Exeter Thanks Donors
Exeter’s donor appreciation club, Giving Thanks, organized their sixth annual Thank-a-Donor Day on Tuesday, Feb. 14. The day provided an opportunity for students to celebrate and express their gratitude for the donors’ generosity and featured alumna Aida Conroy ’09 who spoke of her experience at Phillips Exeter Academy and how has it served her since.
The day began with Conroy, who teaches high school at the Noble Academy in Chicago, IL, speaking at assembly about her gratitude for the support and inspiration that she received during her years at the Academy. Conroy was a scholarship student during her time at Exeter and wrote regularly to the donors who funded her scholarship around the holidays. She expressed deep gratitude for what they had done for her. “I would have no way of coming here at all: my parents’ combined income at the time could barely pay for one year of tuition here,” she said.
“I hope that students here will recognize all of the hard work that goes on with people outside our immediate community. We have this huge alumni network of incredibly generous people who are always giving back to the school.”
Conroy emphasized how privileged all Exonians are to receive a Harkness education. “I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to engage with it. You don’t think of Harkness as a pedagogy when you’re here, but you learn to listen and you build empathy,” she said. Many of Conroy’s students at the Noble Academy come from an underprivileged background: statistically, less than a quarter of students in her community will earn four year diplomas from college. “It is my hope that Harkness helps my students beats the odds,” Conroy said.
Co-head of Giving Thanks and upper Rachel Moberg elaborated on the club’s decision to select Conroy as this year’s Thank-a-Donor assembly speaker. “We were really thoughtful of who to bring in for assembly. We wanted someone whose words would resonate well with the student body,” she said. “I want students to walk away from assembly knowing how much the donors do for us, how much of a gift Harkness is and how many ways you can take Harkness in the future.”
Students wrote personal thank you notes to donors throughout the day at four writing stations around campus: the Academy Building, the Phelps Academy Center, Elm Street Dining Hall and Wetherell Dining Hall. Exonians also signed a school-wide donor appreciation banner, which hung in the Phelps Academy Center.
Every year, over 10,000 alumni, families and friends of the Academy support Exeter through their philanthropic gifts, which cover 62 percent of the Exeter experience for students. The true cost of an Exeter education is, in fact, nearly double the tuition, including room and board, that families are charged. These additional expenses are entirely paid for by philanthropy. Donations also benefit faculty housing and professional development opportunities, as well as programs such as Exeter’s community service organization, the Exeter Social Service Organization, the Washington Intern Program, sports and clubs like PEAN and The Exonian. According to the Office of Institutional Advancement, the school year would only last to the end of fall term if the Academy ran on tuition alone.
According to Assistant Director of Alumni and Parent Relations Michelle Curtin, the day does a good job of acknowledging the important impact of donors. “When people first hear about the 62 percent stat, they’re shocked because nobody would really expect it to be that high,” she said. “We realized that there was a gap in knowledge of the impact donors had.”
Curtin explained that although the model of Thank-a-Donor Day had not changed much in past years, the event is nonetheless effective. “We’ve had a lot of success in the past with the model that we’ve done over the years,” she said. “We want to keep it really simple and raise awareness and give the opportunity for people to say thank you.”
Donor contributions to Exeter range from $10 donations to multi-million dollar benefactions to campus amenities, like the recent addition to the Forrestal-Bowld Music Center, the new Field House and the Center for Theater and Dance. “This beautiful campus is the result of generosity: many of the buildings on the Exeter campus were given by donors,” Director of Institutional Advancement Morgan Dudley said. “There is a story behind the name on every building, and even some of the trees and benches throughout the Academy grounds.” Dudley referenced the Harkness tables, which were created with a donation from Edward Harkness in 1930. “This gift transformed the way students have been taught at Exeter ever since,” she said.
Dudley expressed hope that Thank-a-Donor Day will become its own tradition and set a precedent for generosity and philanthropy among Exonians. “There are generations of Exonians who came before you, [and] there will be generations who come after you as well,” she said. “It is our duty, as alumni, to carry that tradition forward and to give so that future generations of students may benefit from an Exeter education.”
Dudley also described Thank-a-Donor Day as a great event for reconnecting generations of Exonians. “It connects current students with donors who support the school,” she said. “Those donors wish the best for you, and it means a great deal to hear from students. It is a day when all Exonians are connected by our shared commitment to non sibi.”
Director of the Exeter Fund Lynn Taylor echoed Dudley’s sentiment. Most alumni and parents make an unrestricted gift to The Exeter Fund each year, she explained, which covers nearly 10 percent of the school’s annual operating budget. “I think Thank-a-Donor Day is a great way to show our gratitude to our generous donors who help make the Exeter experience possible,” she said. The Office of Institutional Advancement regularly reaches out to donors in a variety of ways—mail and email appeals, parent “phonathons,” Class Agent letters and calls and personal one-on-one solicitations.
This year, the Academy helped provide students with financial aid amounting to $20.7 million, allowing students from differing socio-economic positions to attend the Academy. “Being equally accessible to Youth From Every Quarter has been a key component of Exeter’s mission since our founding,” Director of Financial Aid John Hutchins said. “The financial aid Exeter allocates to students helps them tremendously by making the Exeter experience available to them and their family.” Hutchins commended the Thank-a-Donor event, describing it as one of the best ways to express gratitude towards the donors. “They love hearing from our students and knowing what a difference their gifts to the Academy have made and will continue to make in the years ahead,” Hutchins said.
Members of Giving Thanks met regularly throughout the winter term to coordinate Thank-a-Donor day activities. Co-heads Rachel Moberg and lower Rose Horowitch started planning for the events at the beginning of the school year.
Moberg expressed hope that students will fully realize the magnitude of the donors’ hospitality and support. Through her work with Giving Thanks, she has associated with alumni who have been contributing regularly to the Academy since they graduated more than 60 years ago.
“I hope that students here will recognize all of the hard work that goes on with people outside our immediate community. We have this huge alumni network of incredibly generous people who are always giving back to the school,” she said. “Without those people, there wouldn’t be anything there is at this school—the beautiful buildings, the large number of faculty members or activities. Our club’s job is to remind students to be thankful for all that we have.”
Moberg thought that Valentine’s Day motifs of love, appreciation and kindness meshed well with those of Thank-a-Donor Day. “I think it’s really sweet that Thank-a-Donor Day falls on Valentine’s Day this year,” she said. “It’s good timing because Valentine’s Day is so positive. People are generally happier and that positive energy can be harnessed to show our school’s donor appreciation.”