Support Our Catholic Schools: Make a Year-End Donation to the Veritas Tax Credit Scholarship

Looking to impact St. John’s Catholic School with end-ofyear giving? Look no further than the opportunity to help fund scholarships for our students through Veritas Tax School Scholarships, Inc.

Veritas is the new scholarship granting organization (SGO) in the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma and through it, individuals, couples, and businesses can directly support Catholic education while also receiving tax credits.

“The beauty of SGOs is the opportunity for everyone in our community to leverage our giving to support scholarships for our school,” says Fr. John O’Neill, our pastor.

Fr. John fully supports this offering from the state of Oklahoma and leads by example. He has supported SGOs in Oklahoma since their inception and is looking forward to seeing the impact Veritas will bring to supporting Catholic scholarships.

During the last year, the funds raised through SGOs were the highest source of fundraising at St. John’s Catholic School. In fact, St. John’s leads all preschool through eighth-grade schools of the diocese for the funds collected.

“We were the third-highest recipient of funds from SGOs in the diocese during the last year, behind Bishop Kelley High School and Cascia Hall,” says Elizabeth Thrash, our Director of Development and Mission Advancement.

The growth of support, particularly among individuals and families filing jointly, has almost quadrupled since the 2018-19 school year. That is an increase from $31,000 to over $147,000 for scholarships at St. John’s in the 2020-21 school year. Additionally, these funds came from less than 100 donors.

“Imagine the support we could generate for the school if 500 families simply gave $500 this year?” Fr. John says. “We would have over $250,000 in additional funds to support our students next year.”

The possibilities do not end there. The more people who support Veritas at the level they are able the farther our funds will support the children in our school.

“It is not impossible for us to see scholarship funds upward of $500,000 to $1 million in the coming years if more families in our community take advantage of Veritas,” Fr. John says.

Supporting Veritas to receive these tax credits is not limited to households. Businesses also qualify.

“The business owners in our community are at a unique advantage because their funds can have an even greater impact than regular households due to their donation caps,” Elizabeth says.

The annual cap for qualified business entities is $100,000. Both Elizabeth and Fr. John encourage all parishioners, especially business owners, to discuss the prospect of supporting Veritas with their tax advisor as soon as possible to meet the Dec. 31, 2021, deadline.

“St. John’s has benefitted tremendously from SGOs,” Fr. John says. “I am thankful for the support our community has shown to our school and appreciate our legislative leaders for being so forward-thinking to offer this program to Oklahoma taxpayers. Where else can you give a dollar and receive 75 cents back? It sounds too good to be true - but it is absolutely true.”

“St. John’s has benefitted tremendously from SGOs. I am thankful for the support our community has shown to our school and appreciate our legislative leaders for being so forward-thinking to offer this program to Oklahoma taxpayers.” — FR. JOHN O’NEILL