Donor Stories

Anne Mayer '57 Fills Gap in Endowment

If Anne Mayer's life were a concerto, The College of Wooster would be one of its recurring themes. Her family moved to Wooster when she was a young girl and Anne studied piano with Clarice Parmelee in the College's music department.

When the time came for college, Anne knew she "wanted to major in music at a good liberal arts college, but not one too close to home." Fortunately, her family had moved by then, so Wooster was the natural choice.

Her professional goal was equally clear: to perform and teach piano at a college like Wooster. So after graduating in 1957 and further study at the Eastman School of Music, Anne accepted a position at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., where she stayed for 40 years, including 14 as chair of the music department.

But Wooster was never far from her thoughts or absent from her heart. She returned regularly to visit and performed at the opening of Scheide Music Center and the memorial recital for Dan Winter. And she supported the Wooster Fund faithfully.

Wooster was also provided for in her will. "But one day my financial advisor said, 'Why wait? You'll get more satisfaction out of doing things now for the places you love.'"

Anne was already involved with the committee planning her 50th reunion, which provided an additional incentive. She knew that any gift she made would count toward the class gift—a portion of which will go to endow a scholarship—as well as toward the Independent Minds campaign total. She chose charitable gift annuities as the best tool for her purposes.

A charitable gift annuity allows the donor to transfer cash or securities to the College in exchange for a fixed-dollar return guaranteed annually for the donor's life and that of a survivor beneficiary, if desired. The donor receives a charitable income-tax deduction for a portion of the gift in the year the annuity is acquired. The balance of the gift is considered an investment and, just as with a commercial annuity, part of each payment the donor receives is treated as a return on that investment, and therefore is income-tax free.

Part of Anne's gift will endow a music scholarship, because she sees the need for Wooster to strengthen its endowment.

"The endowment will support the College long into the future," she says. The rest of the campaign has been so successful. "Now this is the gap we need to fill."