Support Grace
Support Grace
Join the Grace Community School mission to teach Jesus
Our Community Is Engaged, Involved, and Generous.
We are fortunate to have an involved community, and we are indebted to our many supporters who make a financial investment into the school each year. Teaching Jesus to every child requires the support of the entire Grace community through your participation, gifts of time, and financial contributions.
At Grace, tuition and fees cover the cost of an education. Grace depends on the generosity of its board, faculty and staff, current parents, grandparents, alumni families and friends to help families afford a Grace education through the Grace Fund, special projects and campus expansion.
We invite you to support Grace in our many initiatives that help to make a difference in the life of every student.
“The Grace family is an environment where our kids can learn and be loved, challenged, encouraged and, maybe most importantly, a place they love to go to every day.”
Where can I make a difference?
Grace is not just a school to us, it is part of our family and always will be. We will forever be grateful for the sacrifices of those who give [to the Grace Fund] so that our kids can go to an awesome Christian school that teaches them Jesus!
Why Give?
Stewardship
Whether you have already invested in Grace Community School or are considering investing, we think it’s important you know our philosophy of biblical stewardship.
God Owns it All
God has provided us with all of our time, wealth, possessions, abilities and resources. He owns everything. These resources are His gifts to us, which He will use to accomplish wonderful things for His Kingdom. (1 Chronicles 29:14)
Our Giving Is to God
Giving is a worshipful, obedient act of returning to God from what He has provided. (Philippians 4:17-18)
Our Giving Is a Reflection of What We Treasure
From God’s Kingdom view, our giving becomes a tool to further God’s work on earth. (Lk. 12:34, 1 Tim. 6:17-19)
We Are to Manage God's Resources
Since God owns everything, we are called to be managers or stewards of all that God entrusts to them, to honor and glorify Him. (1 Pt. 4:10, Lk. 16)
God Desires That We Give Cheerfully
While faithful stewardship is our responsibility, God desires that our giving would come from a heart motivated by joy. Our desire is to encourage people in their journey of stewardship, that they might discover or continue in the joy of giving. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
Our Commitment to You
- Rely on Scripture to guide our fundraising practices
- Rely on the Holy Spirit to prompt hearts to give
- View giving as an act of obedient worship to God
- Invest time in building Kingdom relationships
- Work with integrity in all we say and do
- Listen to the hearts of our donors
- Join together in prayer as partners in ministry
- Value every gift, regardless of size
- Communicate clearly and regularly with those in partnership with us
- Vow to be effective stewards of the gifts entrusted to us by our ministry partners
- Seek and value accountability
What Is Our Role?
The mission of Grace Community School’s Advancement Office is to build authentic partnerships that promote and inspire personal life transformation through biblical stewardship. We stand ready to assist you so that you can steward all God has entrusted to your care. Our purpose is to share opportunities and invite God’s people to invest in God’s Kingdom through the mission and vision of Grace Community School.
As a result of honoring God with a biblical approach to our giving and asking practices, we believe that in God’s time, He will supply all our needs.
“We have been so thankful over the years for the support to families like ours who could not send a child to Grace without financial aid. We believe God led us to choose Grace for our child.”
Ways to Give
Gifts Anyone Can Make
Some gifts do not have to cost you anything today but support our mission in the future. These gifts include naming Grace Community School as a beneficiary of your:
- Will or living trust
- Qualified retirement plan (IRA, 403(b), 401(k), etc.)
- Life insurance policy
- Donor-advised fund
How It Works
- Name Grace Community School in your will, codicil to your will, living trust or as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, life insurance policy or donor-advised fund
- Designate your gift for a particular purpose that is important to you, or allow us to use the gift where the need is greatest at the time it matures
- Indicate a set amount, a percentage or the remaining balance to benefit our mission
Benefits
- Your assets remain in your control during your lifetime
- You can modify your gift at any time to address changing circumstances
- You can direct your gift to a particular purpose (be sure to check with us to make sure your gift can be used as intended)
- Under current federal tax law there is no upper limit on the estate tax deduction for your charitable gifts
Cash, Check or Credit Cards
3025 University Blvd.
Tyler, TX 75703
Make A Pledge
Honorariums & Memorials
Other Gifts
Recurring Gifts
Give Stocks or Securities
Beneficiary: Grace Community School
Broker: SWS Financial
Ms. Debbie Todd
dtodd@swsfinancial.com
(903) 253-0225
To ensure proper credit in a timely fashion and receipt to the proper GCS account, please inform Tim Connor, Director of Advancement, when the stock transfer takes place. Please include the name of the donor and type and number of shares to expect.
