Senior Gift

List of 7 items.

• Why do we have a senior gift?

  Philanthropy is a learned behavior. We are asking parents to partner with St. Agnes to teach our soon-to-be alumnae that the future of the school is in their hands. This program fosters a spirit of philanthropy within your daughters and helps keep connections strong with alumnae and alumnae parents. It is a meaningful way to say “thank you” to a school that has given you and your daughter so much these past four years and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives. 

• Do I have to make a large gift/pledge?

  We encourage prayerful, thoughtful consideration of what your family can commit over the next five years. Our goal is to raise $50,000 for the scholarship. We hope that parents and students will consider multi-year pledges, which strengthen the impact of their gifts over the next four years while their daughters are in college. In the past, parent gifts have ranged from $100 to $5,000.

• How do I explain this to my daughter?

  Ask them to consider giving up the equivalent of three trips to Starbucks between now and graduation, give that money to the scholarship, and ask them to continue doing that as they go on to college. If every girl gave $25 for 5 years, the impact would be almost $25,000 to the Class of 2025 Scholarship.  

• My daughter made a gift, does that count as our family’s gift?

  We want both you and your daughter to make separate gifts to SAA. It is important to lead by example, and show our daughters that through collaboration, the $50,000 goal is attainable!

• I already made a gift to the Academy Fund. Does that count towards my participation?

  Unfortunately, not for the Senior Gift Campaign as Academy Fund gifts immediately fill the gap between tuition and operating expenses at SAA. Your gift to the class scholarship will be prudently invested in the Endowment. The combined gifts in the fund will perpetually contribute to the financial aid awarded to deserving young women each year through the interest distributed annually.

• I decided to pledge over five years. When do I have to pay my pledge?

  You may pay your pledge anytime you choose. We will send pledge reminders to your home address in December and March. If you provide your credit card to be charged annually, it will be charged on the first day of the month selected. We ask for your first payment to be completed by May 31, 2025, so that we can start accruing earned interest for the Class of 2025 scholarship and have an amount large enough to award to a student next year. 

• How is the scholarship recipient chosen?

  Families in need of financial assistance apply for financial aid through the school. Applications are sent to an objective third party to confirm the financial need. This information is then reviewed by the Finance Committee (a board-level committee), who makes the decisions based on the total amount available for aid that year. This includes both interest from endowed scholarships and money from our operating budget. Students do not apply for a specific scholarship, but to the overall program solely based on need. The Advancement Department then assigns the student to a particular scholarship.