Support FAQs

• Gifts to the Annual Fund go directly into day-to-day operations of the School, making up more than seven percent of the School’s budget. Your generosity helps FAIS attract and keep top notch faculty to prepare our students for their next steps toward secondary education and beyond. Your support also ensures that FAIS stays one of Portland’s premier schools by allowing us to maintain state-of-the-art facilities and advanced technology. Because of you, FAIS continues to thrive.
• The FAIS Annual Gala is a festive occasion held each year at an off-campus venue for the entire school community, alumni and guests, and is our largest fundraising event of the year. Led by parent volunteers, the Gala thrives because of the support of everyone in the School, and the best way to support their efforts is to attend the Gala and bid high! As with the Annual Fund, proceeds from the Gala are directed to the General Operating Budget. 

Like other independent schools, FAIS relies on financial and volunteer support from our community to offset operating expenses, provide capital funds for campus projects, and support financial aid through its endowment. Tax-deductible gifts are essential to the ongoing health of FAIS, as they help ensure the financial health and sustainability of the School, and also help fund various initiatives that improve the educational program for all students.  As important to the ongoing health of FAIS are the many volunteer hours our parents, grandparents, alumni, and friends contribute to the School. Like other independent schools, FAIS has two main fundraising areas: annual giving and capital campaigns. 

While tuition covers the majority of our budget, annual fundraising allow us to expand programs, purchase new technologies, improve our campus inside and out, provide training to our teachers and staff, and it helps keep tuition at lower rates than other comparable independent schools.

Occasionally, independent schools need to embark on projects like facilities updates or growing the endowment, that are beyond the scope of the day-to-day school operations. These are called capital campaigns. These campaigns are fundamental to ensuring FAIS will be physically and financially to educate internationally minded, well rounded global citizens, fully prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow. 

The Next 40 Years Capital Campaign will help to fund our vision for developing a permanent campus that reflects our robust and dynamic community. The first phase of this exciting vision is the new Gilkey International Middle School, expected to open in Spring 2019. Thank you to the more than 125 parents, grandparents, alumni, parents of alumni, and friends who generously donated gifts from $20 to $275,000. Under the leadership of our Board of Trustees and its Capital Campaign Committee, we surpassed our campaign goal with over $3 million in gifts and pledges.

You can donate or pledge today to benefit with a gift by cash, check, credit card, or stock.

No. Annual giving will always be a top priority. We hope all parents will contribute to the Annual Fund and/or our Annual Gala. While we are in capital campaign we encourage all community members to make a campaign donation in addition to annual support. 

Every gift counts. Maximizing participation is our goal, as participation is an important criterion for grants from corporations and foundations. You can help with a gift of any size.

Contact your Human Resources department to see if your company matches gifts to potentially double or even triple the impact of your FAIS donation. 

In celebration of our 40th anniversary, we are creating the 1979 Society to recognize and celebrate the philanthropic leadership of our families whose combined annual giving equals $1,979 or more in a school year.  FAIS invites you to become part of this group of leadership donors, whose annual financial support is the foundation of our Annual Fund. By placing FAIS at the top of your philanthropic priorities, you are making a tangible investment that has an immediate impact on the life of our school and students.

Annual donations totaling $1,979 or more can be made by contributing to the Annual Fund and/or a paddle raise at our annual Gala.  

We also want to honor our grandparents and FAIS Young Alumni (graduated after 2002), who generously contribute to the school and welcome those who give more than $197.90 annually into the society.