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FAQ
| Q.What is the role of Annual Giving as part of The Opportunity of a Lifetime? |
| A.Sizeable growth of Annual Giving over the past few years reflects the entire school community’s recognition of the vital importance of this effort as a key component of The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign. Over the duration of the campaign, Annual Giving will comprise $25 million of the overall goal, making it the second-largest component of The Opportunity of a Lifetime. |
| Q.How will Annual Giving be different this year |
A.Because Annual Giving is part of The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign, most families will not be solicited for a separate campaign gift. However, everyone will be asked to stretch their annual gifts as much as possible as their investment in the future of the school.
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| Q.If I stretch and increase my annual gift during each year of the campaign, where will the additional dollars go? |
A.During The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign, you decide. We want you to start with Annual Giving, the most significant component of the campaign that meets the current and immediate needs of the school. Then, if you wish, you can choose to allocate the additional dollars to any of the four components (Middle School Modernization Project, Annual Giving, Endowment Growth, and Upper School Master Planning). You have the opportunity to support both the current and long-range needs of the school.
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| Q.Who gives to Annual Giving? |
A.Last year over 86% of our current families participated in this school-wide effort, and a record-breaking 98% of faculty and staff participated. Alumni participation also increased by 20%. With Annual Giving now a part of The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign, we hope to increase participation among all constituencies.
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| Q.How will the annual solicitation process be different this year? |
A.Because Annual Giving is an essential component of The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign, most alumni, friends and families will be solicited for a gift in support of Annual Giving. The majority of donors will not be asked for a separate campaign gift. Those individuals and families who are leadership and major gift prospects were solicited separately from the Annual Giving Phonathon in October.
All new families and faculty and staff will also be asked to support Annual Giving.
Alumni, friends and families with the capacity to make a commitment of $10,000 or more each year will be invited to make a multi-year pledge to the campaign, continuing their support of Annual Giving and making an additional commitment to support the Middle School Campus Modernization Project, Endowment Growth or Upper School Master Planning.
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| Q.If the school is raising millions of dollars, why should I stretch to make a gift? To Harvard-Westlake, my gift is a drop in the bucket, but it’s a sacrifice for my family. |
A.The most powerful place you can direct your gift is to the Annual Giving component of the campaign because it is an investment providing immediate and tangible benefits. When your gift is combined with the donations of others, we accomplish great and lasting improvements. In fact, gifts of $500 and less totaled $280,000 last year.
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| Q.What is an endowment fund and why is it important? |
A.An endowment fund is a perpetual source of income for financial aid, faculty salaries and benefits, professional development or emergencies. Other funds have been established to provide for student safety, facility maintenance, student and faculty awards, and to bring guest speakers to campus.
Increasing the endowment also helps relieve the school’s dependency on tuition to cover its expenses and helps slow tuition growth.
An endowment works this way: when a donor gives money for a fund, that money is invested to produce income. The principal is not spent. Each year, the principal generates dividend income for the school.
Surprisingly, Harvard-Westlake’s current endowment of $44 million is 112th in the country on a per-student basis among independent schools. In fact, these California schools—Lick-Wilmerding High School, Marlborough School, Polytechnic School, John Thomas Dye School, Castilleja School, and University High School (San Francisco)—are ahead of Harvard-Westlake in endowment per student.
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| Q.What is the Middle School Campus Modernization Project? |
A.Harvard-Westlake’s Middle School is among the nation’s best, offering challenging and rich academic, artistic and athletic programs to students in grades 7-9. Among our middle school students, an astonishing 81% play interscholastic sports, 88% are performing artists, 93% explore the visual arts, 63% are involved in student publications and 100% take laboratory science.
While this enthusiastic participation is cause for immense satisfaction, it has also strained our facilities, outstripped the capacity of our fields, gym/theater, library, classrooms and even our parking lots. The Middle School Campus Modernization Project will ensure that future generations of Harvard-Westlake students have the best facilities in which to learn, to express themselves and to grow as wonderful and gifted young people.
Harvard-Westlake’s plan to modernize the entire middle school campus will create an optimal academic environment for both current and future students. Resulting from more than five years of discussion within the school community as well as with the neighbors, the campus modernization plan calls for replacing existing structures with state-of-the-art classroom, administrative and arts buildings; expanded athletic field space; improved traffic flow onto the campus and off the neighborhood street; and a new campus layout that harmoniously incorporates new buildings into the existing landscape and surrounding neighborhood. The modernization plan includes an expanded physical campus, but does not include any increase in enrollment on the middle school site.
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| Q.There seems to be the neighborhood and legal issues surrounding the plans. How will they impact the Middle School Campus Modernization Project? |
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| Q.Are matching gifts part of this campaign? |
A.Yes. Your company match counts toward your gift total. It may double or even triple your gift.
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| Q.Will a deferred gift (bequest, insurance, charitable remainder trust, gift annuity, pooled income fund) count in the campaign? |
A.Yes. Deferred gifts, both revocable and irrevocable, are very important to this campaign. They can also provide additional financial benefits to the donor. If you are interested in learning more about deferred gifts, please contact Jim Pattison, Director of Gift Planning, Institutional Relations, and Stewardship, at (310) 288-3341.
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| Q.How will campaign donors be recognized? |
A.All gifts to The Opportunity of a Lifetime are valued and will be gratefully recognized at all levels and in several ways.
- All donors will be recognized in the Annual Report.
- Leadership donors of $250,000 or more to capital projects will have naming opportunities in the new or remodeled facilities.
