About the Fund
The Annual Fund is the cornerstone of our fundraising efforts at Army and Navy Academy. Similar to most private schools, Army and Navy Academy relies on annual, tax-deductible gifts, in addition to tuition, to provide the unique educational and leadership opportunities that comprise the “Warrior Experience.”
The Annual Fund Helps the Academy:
- Enhance programs in Academics, Athletics, and Cadet Life
- Enhance visual and performing arts programs
- Acquire classroom equipment, supplies, and technology
- Continue campus renovations
- Provide innovative course and club offerings
- Offer ongoing professional development for our faculty
FAQ
Why does ANA look for private support?
As an independent school, Army and Navy Academy receives no financial support from government entities. Our operating budget comes solely from tuition, endowment income, charitable support, and income from auxiliary programs such as summer camps and facility rentals. Since tuition and fees only provide 73% of ANA’s operating budget, charitable contributions are largely responsible for closing the remaining gap.
What is the Annual Fund?
The Annual Fund is the cornerstone of all fundraising efforts at Army and Navy Academy. Tuition and fees cover all the basics, affording the Academy its long-standing reputation for financial sustainability. However, the Annual Fund provides the Academy with the resources needed to provide the unique educational and leadership opportunities that comprise the “Warrior Experience. Annual Fund gifts are invested immediately to enhance the quality of the experience for all our Cadets. This differentiates the Annual Fund from major capital improvement projects of long-term endowments.
How are gifts to the Annual Fund “invested”?
Unrestricted Annual Fund gifts provide revenue in support of the operating budget. Specific targeted areas include: technology upgrades and classroom equipment, enhanced programs in Academics, Athletics, and Cadet Life, campus renovations, ongoing professional development for faculty and staff, innovative course offerings, and need-based financial aid.
What is the suggested giving level for the Annual Fund?
Every gift makes a difference. We encourage you to make supporting the Academy one of your highest philanthropic priorities and to give in accordance with your abilities. In recent years, gifts to the Annual Fund have ranged from $50 to $50,000.
Who is asked to give to the Annual Fund?
Everyone in the community is asked to give annually, including: trustees, alumni, current and former families, faculty, and staff. During the current academic year, the Academy had 100 percent trustee participation and 65 percent employee participation.
When does the Annual Fund campaign begin?
The Annual Fund traditionally kicks off in the fall and builds momentum over the ensuing months. Most gifts are made prior to December 31st of that academic year, affording donors an opportunity of a charitable deduction towards that year’s taxes.
What is the parents’ role in the Annual Fund?
Army and Navy Academy’s extended “family” is large, but no one is more interested in the health of the school than those who have sons in the school. Most important is our goal of 100 percent parental participation. No wonder the percent of parent participation is a key question on applications of other donors, corporations and foundations we solicit!
Are gifts tax deductible?
Yes. Army and Navy Academy is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation. Donations to Army and Navy Academy are fully tax-deductible.
What is a matching gift program?
Many companies will match gifts that their employees (and sometimes spouses of employees) make to secondary schools such as ANA. Please mention and encourage your prospects to check whether such a program exists at their place of employment. If it does, they can obtain the form from their Human Resource Department and include the form with the gift.
Can a restricted gift be made rather than an unrestricted gift?
Yes. As noted earlier, though we strongly urge you to make an unrestricted gift to the Annual Fund—giving the school’s administration and leadership maximum flexibility in investing those funds “where needed most,” we also recognize that some donors may have a particular area of interest in mind, and may prefer to direct all or a portion of their gift in that direction. To facilitate this desire we have created suggested designations within the Annual Fund, each targeted to support excellence in an important component of The Warrior Experience. Finally, a gift may be restricted to support any current program or activity within the school’s operations. For more information, please contact the Development Office at (760) 547-5276 or by email at development@armyandnavyacademy.org.
Do other schools do this?
Army and Navy Academy, like all independent schools, colleges and universities, depends on the generosity of its parents, alumni and friends for financial support every year. Even schools with enormous endowments rely on their constituencies to support annual giving.
How does a strong Annual Fund program—total giving as well as percentage of participation—enhance the Academy’s ability to secure foundation and corporate grants as well as gifts from community members at large?
A key question on grant applications is the strength of constituent participation in annual giving. Support from parents is a clear measure of the effectiveness and success of the educational institution’s program. We are working to build the Academy’s record of participation so it will become a powerful statistic that can garner more support from external resources.