Gifts from Friends and Family

Give the gift of education.

Each child has many people – parents, grandparents, other family members, and friends – who may also want to contribute to their future education.

Bright Start makes it easy for 529 account holders to invite others to help with future college costs by contributing to the child’s account at birthdays, holidays, or any other occasion. Bright Start also lets contributors order or print a free card that lets the child know you’ve made a generous gift to help with future education costs, too.

BrightStart GiftED

Invite Contributors Online

It’s easy to send email invitations to encourage friends and family to help out with future college costs rather than purchasing another type of gift. Simply log in to your Bright Start account and go to GiftED. Next, you’ll just enter email addresses and send invitations.

kid laying down on a couch reading a book

Invite Contributors to Contribute By Mail

If you prefer, you can contact friends and family yourself and invite them to contribute to your Bright Start 529 account by mail.

  1. Print out the deposit coupon.

  2. Add the account number and beneficiary name to the coupon.

  3. Give or mail the deposit coupon to the potential contributor. (Instructions for mailing contributions are indicated on the coupon.)

Give Online to a 529

Let the account owner know you want to contribute to their Bright Start 529 account by requesting an evite using this form. The “occasion” you choose will be reflected in the email message the account owner receives from you. After you submit the form, the account owner will receive an email letting them know you would like to receive an evite to make a contribution.

"*" indicates required fields

Beneficiary First Name*
Your First Name*
Occasion*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Information provided will be used for a one-time only email communication from Bright Start per your request. For more information on potential tax benefits, please review the Gift Contributions section of our FAQs.

Send a check to Bright Start

With information you receive directly from the 529 account owner, you can contribute to a child’s 529 account via mail.

  1. Request the 529 account number directly from the account holder.

  2. Print out deposit coupon.

  3. Mail the completed coupon to the address indicated on the coupon.

  4. Print out and mail the appropriate greeting card to the account holder or beneficiary.