- Donors who fully endow funds will have the option to name their funds.
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| Q.Do you have volunteers who can get the job done? |
A.Harvard-Westlake is very fortunate to have over 300 dedicated volunteers from every corner of our community. Every year, parents, students, alumni and grandparents lend their time and energies to help the school raise money. We welcome others who are interested in joining us!
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| Q.How are you paying for this campaign? |
A.A typical campaign budget allows for approximately 10% of dollars raised to be directed toward campaign expenses. At this point, we have spent less than one cent per dollar raised and are on target to continue well below the 10% mark. The school’s Office of Advancement and Business Office are working closely with the Advancement and Finance Committees of the Board of Trustees to ensure that this is the case.
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| Q.Am I required to make a multi-year pledge? |
A.No. In fact, most donors who support the campaign through increased Annual Giving will find it easier to annualize their gifts. It keeps the process simple and allows a donor to decide on an appropriate gift amount each year. We welcome multi-year pledges from donors who would consider it a more convenient option for their family.
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| Q.What if I am unable to complete my pledge? |
| A.A pledge commitment is a binding one, except in unforeseen circumstances. We expect you will be able to honor your pledge, but we do know that unusual situations arise. We ask that you notify the Office of Advancement as soon as possible if the timing of pledge payments or your ability to fulfill your pledge changes. |
| Q.I don’t believe in pledging. What can I do? |
| A.While many of our supporters choose to pledge to the campaign, others prefer to make an outright gift to the campaign. You can make a direct gift via cash, check, credit card, or stock transfer. |
| Q.What is The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign? |
A.For the first time in the history of the merged Harvard-Westlake School, the Board of Trustees announced a comprehensive capital campaign, called The Opportunity of a Lifetime. All parents, alumni and friends of the school will be invited to participate in this historic undertaking. Your continued and increased support in achieving these critical needs will be vital. The Opportunity of a Lifetime is a five-year effort with four key components:
- Middle School Campus Modernization Project
- Annual Giving
- Endowment Growth
- Upper School Master Planning
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| Q.Why are we having a campaign? |
A.To stay competitive nationally in the academic, athletic and artistic arenas, Harvard-Westlake must constantly challenge itself to meet emerging needs while keeping an eye on its high standards in every area of school life. To that end, the Board of Trustees identified the four key objectives above as the school’s priorities over the next five years.
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| Q.What is the goal? |
A.The Opportunity of a Lifetime
$150 Million, Five-Year Goal
(July 2004-June 2009)
- Middle School Campus Modernization Project $100M
(This total includes: estimated $60M in construction costs; $30M in furniture, fixtures, and equipment; entitlements and other soft costs; and $10M in contingency.)
- Annual Giving: $ 25M
- Endowment Growth: $15M
- Upper School Master Planning:$10M
Total: $150M
In addition to meeting our financial goals, we would also like to achieve 100% participation from the Harvard-Westlake community. |
| Q.Aren’t we raising plenty of money for Harvard-Westlake every year? Why should a private school—with a $21K+ tuition—be asking for additional gifts? |
A.Tuition covers 84% of the education our students receive. Annual Giving and income from the endowment make up the remaining portion. Capital gifts go beyond operating costs and allow the school to excel even more.
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| Q.Who are we inviting to participate in the campaign? |
A.We are inviting parents, alumni, parents of alumni, faculty, staff and other friends to invest in Harvard-Westlake. We are also asking for support from corporations and foundations, members of the community and other prospective donors.
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| Q.Why are you asking me to support the campaign? There are wealthier families out there. |
A.The Opportunity of a Lifetime campaign is a community-wide effort. We have raised close to $70 million for the campaign, thanks to our trustees and early leadership donors. But if we are to reach our overall goals, it is imperative to include the entire Harvard-Westlake community.
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| Q.Why should my family participate? |
| A.Through your association with Westlake, Harvard, or Harvard-Westlake, you are part of a larger community. While students today spend a maximum of six years at Harvard-Westlake, their formal education is just the initial level of their connection to the school. The desire to learn continues to blossom; intellectual, creative, and athletic prowess is honed; lifelong friendships are formed; and as the years go on, these connections grow stronger and the entire Harvard-Westlake network becomes stronger. As a result, the Harvard-Westlake diploma is more than proof of graduation—it opens up a larger network poised to help its members at every level—from getting into college to landing a first job to moving through the world. In short, when Harvard-Westlake is successful, its alumni and friends benefit. |
| Q.Why shouldn’t I give where the needs are greater—to the homeless in my town, or to my place of worship, or to a small local organization where my gift would make a much larger impact? |
| A.Harvard-Westlake is not a charity. We hope you will consider your gift an investment in the education of our world’s future leaders. That said, you should give where your conscience directs. Most of Harvard-Westlake’s donors also give to other organizations. For most of us, it’s not an either/or proposition. An investment today is an investment in the future. |
| Q.What is Upper School Master Planning? |
A.Thanks to the vision and generosity of the school’s most thoughtful and generous friends, parts of the upper school campus have kept pace with the times and the students. The Munger Science Center (1995), the Feldman-Horn Center for the Visual Arts (1998) and the Ted Slavin Field (2003) are unsurpassed in the high school universe. To keep pace with these flagship facilities, we must now improve our performing arts areas, the library, athletic space and academic counseling facilities.
Since the 1980s, the school has purchased various properties adjacent to the current campus to allow for expansion and flexibility in master planning. It is now time to review the school’s current programs and see how its programs and students can optimally benefit from potential campus upgrades.
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