>> PHILANTHROPHY
ANNUAL FUND: VOLUNTEERS LEAD THE WAY In a “normal” year, the success of the Annual Fund is measured in dollars and participation. In 2020-21—a year that was anything but normal—SPA’s Annual Fund added a third metric of success: the outpouring of enthusiasm and engagement from the team of parents and alumni/ae that served as Annual Fund volunteers. “Volunteers are always the backbone of our Annual Fund efforts,” says Annual Fund Director Alyse Simondet, “but last year, our Annual Fund volunteers went above and beyond.” Although outreach efforts were limited by the pandemic, Simondet says that the group made up for those limitations with a sense of urgency and commitment to the school. “From the very beginning, our volunteers expressed a lot of appreciation for what SPA was able to accomplish during COVID, and obviously wanted to help in any way they could.” That included hundreds of calls and emails to fellow parents and alumni/ae, sharing the importance of the Annual Fund as the school navigated the uncertain landscape of “doing school” in a pandemic. “Having the flexibility of those Annual Fund dollars was absolutely essential during the
2020-21 school year,” Simondet says, “and our crew of volunteers was fantastic at explaining that to their peers.” “Like practically everything last school year, volunteering for the Annual Fund was challenging, but it was also very rewarding,” says parent David McKinney, who served as the Middle School Co-Chair of the Annual Fund with his wife Kristine McKinney; the couple’s daughter is now in Grade 8. The less personal elements of volunteering— such as Zoom meetings instead of in-person coffees— were outweighed in many cases by a sense of gratitude, the couple says. “We heard from many, many families— including those who were brand-new to the school—who expressed so much gratitude for the SPA community,” says Kristine McKinney, “and for our extraordinary commitment to excellence, inclusivity, and generosity in the midst of a pandemic.”
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VOLUNTEER VOICES “I volunteer for the Annual Fund because I feel that we all have a responsibility to give back. While we pay tuition for today, the Annual Fund is for tomorrow: it helps continue a legacy of the school that goes beyond our own children’s time within the school. Our children will one day be alumni, and it will have great meaning in their lives to continue to have their school—where they spent much of their time and formative years—still thriving. We want SPA to always be a place that they can feel proud to have attended because it continues to adjust, grow, and thrive as the world changes.”
“As a graduate of SPA, I am thrilled that my children [Henrik ‘31 and Maren ‘33] get to attend the school as well. As the Lower School Chair for the 20-21 Annual Fund, I saw first-hand the number of parents who are dedicated to enriching their children’s lives at school—that’s the kind of participation that helps support SPA’s mission by providing unrestricted funding to bridge the gap between tuition and the actual cost of the experience. The pandemic has made it challenging to connect with the community and making those calls was sometimes daunting, but each call provided a wonderful opportunity to hear from other parents and reconnect with fellow alums.”
Nisha Taneja, Lower and Middle School Parent and Annual Fund Volunteer
Eric Vegoe ’97, Lower School Parent and Chair of the Lower School Annual Fund
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“As an alum, I appreciate the skills I developed and lifelong relationships that I forged at SPA. As a parent of two current Upper School students, my appreciation for the school has only deepened. SPA has meant a lot to me, and I am proud to help support it by volunteering for the Annual Fund. It was challenging and humbling last year to reach out to the parent community about the need for fundraising dollars at SPA as we all navigated both the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, but the willingness of parents to continue to support the SPA Annual Fund speaks to how much the community values the school.” David Murphy ’90, Upper School Parent and Annual Fund Parent Chair
