Fundraising Highlights

2019-2020 FUNDRAISINGHighlights

THE ST. FRANCIS ANNUAL FUND

Each year, annual gifts from alumni, parents, and friends enable students to reap the benefits of the unique educational experience only found at St. Francis High School. St. Francis Annual Fund donors provide critical, unrestricted support, for capital and programmatic enhancements, technology upgrades, tuition assistance and more. Unlike endowment funds, annual giving dollars are flexible and accessible. These funds can be directed to a specific area or used right away where and when they are needed most. Annual gifts to the St. Francis Fund make a profound difference in the lives of St. Francis High School students every day, enabling them to develop spiritually, academically, physically and socially in the daily presence of Jesus Christ.

SPARTAN CLASSIC | 9.27.2019

The 30th Annual Alumni Golf Outing, the Spartan Classic, was held at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton. Through the efforts of alumni and volunteers, every dollar raised provided tuition assistance for alumni children and grandchildren. This is the Alumni Association’s largest fundraiser of the year. Although the golf portion was cancelled due to rain, we celebrated our most successful outing to date. With the support of 192 golfers, the event netted $51,610 for tuition assistance.

The 2020 Spartan Classic was held on Friday, September 25, 2020.

FESTIVAL OF FASHION | 11.24.2019

The St. Francis High School Mothers’ Club hosts an annual day of fellowship, shopping, and fashion featuring SFHS student, faculty, staff, and coach models. The Festival of Fashion, which enabled 450 guests to enjoy a pleasurable afternoon with new and longtime friends, gathered to support the school’s mission and netted $10,282.

#GIVINGTUESDAY | 12.3.2019

Through generous gifts from 164 donors, the 2019 #GivingTuesday campaign raised $27,630, with a 36% increase in the number of donors from last year. To our surprise, seven of these donors were current students!

Because of our amazing community who donated, liked, and shared our social media posts, voted for our faculty, challenged us to earn more, and offered kind words and encouragement, the amount raised is a little more than the cost of two tuitions. These gifts allow us to continue providing possibilities for students and families to experience a St. Francis High School education.

ENSURING OUR FUTURE AUCTION | 3.7.2020

The annual auction is St. Francis High School’s signature fundraising event. This year, the Spyglass Athletic Center was transformed into GLIMMERS OF GREEN for an evening to celebrate and support SFHS. Guests and remote bidders participated in a silent auction and raffles throughout the night. Event attendees bid on the LIVE auction, which included exclusive sports packages, concert tickets, trips, unique SFHS experiences, and our Fund-a-Cause: Healthy & Fresh – a paddle raise to fund new kitchen equipment for improved quality and variety of meal options in the Student Union. In total, the Ensuring Our Future auction netted $286,499. Funds raised on this evening helped ensure all programs for academics, pastoral ministry, athletics, fine arts, and tuition assistance were funded and viable. Through donations, attendance, and involvement, the generosity of our alumni, parents, and friends help make our auction successful each year!

Stay tuned for information about the 2021 Ensuring Our Future auction scheduled for Saturday, April 17, 2021.

#GIVINGTUESDAYNOW | 5.5.2020

St. Francis High School established a COVID-19 Tuition Assistance Fund to assist Spartan families who had been negatively affected by the financial challenges of COVID-19. On May 5, 2020, SFHS participated in #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of unity and giving, and asked those who were fortunate enough to remain financially secure to make a gift on this day. Spartans united and raised $69,470 for the COVID-19 Tuition Assistance Fund ensuring that current students would complete their SFHS education and allow the incoming class of 2024 to continue on the St. Francis path. All were invited to tune in that evening for the Spartans Unite Benefit Concert to see the amazing showcase of talent peformed by the SFHS students, faculty and staff.

VOLUNTEERS

More than 400 volunteers worked thousands of hours on numerous projects and events during the 2019-2020 fiscal school year. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 we were unable to host the annual Mass of Volunteer Appreciation to express our gratitude for our volunteers' time and talent. We sincerely thank each one of our volunteers for their tireless effort and meaningful support. We couldn’t do it without you!

Alumni, parents, and friends of St. Francis High School are encouraged to share their gifts of time and talent. The Alumni Association, Mothers’ and Fathers’ Clubs, and the Auction committees are just a few of the ways that you can volunteer. Please contact Becky Feltes ’97 Fischesser at bfischesser@sfhscollegeprep.org or Debbie Quirk at dquirk@sfhscollegeprep.org for more information.