North Texas Giving Day is a boon for Preston Hollow private schools, but public schools miss out

No one can argue the good work that North Texas Giving Day does. Just look at the numbers: Last year the event raised $33 million for 2,022 nonprofit organizations in one day that benefit everything from children to animals to health services. Here in Preston Hollow, private schools are getting in on the action, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in one day for field trips, new technology and other student-focused activities.

Public schools, however, are missing out completely.

“To participate, a nonprofit must have a 501(c)3 license and spend at least 50 percent of their dollars on programs herein North Texas,” says Jennifer Clifford, community philanthropy officer for North Texas Giving Day.

Those restrictions cut out public schools all together, because they are not 501(c)3 nonprofits, a specific IRS tax exemption code used for charities. While schools can establish their own foundation to collect donations, most do not, because they are already considered “government instrumentalities,” a bureaucratic term assigned to public entities that fill a critical need, like schools, police and hospital districts. It allows them to take in donor dollars, but without the added hassle of applying for a special tax exemption designation, which private schools are required to do if they want to take in donations.

It’s impossible to guess how much the public schools could raise were they to establish 501(c)3 foundations so they could participate in North Texas Giving Day, but it would likely require an active parent base to get it done.

“These [public] schools simply don’t have the staff or time to push for donations with [North Texas Giving Day],” says Marcia Larson, a W.T. White High School parent. “Unlike private schools, there’s no marketing or development department on hand to do all that work.”

W.T. White is located mere blocks from Jesuit College Preparatory School, which raised $97,421 during Giving Day 2015. Hillcrest High School, in the heart of Preston Hollow, just established its own foundation after years of discussion, but has not yet launched a website or solicited donations.

The Dallas Education Foundation is sort of like Dallas ISD’s catch-all for donations, in which funds can be gifted to a specific school or program, or to the general fund. The charity did not take part in North Texas Giving Day last year, but plans to particpate this year with a program aimed at getting books to at-risk pre-kindergarten students.

The day that will provide some books to the public schools is a bonanza for private schools in Preston Hollow. Of the top 10 charities that raised funds in our neighborhood during last year’s North Texas Giving Day, eight are private schools. They collectively raised $1,560,082.92, funds that largely went to augmenting the student experience on campus with better facilities, extra-curricular activities and field trips.

“It allows us to offer all the extras,” says Bunny Ridenour, association head of school advancement at the Alcuin School, which specializes in Montessori and International Baccalaureate education.

She points out that Alcuin’s specialty programs, including enriched arts and music education and field trips, are funded not through families’ tuition payments but by donor dollars, which largely come from North Texas Giving Day.

“We never collect in tuition what it actually costs to educate a child, no family could afford that,” Ridenour says. “Every private school relies on donations.”

Annual tuition at Alcuin runs from $14,425 at the preschool level, to $23,810 for high school education. Last year, the school raised $340,155 during North Texas Giving Day using a combination of direct mail and social media campaigns.

Ursuline Academy of Dallas was a similar story, and with $412,572.27 raised last year, it was also the top charity to participate in Preston Hollow. While tuition there runs $20,050 a year, the school says the added donor dollars from North Texas Giving Day provide “competitive teacher salaries and benefits, along with leading edge technology in the classroom, outstanding academic programs and global learning experiences,” says Valerie Oates, the school’s director of communication.

She added, “Tuition funds about 87 percent of Ursuline’s annual operating expenses. Annual giving is the most important source of the additional funds Ursuline needs to meet those expenses.”

Charities all over Preston Hollow and beyond will be raising funds during this year’s North Texas Giving Day, set for Sept. 22. Head over to NorthPark Center to see the fundraising madness in live action, or donate online at northtexsgivingday.org.