About SLC // Donate

The 2010 Alumni Drive runs from February 1, 2010 until January 29, 2011.  Gifts to the Alumni Drive are used to support this year’s scholarships. This is camp’s greatest current need.

To make a donation on line, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page.  If you prefer to pay by check, please download and print our donation form.

Giving Opportunites
There are many good reasons for making a charitable gift to Surprise Lake Camp, and many ways in which your gift can help!

Your gift to Surprise Lake Camp enables us to provide camping experiences for children who otherwise could not afford them. Here is a short list of things these children get from these experiences:

• Skills for getting along with others
• Greater independence and self-esteem
• Stronger, healthier Jewish identities
• Better athletic and artistic skills
• Active summers that promote physical fitness
• Respite from homes or neighborhoods that are troubled
• An appreciation of the beauty of nature and the responsibility to protect it
• Lifelong friends
• Fun and adventure

Annual Alumni Drive
Each year, we receive contributions from our alumni, parents, friends, and vendors toward our scholarship appeal.  These gifts provide direct support to disadvantaged children, allowing them to attend Surprise Lake Camp.  In 2009 alone, SLC awarded over $910,000 in scholarships to children who would not otherwise have been able to attend camp.

Contributions in Memory or in Honor
Contributions to SLC are a great way to honor someone special, celebrate an occasion, or memorialize a loved one.  Gifts can be used for scholarships, or for other purposes depending on the wishes of the donor.  Prompt personal letters of acknowledgment are sent for these (and all!) gifts.  When sending a gift in honor or in memory of someone, please indicate the purpose of the gift and the name and address of the person to be notified.  When requested, gifts of $100 or more for a special occasion will result in the honoree receiving a beautiful, full-color certificate.

Actual size of certificate is 8 1/2 x 11.

Gifts of Stock
Charitable contributions to Surprise Lake Camp are tax-deductible.  However, there is an additional benefit to giving appreciated stock.  If you hold marketable securities that would result in a long-term capital gain if sold, their outright gift to SLC could mean significant tax savings since you are not required to pay capital gains tax on securities you donate, but can still deduct the full value of the gift.

Capital Gifts
Camp has many opportunities for endowing scholarships, staff positions, or programs, as well as naming gifts for buildings or recreational facilities.  We also welcome major gifts to fund donor-initiated projects.  Capital gifts are typically given in addition to annual Alumni Drive donations.

Matching Gifts
A number of organizations participate in charitable matching gift programs.  If your company provides this opportunity to double or even triple your gift, include a matching gift form from your personnel office with your gift to Surprise Lake Camp.

Do you give to United Way?
If the answer is yes, please consider asking that your gift go to Surprise Lake Camp.  We are a United Way agency, and we are proud of it!  One of the benefits is that United Way donors can earmark their contributions to go to us.  You will still get credit for a gift to United Way, but the money will benefit camp directly, and we will use it to improve our program and help campers who cannot afford our full fee.

United Way Agency # 001311