Private schools getting their ‘appeals’ out

When Kiesha Nix received a fundraising letter from her high school alma mater a few years ago, she did more than write a check. After returning to the campus of the all-girls Saint Mary’s Academy, she joined the Board of Trustees, became a Career Day speaker and helped a fellow alum enroll her daughter in the Inglewood school.

“It takes time and energy and I’m a single mom,” said Nix, 37, who works in banking. “But to see how the school had grown, its tradition, how could you not want to give back? The standards, values and morals have stayed with me all this time.”

That is exactly the sentiment private schools such as Saint Mary’s are seeking in their appeals, annual letters mailed to parents and other members of campus communities this fall. Not everyone will respond like Nix, but schools are testing clever ways to persuade parents, faculty, alumni and even grandparents to donate generously.

The carefully crafted letters are likely to include a splash of color, arresting graphics and a colorful turn-of-phrase, encouraging a charitable frame of mind as the schools seek to bolster operating budgets that pay for essential programs, equipment, salaries and financial aid.

Although virtually all private schools charge tuition to cover most expenses, few could charge the full cost of educating students without pricing themselves out of the market. In the 2005-06 school year, tuition and fees covered about 85% of the cost to educate a child at an independent day school, according to the National Assn. of Independent Schools.

Hence the annual campaign, which usually reaches high gear in October and subsequent weeks. And everyone is fair game.

Fundraising goals reflect a school’s demographics as well as its ability to devote resources to the task. A small school with fewer than 200 students might raise $200,000 during its campaign. By contrast, Harvard-Westlake, one of the nation’s premier prep schools with 1,600 students, drew more than $6 million last year.

Nationally, independent schools annually raise about $908,000 each on average. Parents of current students provide 36% and alumni 20% of that total, with organizations, trustees and others also contributing, according to the independent schools association. In the Western states, parents contribute 47% and alums only 13% to the total, mostly because schools in the West are less established.

And the annual campaign is just one of many entreaties: Most schools also are gearing up for their annual gala dinners and auctions that can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The letters reaching homes and offices may sound familial, often written on a first-name basis, but most are now put together by committee and approved by trustees.

They usually summarize previous accomplishments and priorities for the current term, but increasingly include easy-to-read color graphics for busy parents.

The best and most effective reflect the school’s personality and mission and are designed to tug at heartstrings -- as well as purse strings.

“On parent orientation day I spoke from my heart: Pacific Hills is a school that walks the walk and talks the talk,” begins a fundraising letter sent to parents of students attending Pacific Hills School, a West Hollywood sixth-12th-grade campus with about 300 students that touts its warm, supportive, family environment. To add a personal touch, the appeal uses testimonials of parents -- this one signed by Mindy Caplow, whose 16-year-old daughter, Olivia, is a junior at the $16,900 per year school.

Bordering the letter are thumbnail color photographs of Pacific Hills families, which adds visual flair, said Danese Bardot, director of development, who arrived at Pacific Hills about 18 months ago and immediately began to refresh the annual appeal.

“It takes a lot of preparation in order to make the effort effective,” Bardot said. “We usually start planning the new campaign at the end of the prior campaign in July.”

Letters at Pacific Hills are crafted to target different grades, faculty and staff, trustees, community organizations and businesses, and then personally addressed. Drafts are submitted to the head of school and the development committee for approval.

Last year’s appeal, co-written by the student body president and accompanied by her picture, helped to increase participation to 89%, from 58% the previous year, raising $140,000, Bardot said.

The yearly fundraising appeal can be daunting for parents already paying steep tuitions, and although schools strive for full participation -- with phone calls and other reminders -- they rarely achieve it.

“We all know what’s expected when we get that letter in the mail, and it can be difficult,” Caplow said. “But it’s not so much about a dollar amount as the expectation that you give something back.”

Tapping alumnae is the primary strategy at Nix’s Saint Mary’s Academy, a ninth-12th-grade college prep school established in 1889 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Its nearly 400 students are mostly African American and Latino, and many come from low-income homes. Annual tuition is $5,200.

This year’s letter is on glossy paper, with color pictures of the refurbished library, computer labs and color-coordinated hallways.

The enthusiasm of the principal, Sister Fay Hagen, fairly leaps from the page as she describes the school’s turnaround from almost closing a few years ago to obtaining major foundation grants, establishing new science and math programs and creating a new endowed scholarships.

“Seeing is believing and although I did try to paint a picture for you, you’ll just have to come by and see for yourself the marvelous things that have been done,” Hagen writes.

Sister Kathleen Kelly, Saint Mary’s director of development, co-wrote the appeal, which went to more than 6,000 people and, in just a few weeks, has drawn 600 responses and $800,000 in donations.

“We have to keep trying different things,” Kelly said. “When people see that you’re successful and that you’re going to be here for the next 100 years, they’re willing to support that.”

Santa Monica’s Crossroads School, a kindergarten-12th grade campus with about 1,100 students where the top tuition is $26,000, sends different letters to new parents and those of returning students, but the message is the same: Without sufficient contributions, the school won’t be able to pay its bills.

“The Crossroads Annual Giving Campaign is quite frankly the most important fundraising effort of each school year,” wrote head of school Roger H. Weaver in a letter directed to new parents. “I expect and need each and every parent to participate.”

Letters to returning parents note their previous donation, but they are not asked to give a specific amount. Contributions range from $5 to $50,000 and participation is about 90%, said director of development Corinne Schulman, who added that the school’s budget is built around an anticipated return, this year $2.3 million. Reminder letters are sent each month through the winter break.

The development team checks fundraising campaigns at other schools before devising a theme -- this year it’s raising faculty salaries -- and creating graphics-rich brochures.

“We get other school directors asking how we put together our materials, and the tone and how you communicate really should reflect the culture of your school,” Schulman said.

The annual solicitation at Harvard-Westlake, with seventh-12th grades at campuses in North Hollywood and Holmby Hills, reflects the mind and preoccupations of former headmaster and current President Thomas C. Hudnut, who has been at the school for 20 years and personally writes each appeal.

Hudnut does little prep work, writing what he feels at the moment. One year he wrote about Harvard-Westlake -- where annual tuition is $25,000 -- as a “incubator of dreams,” referencing the classic book “Blue Highways,” by William Least Heat-Moon.

A historian by training, Hudnut includes in this year’s letter allusions to the poetry of Frost and Milton and the reigns of 15th-century monarchs in France and England. He also ruminates on the notion of school as a “crucible of memories.”

“In the experiences, facilities, friends and teachers our students have, they daily add without realizing it to the trunk full of memories they will eagerly open in the years ahead,” Hudnut wrote.

His 500 words took about 15 minutes to write. It’s all about telling a good story that invokes an emotional connection to the school, he said. Others must appreciate his prose because he discovered one of his letters had been copied by the head of another school without his permission.

“It’s easier to give to someone you know and trust than to a mere institution,” Hudnut said. “So writing about one’s high school years, family, development of intellectual habits of mind, you tap into something deeper in the vein of personal investment than just saying this is what we’re trying to do, we need your help, send money.”

carla.rivera@latimes.com