Leaving a Legacy
Our legacy
For nearly 100 years, Minnehaha Academy has been challenging students to achieve excellence, experience a deepening Christian faith and develop a commitment to service. Minnehaha has educated more than 9,000 young people.
Our students go on to become community leaders in business, ministry and service to others. Based on information from the latest edition of the Alumni Directory, current alumni demonstrate Minnehaha’s legacy of success, representing a broad spectrum of careers.
Our challenge
Maintaining Minnehaha Academy’s inclusive and high standard of private Christian education often requires financial assistance to families. Today, we provide 17 percent of our students with financial assistance, at just 60 percent of their overall financial need.
There are many families desiring the quality Christian education that Minnehaha offers who must either sacrifice at great cost to obtain it, or forego the dream altogether for lack of finances. Minnehaha Academy is committed to working toward the challenge of meeting 100 percent of families’ financial aid need. Simply put, it is important to keep the Academy affordable.
This goal can only be reached by increasing Minnehaha Academy’s endowment. Endowment or deferred gifts are the financial building blocks the Academy uses to build its future. A gift to the endowment is the single most important way to make the school available to students, while maintaining our quality Christian education and our legacy of a socio-economically broad student population.
As our endowment and financial base grow, we can expand our ability to challenge and nourish young lives. When you help with a deferred gift, you take a very personal stake in the kind of education that builds Christian character as it creates an environment of academic excellence.
Preserving the legacy of Minnehaha Academy will ensure:
- A continued standard of academic excellence for all students
- Continued commitment to the nurturing of students’ Christian character and their preparation for service leadership
- Increased resources to hire and retain the best teachers and staff
- Increased educational resources including technology, curriculum, service learning experiences, athletics, arts education and other extra-curricular activities
- The means to uphold the socio-economic and cultural diversity that adds value to the Minnehaha educational experience
Endowment gifts
Endowments can be established through outright gifts or deferred gifts of almost any type of asset – cash, securities or property. Named endowments can provide a legacy for a family or to honor an individual. The minimum gift required for a named endowment is $10,000. Gifts of any amount may be added to existing endowments.
The funds necessary to support financial aid and operating costs come, in part, from Minnehaha’s endowment funds. To enable Minnehaha to fully realize its pursuit of excellence, donors are encouraged to designate planned gifts to one of these endowment funds:
- Financial aid scholarship: Financial aid is critical to the vitality and success of Minnehaha Academy. As education costs continue to rise, the need for additional financial aid also increases. Financial aid helps to provide scholarships so that no student offered admission to Minnehaha is excluded due to lack of funds.
- Endowment for capital improvements: Minnehaha Academy strives to continually maintain and improve its facilities. Funds help provide the most conducive surroundings for learning and co-curricular programs.
- Fine arts program endowment: Historically, nowhere has the quest for excellence been more evident than in Minnehaha’s emphasis on fine arts. It is this emphasis that has long distinguished Minnehaha from nearly any comparable school, public or private. Funds placed in this endowment will maintain and enhance the high-quality fine arts faculty and curriculum already in place.
- Athletic program endowment: Operational support is essential to the overall quality and continued growth of Minnehaha’s strong athletic program – including 26 varsity sports (12 for boys and 14 for girls). This endowment helps maintain the school’s renowned athletic center and other sports facilities.
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