Matching Gifts
Donor-Advised Funds
Campus Expansion
Moving Forward
Over the last 40 years, we have grown our enrollment, invested in our teachers, integrated technology into our curriculum and carefully stewarded our finances. As we turn our focus to what comes next, we recognize that in order to succeed, we must build that future upon our foundation of tradition and biblical values.
This future is not simply about new buildings. It will be built upon keeping our tuition affordable; ensuring rich diversity within our student community; and providing what the school founders intended: an education rooted in Teaching Jesus that allows our teachers to identify each student’s unique gifts and talents and empower them to achieve what God intended.
Grace Community School is working on plans for a new middle school facility. As you know in the early 1990’s, Grace Community School experienced explosive growth, expanding beyond its borders. Grace moved its junior high classes, 6th through 8th grade into a 15-year-old building on University Boulevard. Now, the building is at the end of its usable life cycle; soil shifting and erosion issues are deteriorating the foundation to the point that the building will soon no longer be feasible for continued use as the junior high building.
In 2016, as Grace Community School leaders pondered these issues, God intervened in the form of an offer to purchase the property immediately adjoining the school, on the corner of Lazy Creek and University Boulevard. This property provides a creative and strategic new way for Grace to achieve its long-term strategic goals, as well as providing a functional, attractive space for what will be known as Grace Community Middle School.
Grace has entered in to an agreement to purchase that facility and property at the end of this school year. This will be part of an overall master plan on both upper and lower campuses that will finish out both campuses, and create an open, green campus feel on the upper campus.
We will be in a position to reveal more about these plans soon, as our master planning task force finishes its work. We will need everyone’s prayers and resources, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to make this a reality.
Campus Expansion Timeline
September 2016
The Executive Steering Committee met for the first time. The following members were appointed:
- Rebecca & Andy Brink
- Jennifer Carson
- Shannon & Chris Glenney
- Mandy & Larry Powell
- Whit Riter
- Susan & Steve Smith
“…as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The {person} who plants and the {person} who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to {their} own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Corporate Partnerships
Opportunities
Grace Community School is committed to fostering a mutually beneficial relationship with the business community as we prepare the next generation of community leaders.
There are numerous opportunities for corporate involvement with Grace. Opportunities include financially supporting our award-winning fine arts programs, Cougar athletic event partnerships, sponsoring student events and activities, and visibility at event venues. Partnership opportunities provide corporations a means to expand their community profile while accessing valuable benefits.
Interested in showing your support while also advertising your services to a highly coveted audience?
Please contact Gillian Sheridan for more information.
Meet Our Team
Tim Connor
Director of Advancement
Tim began his career at Grace in 2010 after a teaching career in Dallas and serving as head of school at a small school in Pennsylvania. In 2014, he became the director of advancement with oversight in admissions and capital improvements. In his spare time, Tim coaches seventh grade basketball. Tim received his bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree from Baptist Bible College in Organizational Leadership. He is also a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). Tim and his wife, Julie, have two children at Grace: Kelsey and Jackson. Tim loves people, encouraging generosity, and serving at Grace Community Church and other local non-profits.
Gillian Sheridan
Director of Development
Gillian has worked in television broadcasting for about 30 years and anchors the CBS19 This Morning news program weekdays. In addition, she joined Grace Community School as the Director of Development in 2016. For the past 20 years, she has been raising money as a volunteer benefiting east Texas nonprofits. She feels blessed to now be raising money for Grace and impacting students’ lives.
Gillian received her bachelor’s degree from the University of St.Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She and her husband, James, have two daughters at Grace. She is also involved in her church, Green Acres Baptist Church.
Gillian is very passionate about helping foster children and is an advocate for adoption. She has spent the past 17 years working to find children a forever family by featuring more than 700 foster children on her weekly CBS19 segment called Children are a Gift, based on Psalms 127:3.
Susan Kelly
Advancement Assistant/Campaign Coordinator
Susan Kelly has worked as an administrative assistant to the Advancement Department at Grace since 2012, assuming the additional role of Campaign Coordinator in 2016. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Tyler. Susan and her husband, Todd, have two sons at Grace.
FAQs
Q. Why give to Grace Community School?
Q. How do I make my gift?
Q. What size gift should I make, and when should I make it?
The funding schedule for the Grace Fund coincides with Grace’s fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. Your annual gift made during this time frame is appreciated.
Q. Can I designate my gift to a specific part of the school?
Q. Is my gift tax-deductible?
Q. What are matching gifts?
Q. Can the school accept gifts other than cash?
“We have received financial aid for several years and because of it, we are able to provide our kids with what we feel is the best Christian education available”