Each of us are the beneficiaries of decades of alumni, parents, and friends of the School who made Thacher a philanthropic priority in their lives, who benefited from the magic of Thacher and then "paid it forward." To ensure that the School continues to provide future generations of Toads with the same transformational education, we must come together and attend to the School's key attributes of success: good governance, excellent teachers, capable students, strong culture, succession planning, alumni engagement, and careful management of our facilities, among others. Underlying it all is our charge to build a strong economic model that will make all of these things possible and carry the School well into the next century.

Like most private schools, Thacher relies on three major revenue sources: tuition, annual giving, and endowment. Our total budget is currently about $25M per year. Gross tuition covers around 60 percent of that budget; approximately 25 percent of that budget is underwritten by the draw from our endowment; and another 15 percent is covered by the annual giving program. 

As we look toward the future—including maintaining a balanced budget with our existing program and introducing new initiatives and programs that address the realities of an ever-changing world—we see both limits and big opportunities. Our ability to increase tuition in the future beyond the rate of inflation is limited, as adding to our $57,000+/- a year tuition puts us in jeopardy of pricing out our families. Within the Annual Fund, there are opportunities for some growth. Our $14,000+/- Annual Fund giving-per-student, which ranks among the highest of our peer schools, bodes well, but we have a relatively small community that we can turn to for support every year. The good news is that we believe that there's a significant opportunity to substantially grow our endowment during the course of this campaign, preparing Thacher to meet the needs of 21st-century students, scholars, and leaders.

We know that evolving School programs will also require new facilities. With the School’s continued financial health in mind, the Board of Trustees has established a policy that mandates additional endowment for maintenance and operations be included in plans for any new facilities. Every new building will be accompanied by an endowment equal to 50 percent of the construction cost to pay for future upkeep.

As we move through The Next Peak campaign, we’ll always keep in mind the critical importance of an unrestricted endowment, which provides the ultimate flexibility and sustainability as new and varied needs arise in the future. While we, of course, welcome restricted gifts to any campaign priority, it's our sincere hope that during the course of the campaign many of you—parents, alumni, and friends of Thacher—will consider providing fully unrestricted dollars to the School, helping to bolster our financial strength and longevity for the next generation.