As 2023 draws to a close, we reflect on our impact thus far and look forward to next year’s potential for positive change.

You can leave a powerful, lasting mark by making a year-end gift to Mississippi State University. Your contribution supports the vital mission of higher education, empowers students to pursue their dreams, enables researchers to make groundbreaking discoveries, and helps communities thrive.

Beyond the potential tax benefits, your gifts can serve as heartfelt gestures for loved ones, allowing individuals to honor or remember cherished family members and mentors through contributions to MSU.

Your gift can also positively impact areas across the universitythat matter most to you. These allow MSU to:

• support students
• establish endowed faculty positions
• advance research initiatives
• bolster service programs
• strengthen athletics
• contribute to specific colleges or schools or 
• pursue other areas of interest

Moreover, there are numerous ways to make a gift to MSU, from annual contributions and gifts of stock to multi-year endowments and planned gifts—including gift annuities, bequests, and IRA rollovers.

If you're considering any last-minute charitable gifts, one to keep in mind is an IRA rollover gift, or qualified charitable distribution (QCD). If you are 70½ or older, you can roll over up to $100,000 from your IRA to Mississippi State. You won’t be taxed on the transfer, and it may count towards your required minimum distribution. Unique giving opportunities also exist through gifts of real estate and timberland, facilitated by MSU’s Bulldog Properties and The Bulldog Forest programs.

Are you still interested in a 2023 charitable tax deduction? Good news! All gifts and pledge payments processed through the MSU Foundation by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2023, will be recognized as 2023 tax-deductible contributions. Just like online transactions, checks must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2023, and sent to:

The MSU Foundation
Post Office Box 6149
Mississippi State, MS 39762

Contributions made after this time will be allocated to 2024.

If you have any questions about making a gift, please contact Lynn Durr, director of gift administration for the MSU Foundation, at 662.325.8918 or ldurr@advservices.msstate.edu.

While Mississippi State University's campuses will be closed for the winter holidays beginning Dec. 20, 2023, the MSU Foundation’s secure website remains accessible around the clock. 

We encourage all credit card payments, especially those after Dec. 18, 2023, to be made through https://www.msufoundation.com/givenow.

The MSU Foundation's professional team is available year-round to provide guidance on gift planning. You can find a complete staff list at www.msufoundation.com. The MSU Foundation offices and Mississippi State University will resume regular operations on Jan. 2, 2024.

In this season of giving, let us come together to invest in a brighter future for all, and make a difference that will resonate far beyond the calendar year.