Funding Priorities

Like independent schools across the nation, Wildwood depends on fundraising as a critical component of its operating budget. Our fundraising priorities include the following:

Wildwood Fund. Each year, all members of our community are asked to make a tax-deductible gift to the Wildwood Fund, Wildwood’s top yearly fundraising priority. Annual giving to the Wildwood Fund provides up to 10 percent of each year’s operating budget and helps pay for the everyday essentials our school needs to ensure the outstanding quality of our program.

Annual giving revenues help Wildwood deliver leading-edge programming, such as our student internship program. It also provides critical funding for classroom resources, including technology tools and lab materials. It supports professional development and growth opportunities for faculty and staff. By ensuring a robust Flexible Tuition budget, vibrant support of the Wildwood Fund also helps us achieve a diverse student population that reflects the broader community. Click here to learn more. For more information about the Wildwood Fund, please contact Director of Annual Giving Danielle Lesner at dlesner@wildwood.org or (310) 806-4525.

Capital and Special Campaigns. Campaigns help a school think big–beyond the current school year. With the Foundation for the Future campaign, that’s exactly what we’re doing. To learn more about the impact of transformative giving, contact Kristin Hampton, director of institutional advancement, at khampton@wildwood.org or (310) 943-5312. To learn more about the Foundation for the Future campaign, click here.

Major Gifts. A well-developed major gifts program allows independent schools to move forward significant strategic initiatives outside of a capital campaign. Major gifts are donor-directed, larger-scale gifts in support of transformative programming and big ideas, and they are made in addition to Wildwood Fund gifts.

Like capital gifts, major gifts are often paid out over multiple years. Recent major gifts have funded significant enhancements to the athletics program, provided seed money to launch the Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development (WISRD), and underwritten faculty professional development in the social justice and equity arenas. To learn more about Wildwood's major gifts program, contact Kristin Hampton, director of institutional advancement, at khampton@wildwood.org or (310) 943-5312.

Endowment. The school’s endowment was established in 2007. The original fund within the endowment was named the Hope E. Boyd Fund for Financial Aid to honor our retiring head of school. Now known as the “Hope Fund,” it was created specifically to build a robust source of funding for Flexible Tuition.

In 2017, a second fund was added to the school’s endowment. Named the Landis Green Innovation Fund, this fund provides targeted support for faculty and administrators seeking to research, develop, and introduce new or enhanced programming that will have a transformative impact on students, families, or employees. Established in honor of Head of School Landis Green’s tenth year of service, the fund provides ongoing support for innovation.

A strong endowment can give students from across Los Angeles’ broad socioeconomic spectrum the opportunity to experience and benefit from a Wildwood education. And that’s to the benefit of all. Click here to learn more about Wildwood's Endowment. Make your gift to the Hope Fund or Landis Green Innovation Fund now.