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The Sanford Endowment

Sanford Endowment

Build Your Legacy. Invest In Our Future.

Secure your legacy with an endowment gift while ensuring the School flourishes for years to come.

Like many independent K-12 schools, Sanford's endowment is a collection of endowed funds, some of which are restricted for a specific purpose.

Gifts to the unrestricted endowed fund provide Sanford with the greatest flexibility to support the school's needs because the income it generates each year can be used where it's most needed.

Both restricted and unrestricted endowment gifts play a crucial role in ensuring the School has robust endowment income each year and a failsafe against bad economic times.

Needed: $4 million

ENDOWMENT GOAL & PROGRESS

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Endowment Investment Opportunities

Please contact the Development Office to find out more information about Sanford's endowment priorities and funding opportunities. If you would like to create a new endowed fund, restricted to a particular purpose, we invite you to have a conversation with us about opportunities to mesh your philanthropic passions with Sanford's funding priorities.

Endowment Growth Outcomes

Increasing our annual endowment income will allow us to:

stay competitive with peer schools with salary and benefits for our exceptional faculty.
continue to offer a robust financial aid program and/or increase the number of merit or need-based scholarships we offer each year.
increase our annual operating budget for whichever educational program needs enhancement that year.

Class of 1937, Sanford's 1st graduating class
Nancy C Sawin, Sanford's 2nd Head of School
Aerial view of campus
War Memorial on the Quad, rededicated at Homecoming 2023
Former faculty, Lloyd Johns, 1979
Former faculty, Bill Goss
Former faculty & Evergreen Society member, Christine Yasik
Jackie Pitts '55 and Math Department
Lower School in Yearsley
Lower School students, ca. 1960s/70s
Former faculty, Paul Donovan
Science Department, 1960s
Former faculty, André Dagenais
Former faculty, André Dagenais & Gavin Gibson '15

The Sanford Endowment

While Sanford's endowment has grown from $7.4 million to $12.5 million over the last decade, it is absolutely critical that this continues to be a fundraising focus for the school. Compared to local peer and independent schools nationwide, Sanford lags behind. A useful metric in measuring endowment health is to divide the value of the endowment by the number of students.

Sanford's median endowment per student in August 2024 is $18,195. In comparison, the median endowment per student for peer schools that are members of the National Association for Independent Schools was $24,890 in the 2022-23 school year, and the median endowment per student for peer schools members of the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools was $31,299.

We need the help of the Sanford community to help us continue our endowment growth trajectory!

Projections assume an annual return of 7% and an annual distribution rate of 4%. Fees not included.

Each year, a portion of the value of each endowed fund is used to support that fund’s purpose, whether it be salaries, financial aid, athletics, or other programs. Any earnings in excess of this distribution are reinvested to build the fund’s market value. In this way, an endowed fund can actually grow over time and provide perpetual support for its designated purpose.

The graph above illustrates the potential impact and legacy of a $50,000* endowment gift. In just 50 years, your $50,000 endowed fund could generate $225,000+ in revenue for the School while the principal value of the gift quadruples.

*Projected growth is based on an initial principal gift of $50,000, 7% annual growth, and a 4% annual withdrawal.

A 4% to 5% draw from the endowment investment account (based on a 3-year rolling market value) is typical for Sanford and is standard for independent school operating budgets.

Sanford currently draws around $550K from the endowment each year. This draw from the endowment makes up a crucial part of the annual operating budget. The graphic above illustrates the difference in yearly draw with a larger endowment.

Endowed Fund Calculator

Providing for Tomorrow's Students

Heather and Kenny Mitchell '93 are lead donors to the campaign with a $1.5M endowment gift establishing the Mitchell Family Endowed Scholarship at Sanford. This funded scholarship program advances the school's commitment to affordability and diversity by perpetually hosting four Mitchell Scholars in the Upper School.

"If it were not for the generosity of the school, I would not have been able to afford a Sanford education. I'm grateful to be able to pay that forward...I look back at my time as a Sanford student with tremendous gratitude for the educators, coaches, staff, parents, and Sanford community members who encouraged and fostered my early talents as a student, athlete, and leader." - Kenny Mitchell, a 1993 alumni and current trustee.

Ways to Give

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Credit Card

Donate securely online by credit card. Make a one-time gift or set up a recurring gift plan. With a recurring gift, choose the amount and the frequency that you'd like to donate to Sanford; just "set it and forget it." Should you ever need to change your recurring plan, contact Jody Cross in the Development Office.
Corporate Matching Gift

Check with your employer or HR department to see if they have a corporate matching gift program that will match your donation. If so, apply for a matching grant following your company's rules. Let us know you've applied for a matching grant so that we can thank you.
IRA Gifts

Give to Sanford School through your Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Those who are at retirement age need to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) each year. Contact your retirement account administrator to direct all or part of your required minimum distribution (RMD) to Sanford. Because Sanford is an IRS-qualified charity, this is called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). With a QCD, the amount donated is not reported as taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions. In this way, Qualified Charitable Distributions can offer greater tax savings. Sanford’s EIN is 51-0064331.

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Check

Send a check payable to Sanford School with the specific project you would like to support listed in the memo line.
Attn: Development Office, Sanford School, 6900 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, DE 19707.
Stock Gifts

Contact your financial advisor or broker to transfer stock to Sanford's account. Please contact Jody Cross in the Development Office for account details and to alert us of the transfer; otherwise, we won't know who, or to what fund, to credit the stock gift.
charitable lead trust

Talk to your attorney or financial advisor about the advantages of setting up a charitable lead trust with Sanford as the beneficiary. Charitable Lead Trust refers to an irrevocable trust designed to provide financial support to one or more charities, such as Sanford, for a set period of time, with the remaining assets eventually going to family members or other non-charitable beneficiaries.

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Pledge

Fill out this online form or contact Jody Cross in the Development Office to set up a pledge and payment schedule. A pledge allows you to commit a larger specific donation amount with the flexibility to pay it out over multiple years and at payment times of your choosing.
Donor Advised Fund

A donor advised fund, or DAF, is a giving vehicle established at a public charity like the Delaware Community Foundation. Giving in this way allows donors to make a lump sum charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax deduction, then recommend grants to qualified non-profit organizations over time. Sanford is an IRS-qualified charity. Our EIN is 51-0064331. Recommend a grant to Sanford from your Donor Advised Fund today.
Charitable Remainder Trust

Talk to your attorney or financial advisor about the advantages of setting up a charitable remainder trust with Sanford as the beneficiary. Charitable Remainder Trust refers to an irrevocable trust that generates a potential income stream for the donor or other beneficiaries, with the remainder going to your favorite charity or charities. At the end of the specified term of the trust, the remaining trust assets are distributed to one or more charitable beneficiaries, such as Sanford.