The Saint Stephen’s culture of philanthropy is a strong and ever-evolving quality of the fabric of our school. It strengthens each day that members of the Falcon community pull together and support the school’s events, engage in committee work, and support fundraising efforts. Our multi-year theme of All In reflects this emphasis on getting each member of the community as involved and feeling ownership in the successes of Saint Stephen’s as is possible. Members of the advancement team, the Parents’ Association, and the board’s Development and Community Outreach Committee partner all work to ensure that community-building events, educational programs, and fundraising drives both reach and appeal to community members. Once again, the ongoing theme of the 2017-18 Saint’s Fund Campaign, All In, speaks directly to this important community commitment to fully support Saint Stephen’s.
Annually, Saint Stephen’s programs are buoyed by a robust Saint’s Fund drive that enables the School to provide the highest level of academic, arts, and athletic experiences. Independent schools such as Saint Stephen’s depend on such funding in the annual operating budget to ensure excellence in programming and help control tuition costs. All parents are encouraged to participate in the Saint’s Fund and embrace the opportunity to give along with those in the school’s greater philanthropic community. Parents have moved their participation rates to 80% over the past several years, and this year’s All In theme is working to move participation ever closer to the 100% mark. Our budget demands that we average $500 per student from our current families, but gifts of all sizes help bring us to both our participation and monetary goals.
Making each family’s experience deeper and richer is only a segment of the focus of the advancement team at Saint Stephen’s. Following graduation from the School, there begins a nurturing of those more mature relationships held by past parents, alumni and friends of Saint Stephen’s. The ongoing stewardship of these groups as Saint Stephen’s heads into its 50th Anniversary during the 2020-21 school year knits together the generations of the School, strengthening its fabric in preparation for this momentous celebration of our history.
Through such vehicles as Donor Appreciation Dinners and the Falcon Legacy Society annual luncheon, Saint Stephen’s recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the School and honors their years of service and philanthropy. Whether the contributions are to annual, capital, or endowment through planned gifts, each donor and donation is valued. Our supporters recognize that during their children’s most active days at SSES, that in addition to the support of this generation of parents, they are additionally supported by generations that have preceded them and continue to give to the Saint’s Fund. By hosting events for alumni, alumni parents, and friends of the School, the advancement team continues to strengthen the individual relationships between these community members and Saint Stephen’s. Currently there is an initiative underway to see the school’s $5-million endowment grow to $10-million by its golden anniversary in 2020. As of the summer of 2017, this number is hovering close to $6m with more than three years to achieve our goal!
Ongoing capital campaigns continue to develop premier programs for the students at Saint Stephen’s. During the 2017-2018 school year, our goal is to raise $5.5m toward our goal of opening a new Center for the Performing Arts in the coming year. We are excited to feel the support of so many parents and friends of the school who are poised to support this effort on behalf of our children, our faculty, and our community as this facility will surely host many community events, speakers, concerts and shows for many years to come!
Thank you for visiting our Support Saint Stephen’s page. We hope that you will support the efforts of Saint Stephen’s in its mission to educate its students in a community rooted in the values and morals of the Episcopal Church within its tolerant, global, multi-faith community. Onward and upward!
