Ten Reasons to Give to Starr King
#10: Tuition is not enough.
Tuition only covers 37% of the cost of education at Starr King. Community support is critical to helping our hard-working students become progressive religious leaders. Funding for cutting-edge technologies and quality faculty are vital for Starr King to excel.
#9: Open doors of opportunity.
Many of our students could not afford a Starr King education without scholarship assistance. Your gift to SKSM helps to clear a path to ministry for many students. Growth and learning grants help students to make the most of their SKSM education.
#8: Invest in today’s students, tomorrow’s leaders.
Our deep partnerships, and our adaptive model of learning stand at the cutting edge of theological education. Our commitment to distance learning means that anyone who wants a Starr King education can have one— whether for a weekend, or a week, or an online class, or an immersion, or a certificate, or a degree.
#7: Help SKSM attract major gifts and grants.
Foundations and corporations often consider charitable support to be an indication of merit. For example, they may look at the percent of alumni giving, the percent of employee giving and the total dollars raised each year when evaluating a grant application. Your gift sends a signal to these outside funders that Starr King is worthy of their support.
#6: Maintain the value of a SKSM degree.
Giving is key factor considered by The Association of Theological Schools (ATS), the body through which Starr King School for the Ministry is accredited. Especially if you are a graduate of SKSM, your gift will help SKSM maintain our accreditation and increase our reputation, thereby increasing the value of your degree. Even a small gift makes a difference.
#5: It doesn’t take much!
Your gift, combined with the gifts of others, can have a very powerful impact, regardless of the amount. No gift is too small to make a difference! Together we can reach our goals but we need your participation.
#4: It’s a worthy tradition.
The Starr King School for the Ministry has been educating people for Unitarian Universalist ministry and progressive religious leadership since 1904. SKSM has been sustained by generous gifts at every step along the way. Our roots are deep in the fertile soil of Unitarian Universalism and our branches embrace the multi-religious life and learning that will matter most in this new century. It is vital that today our alumni and friends carry on this important tradition of generosity.
#3: Amplify your values.
When you give to SKSM, you are giving to students who are also future ministers and religious leaders. Your gift to Starr King therefore also benefits hundreds of thousands of laypeople and others who will be touched and healed by the ministries that our students will create.
#2: The world needs Starr King School for the Ministry.
The world is currently at a tipping point. Humankind can choose to take a path of destruction, hatred and totalitarianism or human beings can chart a path of creation and renewal that is life-affirming. We train religious leaders who can facilitate this turn toward goodwill and liberation. The ministers and progressive religious leaders who are educated at Starr King have the tools to help us navigate the crisis and heal the world.
#1: Now is the time…
Make an investment in SKSM so that it can expand its mission to equip ministers to foster communities of resistance and hope. Too much is at stake to continue to let some potential Starr King students attend other seminaries for financial reasons while others handicap their future ministries by incurring too much student debt. SKSM is a unique and precious institution and the time is now to make a gift which will be tangible evidence of the hope we all share for how this institution can change the world.