2009-10 Annual Fund

The Putney School remains committed to an academic program that nourishes intellectual curiosity, social conscience and self-confidence. To accomplish these community goals and help students reach their personal goals, Putney relies upon your donations to the Annual Fund. The Annual Fund is vital to the school’s ability to operate within budget even while costs continue to escalate.

Alumni: Whether your gift is $5 or $500, each donation helps us move closer to our goal of 100% alumni participation. This rate is important because it’s widely used to measure the value alumni place on their education and motivates individuals, foundations and corporations to support Putney.

• What is the Annual Fund
• Who Gives
• When to Give
• Alumni Participation
• Matching Gifts
• Volunteer

What is the Annual Fund?
The Annual Fund is a yearly campaign for donations to support the current operations of the school. These tax-deductible gifts help enhance the day-to-day life of every student and faculty member by supporting a variety of programs, including academics, the arts, the farm, faculty salaries/benefits, technology, the library, as well as other resources that might drive up the budget from year to year. Without Annual Fund support Putney would not be in a position to maintain its commitment to financial aid..

Who Gives to the Annual Fund?
Annual Fund supporters are current parents, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, friends and neighbors who believe in our goals of intellectual curiosity, the development of sound character, environmental stewardship and a striving for a more cooperative society.

When to give?
Make your gift/pledge any time of the year but please fulfill it before the end of each fiscal year, June 30th. Please respond to our first appeal with a gift or pledge. This helps to reduce our fundraising costs and allows us to use less paper. Pledges also allow you to spread payments out over the course of the year. Perhaps this will help make an increased donation more affordable. Since the Annual Fund is exhausted each year on annual operating costs, Putney asks you to show your support each and every year. With these generous and cyclical gifts, Putney has been able to operate within a balanced budget for the last decade. Thank You! Thank You!

The Importance of Alumni Participation
In a 1954 issue of the Putney Post, Carmelita Hinton mentions one alumnus who accidentally received two remittance envelopes with an Annual Fund appeal letter and promptly sent back each envelope with a donation. This generous act highlights the double value of a gift to the Annual Fund. Whatever the amount of your donation, each has participatory value. Did you know that foundations and corporations consider alumni participation rates when deliberating grants?

The Importance of Corporate Matching Gifts
Corporate matching gifts are company-given contributions that match donations made by their employees. Sometimes your gift will be matched on a 1-1 or even a 2-1 basis. Please ask your employer if they will match your philanthropic contributions to The Putney School. Send a completed company matching gift form to Kelley Black in our Development Department.

Volunteer
Philanthropy goes beyond the gift of dollars; it can include a show of support as a volunteer. Consider supporting Putney's Annual Fund goals by becoming a Parent Volunteer or Class Agent.

Parent Volunteers are essential to our Annual Fund goal and in keeping Putney connected to the parent community across the globe.

Class Agents play an important role in our ability to reach 100% class participation. In addition, this important link between Putney and our alumni "down the hill and off the farm" help keep US connected to YOU and the wonderful ways you are making this world more humane and just.