It's a great time to give!

I know you are very busy, but I will only want to take a few moments of your time.

As we approach the end of the year, our Center has much for which to be grateful. Our lectures, film screenings,and panel discussions have reached a diverse audience of 900 people, and over 150 educators from throughout New Jersey have attended our teacher workshops. New members have invigorated our advisory board—community members, faculty and a new Provost. 

Do you want to help us continue our work in 2019? Gifts made to the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies through December 31 will help us meet our goal under the challenge grant generously provided by the Paul and Gayle Gross Foundation, potentially doubling your support.

Some exciting changes are afoot involving our Center. During the next three years Ramapo College will be renovating and expanding its library to create a Learning Commons, a modern building that incorporates technology-rich learning spaces, research materials, and adequate room for the College's special collections. In the new space patrons of the Gross Center will have access to online archives to conduct research and to view video testimonies of genocide survivors.  
 
As a partner site, our patrons already are able to view the Holocaust testimonies of Yale's Fortunoff Visual History Archive. In addition to this valuable resource, we would like to offer our patrons access to the USC Visual History Archive, highlighted in today’sNew York Times (https://nyti.ms/2rMFNCa). Having this amazing collection at Ramapo College will afford our students and other researchers the opportunity to conduct primary research not only on the Holocaust, but also on other genocides like never before.
 
Perpetual access to the wonderful USC Visual History Archive will cost $55,000. Several donors have already provided us with seed money of $10,000 towards achieving this goal. Please join them in making the acquisition of this invaluable resource a reality.

Take Advantage of IRA Charitable Rollovers When Supporting our Center. The U.S. government has permanently and retroactively reinstated the IRA Charitable Rollover provision.

What this means: A donor aged 70-and-a-half or older can instruct his/her IRA administrator to make a distribution of up to $100,000 through December 31, 2018, and that distribution will not be treated as taxable income. Donors should contact their IRA administrator and/or tax advisors for more details.

Another avenue you may pursue is donating appreciated securities. Doing so may also provide you with significant tax benefits including the opportunity to avoid paying capital gains taxes on the donated assets.

Join us by making a gift to support the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.  If you would like to make a gift, please contact me as below. Otherwise, visit www.ramapo.edu/give to make a secure, online gift today!

Thanks for your support,

Dr. Michael A. Riff
Director, Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Ramapo College of New Jersey
201.684.7409; mriff@ramapo.edu