Report from the Development Office
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I AM RELUCTANT TO REPORT
more good news since so many of
you thought my report overly
ebullient last year, but it is an
undeniable fact that our alumni
and parents donated well over $7 million
to Putney in the past fiscal
year and that is awfully good
news! In January a member of the class of 1947 and his family completed
their $4.5 million pledge
to revitalize and endow Elm Lea
Farm. This is the largest gift ever
received by the school, and will
ensure that the farm will remain
forever a part of the life and the
curriculum of the school. A few
weeks previous the Rower
brothers made the third largest
gift, in the form of a Calder
standing mobile. And there was
other good news:
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 Doug Gortner |
ANNUAL FUND
Under the direction of Chairs
Jill and Lanse Stover ’71P, the
annual fund hit a new high,
$546,667, exceeding the goal by
$16,667.This is an increase of one
third over two years; the standard
is closer to 5%. This increase is
largely due to the extraordinary
efforts of our current parents.
Parents Fund: In its second
year, the Putney Parents Fund
came of age, thanks to a strong
volunteer effort, led by Co-Chairs
Mike Herz, Tim Fry, and Bob
Abramowitz, Vice Chair for
Japan, Yoshio Maki, and Vice
Chair for Korea, Jee HeeLee.This
was the most passionate and
dedicated leadership team I have
encountered in 23 years of working
with annual fund committees.
Two-hundred six of 251 parents
made a gift (82%) and the total
came to $180,100! The participation
rate was well over three times
last year, and the dollars raised 2.3
times last year. Perhaps most
impressive is the fact the number
of those giving at least $1,000
grew from six in 2002–3 to 19 in
2003–04 to an astonishing 59 in
2004–05! While there were many
excellent volunteers, the tag team
of Herz and Fry deserves special
recognition. Talk about dedication:
each spoke with over 100 fellow
parents, often calling eight or ten
times before finally connecting.
In one three-month period
I received 1,364 e-mail messages
from them. Their passion for the
school and extraordinary dedication
to the job combined with
the enthusiasm and generous
instincts of our parents to produce
these extraordinary results.
Grandparents Fund: Once
again grandparents showed
their support for the school.
Chair Andrea Rabinowitz’s
letters brought in 67 gifts
totaling $33,330.
Parents of Alumni: The extraordinary
support we receive from
the parents of our graduates says
something very special about
Putney. Responding to letters
from Past Parent Chairs Jonathan
and Evelyn Clowes P’93, ’96, 307
parents of alumni gave $165,690.
Reunion Giving: This year for
the first time we introduced
some structure into reunion
giving, starting with the 50th
reunion class of 1955. Under the
inspired leadership of Peng Mei
and Phil Fox, the class contributed
a total of $53,580 with
about half going to the annual
fund, and the remainder to
renovate two classrooms in the
Reynolds Building and endow
their maintenance, and to care for
the elm trees planted by the class
at their 45th reunion.
Although a nice increase over
previous years, an ongoing puzzle
to me is our very low rate of
participation—33%—compared
to many schools in the 40–50%
range. Most alumni profess deep
love of the school and show up
regularly at receptions, reunions
and Harvest Festival, yet do not
make a gift. Perhaps this results
from so many years of poor
financial discipline, but as
Business Manager Randy Smith
reported, that has long since
ceased. Perhaps you feel as one
alum said to us “Wouldn’t money
ruin Putney?” NO! I can assure
you that we are still lightyears
from “cushy.” I would welcome
your thoughts on the subject
when you have a free moment.
DEFERRED GIVING
This past year, Rennie Washburn
and I collaborated with John
Temple Swing ’46 to officially
launch a deferred giving
program to encourage alumni,
parents, and grandparents to take
advantage of charitable tax law
to create a gift through their
estate.To date we have recorded
seven life-income gifts and 64
bequests and other testamentary
gifts. The school desperately
needs to build an endowment
which will contribute at least
25% to our operating budget
(the current amount being less
than 10%). When you next
revise your estate plan, please
give serious consideration to
including a small bequest to
establish a fund you can name in
honor of a loved one. Call me if
you would like to learn more
about how you can help the
school, increase your income,
and gain current tax savings.
BUILDING THE FUTURE
CAMPAIGN
The Michael S. Currier Center is
paid for and planning for the field
house is well underway.This past
year 372 alumni, parents and
grandparents made gifts totaling
$2,637,560. Here is some detail:
Rower Challenge: About a
year ago, those of you who had
not previously given to the
BUILDING THE FUTURE campaign
received a letter announcing a $1
million challenge from Sandy ’81
and Holton ’80 Rower. That
letter brought in more gifts than
any other letter I know of at
Putney, moving us tantalizingly
close to paying off the construction
costs of the Currier Center.
At the fall board meeting, Board
Chair Elizabeth Eisold Blaylock
’80 personally solicited what was
for many trustees their third
pledge to this campaign. Pledges
or gifts were by all board
members (including student and
faculty trustees!) and on the second
day of the meeting Elizabeth
proudly announced that the
building had been fully funded
through gifts.The unprecedented
generosity shown by alumni, parents,
and grandparents bodes well
for the school’s future.
Field House: The new recreation
building: is it a gym, a
sports barn, an athletic center, or
what? Though still but a gleam
in its parents’ eyes, the building
has generated so much passion
that even its prospective name is
being hotly debated. At this
writing, the suggestion of calling
it simply a field house, floated
by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
’52, seems to be gaining momentum.
His persuasive argument
goes as follows: Aside from
sounding like a Putney building—
a house in a field—at least
one of its dictionary definitions
is precisely what we are looking
for: “2: an athletic facility where
athletes prepare for sport.”
