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Frequently Asked Questions |
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Frequently Asked Questions |
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What is Annual Giving?
Annual Giving is one of the most important fundraising programs at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School. Contributions from parents, grandparents, alumnae/i, alumnae/i parents, faculty, staff, and friends help the School meet recurring operating expenses such as curriculum development, faculty compensation and integrated technological support not covered by tuition, fees or endowment income.
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Specifically, what does my Annual Giving contribution support?
Your gift is an immediate investment in Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School. Your Annual Giving contribution helps support programs like:
• Expanding the technology network to include new Tablet PCs for 9th and 10th grade faculty
• Recruitment and retention of talented teachers and staff (85% hold advanced degrees)
• Student Moot Court through the Federal Courts Outreach Program
• A field trip to the Sheldon Theater to experience jazz
• New classroom furniture to enhance the learning environment
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I donated to the Golf Outing and the Bonne Chance Auction. Doesn’t that take care of my Annual Giving contribution?
Participation in any school fundraiser is deeply appreciated. Annual Giving is our primary fundraising effort at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School. It is an outright gift to the School thereby making it fully tax-deductible. We rely on Annual Giving dollars as much as the money we raise from our event-based fundraisers like the Auction and Golf Outing.
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How do I make my Annual Giving gift?
We welcome gifts in many ways. We accept cash, checks, credit cards, matching gifts and gifts of stock. Please keep in mind that you can make your gift NOW in the form of a pledge and fulfill your pledge in installments at your convenience by the end of our fiscal year, June 30.
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How much should I give?
Only you can decide how much to contribute to Annual Giving each year. We hope that every member of our school community will make Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School a philanthropic priority. Even if you can’t give much now, we value your participation at any level because it is a visible sign of your support. Our goal each year is to have 100% participation from all of our constituencies. Being able to promote 100% participation is a great plus when recruiting students through our Admissions Office. Participation, however, is an important factor to Annual Giving success. Even if your gift can’t be a sizable one, please give what you can. Strong Annual Giving participation is indicative of a strong school. In the past, gifts have ranged from $10 to $25,000.
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Why does Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School need Annual Giving when current parents are asked to pay tuition? Why not increase the tuition if it doesn’t cover all the costs?
Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School is an independent school. This means that it is governed by its own Board of Trustees. As an independent school, we are able to accept the most qualified students and hire the most capable and challenging faculty members. Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School is able to determine its own curriculum and carry out an academic and extra-curricular program that prepares students for college and beyond. The quality education at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School is provided by tuition, Annual Giving and other special fundraising projects. This income is vital to the School’s health and well-being. Raising tuition to meet all costs would mean that many families would be unable to send their children to Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School.
There are six main reasons why we encourage you to support Annual Giving:
• While tuition is the main funding source for our current academic, service and enrichment programs, the cost of educating each child is substantially more than tuition.
• Annual Giving donations make an immediate impact on our school and our students, paying for essentials such as teacher salaries, school supplies and electricity.
• Annual Giving allows us to keep tuition to a minimum, thereby allowing us to recruit the most qualified students regardless of financial ability.
• Annual Giving gifts are 100 percent tax deductible and are put to use in the year they are given.
• Because not all of our current parents can bridge this gap, we rely on our alumnae/i, former parents, grandparents, former grandparents, faculty, staff and friends to help us meet our Annual Giving needs.
• The philanthropic exercise of giving is central to our Catholic faith.
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I give a great deal of my time to the school. Am I really expected to give money too?
Yes. We appreciate the time and talent our families give to Villa/Oak Hill. We need and value every family’s support in every way. If you are fortunate enough to have both time and money, please share them generously. If not, please do whatever you can.
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Financially, this is not a good time for us right now. Isn’t it unreasonable to ask for us to contribute to Annual Giving?
In this situation, we hope that you would consider making a "participatory" gift. Every gift of every size makes a difference to the school. Also, please keep in mind that you can make your gift NOW in the form of a pledge and fulfill your pledge in installments at your convenience by the end of our fiscal year, June 30.
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Can Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School cut expenses?
Villa/Oak Hill’s strengths include its extensive programs, numerous specialists, small class size and the close personal relationship between faculty and students. Each year, the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees carefully reviews and approves operating budgets to be as cost-effective as possible. Reduction in staff, facilities or programs – academic, athletics, arts – could negatively affect the quality of our students’ education.
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What if I don’t like something at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School and feel the only way I can express my displeasure is to withhold support from Annual Giving?
Please do not use Annual Giving to “punish” the school; the ones who directly suffer are the students and teachers. If something is upsetting you, please talk to the person involved. If that doesn’t work, go to his or her supervisor. If you are still dissatisfied, please go to the Head of School. Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School encourages open discussion and strives to communicate effectively with all members of its school community.
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What is happening at Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School now that should compel me to give to Annual Giving?
• New courses in the Upper School beginning in the fall of 2005 including Latin, Statistics, Computer Science
• National leader in Technology-in-the-classroom program including a dedicated Instructional Technology teaching position at both Oak Hill and Villa, and the implementation of the Tablet PC Program in the Upper School
• Maintaining traditions like Mater’s Feast, Congé, Prize Day, Philippine’s Feast, Maypole, and Très Bien Cards
• Preservation Project maintenance
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