Day of Parent Giving Raises $144,175; Students Receive Sunglasses

Students who made a detour to check their P.O. boxes while rushing between classes this Tuesday were pleasantly surprised with a stylish pair of bamboo-patterned sunglasses and a thank-you note from the Parent Giving team. 

The gift celebrated the success of the Day of Parent Giving on May 7, an annual campaign run by the Office of Parent Giving. This year’s Day of Parent Giving was one of the most successful in the department’s history, with 359 donations given and $144,175 raised—119 percent of the donor goal, according to the givecampus.org website. Although the tradition has only existed for three years, this shows a broader trend of increased engagement between the Academy and parents.

Parent participation has increased dramatically since the creation of the Parent Giving Team. According to statistics available on the givecampus.org website, from the 2014-2015 school year to 2017-2018, overall participation has increased by over 15 percent, while the total amount raised through donations is almost 90 percent higher—from $925,000 to $1,771,000. So far this year, 64.5 percent of parents have given and the last day to give is June 30.

The Director of Parent Giving Office, Laura Schwartz, ’82, P’20, P’22, expressed that the school first started making a concerted effort to connect with parents six years ago. While originally included as part of the Exeter Fund Office, Schwartz explained that the Parent Giving Office was created separately to better serve the individual needs of parents. “Alumni and parents are just engaged in a different way. But it’s also really important for parents to feel connected to the school and connected to each other,” she said.

Schwartz noted that while many parents previously knew other parents at the schools their kids used to attend, this often changes when they switch to Exeter—and this makes it especially important to maintain a connection to the school. Parent events help achieve this, Ally Goddard, Assistant Director of Parent and Alumni Relations, pointed out. “We go all over the country and the world promoting parent events to connect parents to one another and the Academy. We even bring faculty and Principal Rawson on the road so they can hear from the school as well. Especially when they’re far away, it’s really nice to have that touch from Exeter,” she said.

Associate Director of Parent Giving, Jennifer Fogel added that parent giving events also serve as a line of communication between parents and the Academy. “I think it’s very important for the faculty and the Principal to hear from the parents what their concerns are—what they like that the school’s doing and what they’d like it to do differently,” Fogel said.

The members of the institutional advancement team emphasized that donations of any size are important, and that parent participation is of the utmost importance to show that parents are supporting the school. “We receive donations of all sizes, from five dollars to $500,000. We just hope everyone participates in any way they can,” Schwartz said. 

Among parents, there seem to be a wide variety of reasons to donate. For example,Tracy Richmond, P’20, noted that donations are important in ensuring that students of all walks of life can attend Exeter. 

Karla Shetreet, P’20, P’21, added that gifts are also a token of gratitude and appreciation for the work the school does for her children. Michael Gomez, P’20 agreed, saying “we all have kids at Exeter, so it’s important that we do all we can to support them.”

Students also seem to be satisfied in the ways they’ve been able to participate. Many parents may recognize the video that came out in conjunction with the Day of Parent Giving campaign, a collaboration between the Student Alumni Relations council and Parent Giving team that featured the council wearing flamboyantly colored sunglasses under the caption Bright Futures. 

The council also gets to propose ideas for the small student gifts that come after the Parent Day of Giving goal is met. This year’s Bright Future theme was well received—Nick Schwarz, an upper, commented that the bamboo sunglasses students received were “fly as heck.”

Overall, the Exeter community seems to have embraced parent giving with open arms. Gomez summed it up nicely, saying, “I’m biased, because I love Exeter and all its done for my kids—but I think what they’re doing is really positive.”