What a pleasure it is to be getting to know your children and this community! Thank you for your warm welcome. While it’s only been a couple of weeks since I began my role of Director of Development at Greene Towne, I’m struck by the care and commitment I see every day. It’s an honor to be here, and I’m so excited for what we will do together to support your children and the school.

I wanted to share a brief overview of philanthropy at Greene Towne. Philanthropy is critical to honoring and furthering the founders’ goal to grow a “racially, religiously, and economically integrated school,” and fundraising is our path. Each year our donors include parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the school.  

We focus our fundraising around two priorities:

THE ANNUAL FUND: The Annual Fund is the lifeblood of our program. It is a yearly campaign which provides resources for this school year. Donations to the Annual fund support everything at Greene Towne, from the wonderful “work trays” in the classrooms, to professional development for our outstanding faculty and staff, to helping provide financial aid so we may expand our reach to a broader range of families. 

The Annual Fund gives the school the flexibility to embrace new opportunities, or absorb unforeseen expenses (we’ve had more than our share of those). The stronger the Annual Fund is, the stronger Greene Towne is! We are grateful for gifts of all sizes; just like your mom or dad may have said: every bit counts! (You can make a gift at any time.)

While you will receive digital messages or letters inviting you to participate in the Annual Fund throughout the year, we host two fundraisers which go directly to the Annual Fund:

• The Auction: a highly anticipated annual community-wide social and fundraising event that is held in the spring, the Auction is led by a committee of parent volunteers with support from the Development Office and the Development Committee. The 2023 parent co-chairs are Jessica Boonswang, Lauren Friedman, and Mindy Previtera. Want to know more or get involved? They can be reached at auction@gtms.org. (Save the Date! May 12, 2023 – with a fun “Gallery Walk” May 6th.)

• Day of Giving: The Greene Towne Day of Giving is held in January or February (we’ll send a save-the-date as soon as we have it). This is a 24-hour online giving challenge in which the school community is challenged to meet specific dollar and participation goals. It is primarily a digital campaign, with real-time progress updates and lots of fun engagement on FaceBook and Instagram. 

Our second fundraising priority specifically supports need-based scholarship awards at Greene Towne. 

PA EITC/OSTC PROGRAMS: The Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs invite individuals and businesses with significant tax liability ($3,000+) to support scholarship organizations by offering PA tax credits for up to 90% of your total gift. These donations are restricted to need-based tuition assistance, and really are a win-win for the school and the donor. For example, if you make a gift of $5,000 to Greene Towne through the EITC program, you receive $4,500 in PA tax credits, resulting in an out-of-pocket contribution of $500 for you.

• For more information or to initiate a gift, please contact Amanda or Sarah. 

There are many points of entry as you consider how you may want to support Greene Towne’s fundraising priorities. Whether as a volunteer, advocate, donor, or all three, we welcome you! You join many others whose participation and stewardship has ensured that Greene Towne continues to provide children with opportunities to fall in love with learning, and know the value of “doing it myself!”

Please be in touch if you have questions or would like to learn more about how to get involved.

Looking forward to all we can do together,

Amanda Reath

Director of Development

areath@gtms.org