Harker has designated Feb. 14 as the inaugural Alumni Day of Giving, and one generous lower school family has committed to match gifts up to $1 million.

A strong endowment fund is a hallmark of a school’s financial stability, responsibility and viability, and all gifts made to the school by alumni go to Harker’s endowment fund. For this Feb. 14 Alumni Day of Giving, the school has set a goal of 200 gifts, of any size, from alumni. And one family, Louise and Fouad ElNaggar (Osiris, grade 2; Apollonia, grade 1), is so deeply committed to increasing Harker’s endowment that they have pledged to match each of those 200 gifts – no matter the amount – with $5,000 of their own, to contribute a total of $1 million to Harker’s endowment. 

The school is working with GiveCampus to help promote the Alumni Giving Day and #LoveHarker campaign. Founded by a former Facebook engineer, GiveCampus is a platform that, as its website puts it, makes “philanthropy more social, more interactive and more fun … to bring people together in support of the schools, causes and initiatives that they care about.”

“It’s more about participation than the size of the gift,” said Kimberly Lobe, director of advancement. “By contributing to and growing the school’s endowment, alumni are enabling Harker to create even more of an academic advantage through program expansion, scholarships, staff positions, research, facility maintenance, equipment and supplies. They are ensuring that generations to come have the same outstanding experience that they did.”

All Harker alumni will receive a link on Feb. 13 that will point them to the Alumni Day of Giving page at GiveCampus, and the giving page will include ways to share with, text and email classmates of each donor in order to encourage participation. Questions may be addressed to Kristina Alaniz, director of alumni relations, at alumni@harker.org.