Strategic Giving

To help ensure our financial stability, SFS has an ongoing major gifts effort for community members with the interest and capacity to make a major financial investment in the school. Major gift donors support special needs that require contributed funds in addition to Annual Giving. The school has several projects and opportunities that are in need of funding, including facilities improvements, program investments, technology, and equipment for our academic programs. Donors who contribute $10,000 or more in a given year will be invited to the Head’s Circle Dinner in the fall. Please contact the Advancement Office for gift opportunities and priority needs.

Periodically, the School raises funds for an important initiative that moves the school forward in a transformative way, such as improvements to the physical plant or investments to advance program and curriculum. In 2021, SFS completed Forge Our Future: The Campaign for SFS raising $7 million. This philanthropic effort deepened the School’s STEAM program and grew the endowment by $4.5 million. The critical investment in SFS bolstered the school immediately and long into the future. Over the decades, philanthropy has transformed SFS through strategic capital campaigns, among them the Community at the Center Campaign completed in 2013 which raised more than $5 million to construct the Steve Morris Community Center -  a combination middle-school size regulation gym and state-of-the-art 350-seat theater as well as five new classrooms and multiple offices.

The San Francisco School Endowment, which now totals $10 million (as of 06/30/24), offers perpetual financial support by providing investment earnings that add to the annual operating budget. The School aims to grow the endowment to at least one year of tuition revenue in order to provide more critical funding to assure the socio-economic diversity, innovative programs, talented faculty, and financial security that shape SFS. The recent Forge Our Future: The Campaign for SFS raised $4.5 million in gifts and pledges receivable for the endowment, bringing the endowment much closer to our long-term goal. A contribution to the school’s endowment is a gift that makes an impact now and in perpetuity.

Gifts to the Endowment can be directed to the General Fund or to Named Funds.

A tremendous way to support The San Francisco School Endowment is to include the school in your estate planning. Many people have come to realize that they can give a larger gift by deferring it to a later time by creating a trust or bequest. We are proud and honored to include all such donors in The San Francisco School Legacy Society. You can become a member by:

• placing The San Francisco School in your will
• making The San Francisco School the beneficiary of a retirement account
• making a gift of life insurance policy
• establishing a charitable trust
• making a gift of real estate or other tangible property

If you have questions or would like more details about making a planned gift to The San Francisco School, please contact the Advancement Office.

advancement@sfschool.org, 415-239-5065 ext. 352