Giving at Wesley

Giving atWesley

Thank you to everyone for helping us create a great 2021-2022 school year. With being back on campus, and the entire community coming together full force to celebrate what they love so much about Wesley, it was truly a success!

Not only did we see record turnout at events and gatherings this academic year, but also in this year’s Annual Fund! In the past, there has been some confusion with what the Annual Fund is and where the money goes that has been raised. This year, the Development Team made it a priority to take steps to more clearly define to the community what Development does and how important the Annual Fund is to an independent, non-profit school like Wesley. So, over the summer, they put together a Guide to Giving pamphlet which was handed out to all families and broke down how the funds are used from things like Annual Fund, Capital Campaigns, Parents’ Association FUNraisers, Teacher Outings, Raise the Paddle/ Auction profits from the Gala, and more.

We wanted to define why the Annual Fund is a necessary ongoing campaign that is essential to the success of the school, as well as explain that people’s participation in it is vital, since as a non-profit institution, tuition doesn’t cover 100% of the operational costs and a portion of the money raised is used to offset those deficits.

Our goal was to reach 100% participation in the Annual Fund from Wesley parents in 100 days — a strategy that has been successful in the past. In the fall, we had a kickoff party where families were greeted in carpool with balloons, goodies, and some information about the fund and how to give. We knew that this year might be challenging coming off of a twoyear pandemic. Needless to say, we were blown out of the water! Not only did every family participate in Annual Giving, but the 2021-2022 year ended up being the year with the highest amount the school has ever raised! Thanks to everyone’s support, we managed to reach our goal of 100% participation from parents, employees, and the Board of Trustees in 100 days and raised a record-breaking $457,546!

And although there was no prize for which class got to 100% first, that didn’t stop a little friendly competition from unfolding! Most recently, the class of 2027 has always been the first class to get to full participation, but this year, the kindergarten class of 2030 gave them a run for their money! They were neck-and-neck to the very end, until third grade got one

last donation in only hours before the kindergarten class. This just shows what this school means to everyone. Although families hadn’t been on campus for months, they not only rallied, but made the event fun along the way.

All of the participation was appreciated, especially since Wesley laid out the groundwork to explain where these funds would be put to use. A few years back, school leadership and the Board of Trustees put together a strategic plan that consisted of four Pillars: Ignite, Inspire, Include, and Invest. With the focus on the first three pillars complete, this year it was time to turn our attention towards our final goal: Invest. Investing in our children, investing in our community, and investing in the health and longevity of our school became our central theme for the year.

On a personal level, stepping into the Development Chair role for the first time this year, I was extremely nervous about making sure that goals were met. Coming from the PA, I was all about planning events and getting the community together, but asking people to raise money seemed very overwhelming to me. So although I was more than a little bit apprehensive, I took it on as my new role — and was so glad that I did. Tammy Rodriguez, Director of Development, could not have been a better leader. She took me under her wing and together we formed a great collaborative team. I’m looking forward to next year and seeing how much more we can accomplish together.

Lastly, I wanted to make sure I extend a huge “thank you” to our representatives that were the liaisons between the Development Department and various grade levels. We couldn’t have accomplished everything we set out to do this year without them and they were a big part of the success for this year’s fundraising!

Jenny Hollier • Parent to Finn (5th Grade) & Jack (Class of ’22) board of trustees, development committee chair