing broken light fixtures in classrooms and hallways;
- Fixing aging windows;
- Buying brand new furniture for classrooms, including desks, chairs, and tables;
- Performing cosmetic repairs and painting on the outside of the building;
- Prayerfully seek God’s will for His provision of a new building.
Programs: Excellence in Christian Education
- Invest in Development, including a digital marketing campaign to attract new families who have not heard about GPCS;
- Reestablish our international student program, bringing diverse new perspectives to GPCS;
- Replace outdated lab equipment for STEM classes, making our science and math programs more appealing;
- Provide additional funding for the arts program to encourage a return of the robust theater and music programs of the past.
If you willing to support the future growth of GPCS with a donation to the 50th anniversary Capital Campaign, please go https://gpcs.net/donate-online/
Please be sure to clearly reference the 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign in the “Purpose for this donation” textbox on that page.
Why Give to GPCS?
Tuition and fees cover only about 80% of what it actually costs to educate a student here at GPCS leaving an unfunded gap of about 20% for every student. Tuition does not cover program enhancements or facility improvements—it just helps keep our school running. We do not receive any government funding to operate Greater Portland Christian School.
This difference between tuition revenue and the actual cost of education is made up through the giving of those who truly value the life-changing impact of Greater Portland Christian School. Generosity and sacrifice have been a tradition at GPCS since its founding. Although the school has grown and changed over the years, the generosity of our school family and our local community has been a constant for which we are entirely grateful.
So why give?
- You are making it possible for area Christian families to choose for their children an academically sound program which reinforces—not contradicts—the biblical values of their homes and churches.
- You are partnering with the Christian home, church, and school to evangelize and disciple the minds and hearts of the next generation.
- You are equipping children and youth with the kind of intellectual and spiritual foundation necessary for success in the 21st
- This kind of school can only exist if it receives the generous and sacrificial support of our extended school family and the local community.
- The sacrificial giving of our families and friends in the past laid the foundation for what our current students enjoy; now it is our turn to “pay it forward.”
- The graduates of this school are going to make a real impact on their world, and we can be a part of that by our giving.
Ultimately, the most compelling reason to give to GPCS is that every gift, regardless of the amount, is an investment in future generations of Christians.
Ways to Give
Greater Portland Christian School is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and gifts to the school are tax-deductible. Here are some of the ways you can help us continue to make a solid Christian education available in the greater Portland area:
Current Gifts
These are made in the current year, and the school may utilize and access them immediately:
- Cash
- Stocks, Bonds, and Other Appreciated Securities
- Real Estate
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
- Charitable Lead Trusts
- Tangible Personal Property
Deferred Gifts
These are directly connected to your financial or estate plan, in order to enable GPCS to meet future needs and goals. Such gifts include:
- Bequests
- Charitable Gift Annuities
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
- Life Insurance
- Retirement Assets
Categories of Gifts
Unrestricted gifts: Gifts without specific restrictions; use determined by the school
Restricted gifts: Gifts whose purpose is designated by the donor (Restricted gifts are accepted based on their consistency with the school’s mission, goals, and priorities).
Gifts in Kind: Gifts of tangible personal property that are in good condition, useful in educational programming, and/or readily salable. It is the donor’s responsibility to place a value on an in-kind gift for tax purposes.
Honor/Memorial gifts: Gifts in honor of or in memory of an individual(s) or family. The GPCS Business Office will notify the honoree(s) and/or the family of those remembered. Efforts involving the physical placement of a plaque, tree, or other items in memorial or tribute of someone must be submitted to the GPCS Finance Committee for approval.
Naming Gifts: Naming gifts should equal at least 51% of the total construction costs of a facility, and are accepted based on their consistency with the school’s mission, goals, and priorities. A similar formula is used for the naming of rooms or other sections of a facility.
Annual Fund Campaign: Our Annual Fund campaign consists of fundraising events and letter appeals to our current families, alumni families, friends, businesses, and churches. The campaign raises unrestricted money to support the operating budget, which includes instructional materials, programming, equipment and technology, as well as faculty salaries, faculty development, and facility maintenance. The Annual Fund is the primary means to make up the difference between what is paid in tuition and the real cost of educating each student. Annual Fund contributions are tax-deductible, whereas tuition is not. Gifts to the Annual Fund also help fund our Tuition Assistance Program.
Major Gifts: Major gift contributions support specific projects, equipment, or programs (typically capital needs that are not part of the operating budget).
Tuition Assistance Program: Our Tuition Assistance Program makes the difference for some families being able to have their children receive a Christian education. Contributions toward this fund are greatly needed and greatly appreciated. However, contributions cannot be designated for specific students. All donations toward this program go into the general Tuition Assistance Program fund. The donations are pooled with existing funds to allocate to students in need who have applied for aid and have met the criteria.
For any questions about giving to GPCS, please contact the Business Office at 207-808-8350, ext. 201.
Passive Giving
“Passive” fundraising lets you contribute to GPCS while doing your everyday shopping. While these programs do not require a cash contribution, each seemingly small contribution adds up in a big way to benefit a variety of GPCS programs.
AmazonSmile Program
Amazon will give a portion of most of your Amazon purchases to GPCS if you simply start your Amazon shopping at smile.amazon.com and (on your first visit) designate “Greater Portland Christian School Association” as your charitable organization. The site is identical to amazon.com; you use your regular Amazon account to do your shopping. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same.
Once you have designated GPCS as your charitable organization, Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com in the future will result in a donation to GPCS.
We hope that you will use smile.amazon.com from now on, and that you will also pass this message on to your friends and family. The more people who use smile.amazon.com and designate Greater Portland Christian School, the more money will go to GPCS! It does not cost you anything extra and helps our school a lot!
General Mills Box Tops for Education
Cash is awarded to the school for box tops from qualifying General Mills, Betty Crocker, and Pillsbury products with the “Box Tops for Education” logo. Simply clip your box tops, check the expiration date, and set them aside for future collection. Our earnings from this program go toward playground improvement. Encourage your friends, family, and church to support GPCS in this very easy way.