Cause area
Leave a legacy for Education & Opportunity
Rigorous studies show some education programs, like intensive tutoring and teaching children at their actual level, produce large learning gains per dollar.
Why it matters
Not every education dollar is equal. A review of 96 randomized trials found that tutoring raised achievement by an average of 0.37 standard deviations, with the biggest gains when trained tutors work with students during the school day.
Globally, education experts rate three approaches as "Great Buys": telling families what schooling is worth, structured lesson plans with ongoing teacher support, and teaching children at their actual level rather than their grade.
Sources:
Where an extra dollar goes furthest
These are the kinds of programs our research looks at first in this cause. With a research-guided gift, specific organizations are chosen when your gift arrives, so it can go to what works best then.
High-dosage tutoring
Frequent small-group tutoring by trained tutors during the school day.
Structured teaching
Lesson plans, materials and coaching that help teachers teach well.
Teaching at the right level
Grouping students by what they know, so no one is left behind.
College completion
Scholarships and coaching that help first-generation students finish a degree.
Three ways to give to education
Recommended
Research-guided gift
Your will dedicates the gift to education and asks your executor to choose the most effective organizations working on it when the time comes, guided by published research.
A charity you name
Leave your gift to a specific organization you already know and trust.
Your own named fund
Start a fund in your name or a loved one's that gives to education every year. How it works
Sample wording for your will
Our builder fills this in for you. If you already have a will, share this wording with your attorney.
I give ____ percent (____%) of my residuary estate to one or more charitable organizations described in Sections 170(c) and 2055(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, selected by my Executor, to be used for education and learning opportunity, especially for children and students from low-income families. I ask that my Executor consider the research and recommendations published by MyLastWill.org at the time of my death.
Sample language for discussion with your attorney. Not legal advice.
Questions about giving to education
Can I leave money to my old school or university?
Yes. Name it directly as a specific charity. You can also give part of your gift to education more broadly, guided by research on what helps students most.
Does my gift stay in the U.S.?
Only if you want it to. Write in your own cause and describe where it should be used, or name a specific charity, and your will says so.
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