Moreover, whereas a gymnasium
typically houses items such as
swimming pools, squash courts
and wrestling areas, our contemplated
structure will have as its
primary function the support
of outdoor sports. Yes, it will
include large, multipurpose
spaces for basketball, volleyball,
badminton, cabbage bowling,
fencing and dances, among other
indoor activities; its other components
will support our tradition of
outdoor sports: a wax room, ski
storage space, locker rooms and a
weight room. A weight room
supporting outdoor sports, you
ask? You bet. You can’t be a serious
rower, runner or skier these days
without pumping a lot of iron.
So where does this project stand?
During fall and winter a task
force composed of faculty,
students, alumni and parents
under the able direction of Judy
Sheridan and Randy Smith met
to examine philosophy and program
of sports at the school, and
the degree of “greenness” we
want to incorporate in the new
building. The committee met
with all interested constituencies
and had a wonderful overview
of the history and philosophy of
sports at Putney from legendary
soccer and ski coach, Johnny
Caldwell ’46.
The most passionate advocates
for the facility were the faculty,
for whom exercise time is very
hard to come by when school is
in session (though enthusiasm
was far from lacking among the
students). I, for one, anticipate
hitting the weights, then showering,
before I arrive in the office
most mornings. Gradually a
consensus emerged that: 1) the
building should be modest in
scale, as “green” as can be, able to
utilize a significant amount of
student labor, and simple in its
elements.There will be no pool,
rowing tank, handball courts, etc.,
though it will be designed to
allow additional components, if
desired, to be easily added in the
future. No decision has been
made on location but we all have
a horse in that race.We are moving
rapidly to determine the
approximate budget and will
then seek an architect and start
the fundraising.
OTHER GIFTS
During the year a number of
gifts to endowment were
received which are listed on a
separate page. Also of note was a
generous gift from trustee Bill
New to help build the wing of
English classrooms on the site of
the old Music Wing. Fittingly, it
has been named the New Wing.
Alumni Office: Harriet Stupp
Rogers ’49 wants you to know
that you’re encouraged to write,
call, or e-mail the alumni office
any time.We’re here to help you
stay in touch with each other,
and with Putney; to entertain
you with Harvest Festival and
Reunion, and to collect your
news for the Putney Post. Come
visit, too! If you’re in the neighborhood
don’t miss an opportunity
to stop by the school. Harriet’s
office is in “The Tower” on the
third floor of the Main Building
but she’ll be glad to come down
to take you on a tour of the new
Currier Center or to lunch at the
KDU. (The Main Building is 100
years old this year!) Harriet is getting
out of the office more these
days, visiting alumni from Maine
to California.You may be next!
Stay tuned.
Changes in the Development
Team: During the winter
months the executive committee
of the board asked us to put
together a proposal to take the
fund-raising to a higher level.The
result is that four new people
have joined the staff. Director of
Annual Giving Alicia Connors,
brings 25 years of development
experience at Harvard Business
School, Radcliffe, Lehigh and
Dartmouth to Putney; Clennon
King ’78 joins the team as major
gifts officer following 23 years
as a journalist, anchor man, film
maker, and teacher; Development
Information Coordinator Kelley
Black brings 18 years of
experience in nearby Deerfield
Academy’s development operation,
and AnnMarie Suarez joins
the staff as administrative
assistant after five years in
the commercial sector. Harriet
remains along with Ellen Merrill
whose special skills and dedication
to the task at hand earned
her promotion to director of
advancement systems. All told,
we have a combined 90 years of
advancement experience up
here in The Tower. Moving on,
and already much missed, are
Deni Bergne, Bob Sheridan, and
Rennie Washburn—all of whom
played key roles in obtaining the
funding for the Michael S.
Currier Center.
Development Committee:
This year also saw the departure
from the board of long-time
committee chair, Kevin Cornell
’59. Kevin’s support of our efforts
has been an important factor in
any success we have achieved,
and he also became my friend.
His encouragement, humor, and
commitment to philanthropy
will be sorely missed. Stepping
into his large shoes is Matt
Lorentzen ’81. Matt brings
boundless energy, good will, and
keen insight to the job.We are all
excited to have him leading the
team. Continuing to function as
mentor and “minister without
portfolio” is the venerable Ken
Landis ’42.
Future Initiatives: As Brian and
I crisscross the country, we hear
passionate voices from our alumni
and parents stating that Putney
is about people, not buildings.
They are preaching to the choir.
You will be pleased to know that
talk is growing that our next
major fundraising effort must
have at its core an initiative to
seek significant endowment gifts
to support higher faculty salaries
and fully fund our financial aid
program. Any such initiative will
grow out of the strategic planning
initiative now underway. I
am told that the average teacher,
typically in mid-career with a
family, earns $36,000. Furthermore,
each year we turn away
some wonderful applicants
because we have run out of aid
money before they arrive. More
subtle, but just as pernicious, is
the fact that we able to fund
about only 70% of “demonstrated
need” when we send out letters of
acceptance. Since our admission
competition comes increasingly
from wealthy, first - tier
schools that fund 100% of need
(and even more in special
circumstances), we are losing
some of our best applicants.
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Summary: I hope I have
demonstrated in the preceding
pages that it was indeed another
special year for the development
committee, volunteers, and office
staff. My hearty thanks to those
who made it possible: the teachers
and students who make this such
a magical place, my supportive
colleagues on the administrative
team, our fearless leaders Brian
Morgan and Judy Sheridan, the
class agents, secretaries, Parents
Fund Committee members, and
above all to the folks whose
names appear on the lists that follow.
You have made it an absolute
joy to work at your school.
Doug Gortner
doug@putneyschool.org
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