annual fund

[Anonymous]

this is dc's first year in a private school . recently, we received a letter that asked us to make a donation. we completely understand that. however, what puzzled us is that the letter comes up with a number. we are wondering how they decide how much to ask you to donate. Actually, the number is smaller than we planned to donate. now, should we just give the number they asked in the letter or should we give more?
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

The number we've been given is supposedly the difference between the tuition and the cost of educating one student.

[Anonymous]

If you are able to give more, you should always consider giving more.

[Anonymous]

give what they asked
Next year, they'll ask you to increase whatever you DID give....

[Anonymous]

If you can afford to give more then you should. This is the year all parents should reach to support their schools. No one is going to think differently of you if you give less next year.

[Anonymous]

Don't give anything. This is voluntary and not in the contract. The school will still have to teach your child.

[Anonymous]

I would think about how much you want to donate this year in entirety, and hold some money back from the annual donation, because you will be asked for more money at the Spring Fundraiser and also probably for some surprise or emergency fund later in the year. I think its great to give more than the requested amount, but realize that this is an "annual" annual fund, so yes, next year they will kinda expect a similar amount from you. Not that you have to match it, really, they won't send your child away, but most people prefer their donations to go up over the years, not down. There will also probably be a building fund or something special where you can get your name on a plaque or somewhere if you give lots to that fund, so there's always that to look forward to - those are usually multiple-year drives.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a financial aid recipient, I encourage you to give more if you are able to. At many schools, donations to the annual fund go largely towards financial aid for families who qualify. Donations are likely to be WAY down this year, and those of us who rely on partial financial aid are worried that this will be our child's last year with much loved friends and teachers.

For anyone who is considering private school on a financial aid package, this is one of the downsides: you never know how much your aid package will be each year, so you always need to be ready with a backup plan. Of course the backup plan *could* be to go to law school, but I hope we agree that our area can also use a few social workers and nonprofit managers.