Questions And Answers

Like all non-profit schools and organizations around the world, HKIS generates the funds needed to operate the school through limited revenue sources. Tuition and fees, on average, cover only 90% of the cost of providing an HKIS education. The HKIS Annual Fund helps meet the full revenue needed to operate the school. It supports the Mission and Student Learning Results by providing the means to attract and retain the finest teachers, develop and expand academic and co-curricular programs, and maintain and enhance the school infrastructure.

Everyone in the HKIS community – parents, alumni, faculty and staff – is encouraged to contribute to the Annual Fund each year. Further support is provided by corporations, trustees, and friends.

Yes! Beginning in 2023, you can choose to direct your Annual Fund gifts to the programmatic area of the school that you and your family want to support. You can choose from these core school-wide needs:

• Area of Greatest Need
• Academic Programs
• Arts and Design/Drama and Theatre
• Athletics and After-school Programs
• Music
• Religion and Spirituality Program
• Service & Experiential Learning Programs

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Tuition increases are necessary to offset the impact of inflation as well as school initiatives including improvements to or additional programs. The Annual Fund ensures that tuition increases, when necessary, are as reasonable as possible. Past increases have also been reflective of fluctuations in the Hong Kong economy and have been lower than those announced by peer schools.

Everyone is encouraged to contribute, no matter the size of the gift. What is important is participation in the Annual Fund, which demonstrates commitment and support of the school’s Mission and Student Learning Results. Further, broad participation is a key factor when securing grants from corporations and foundations.

HKIS gratefully welcomes your gift any time during the school year. Donations can be made by check or wire transfer, but the most common way parents and alumni make their Annual Fund gifts each year is online with a credit card with our secure online gift form. This secure online gift form accepts gifts in HK dollars. 

You may make a gift in US dollars, too. To make a gift in US dollars, please use this link, and make your Annual Fund gift to HKIS through the Friends of Hong Kong Charities. FOHKC is a 501c3 organization registered in the US, and will provide you with a tax receipt for your US tax filing purposes. 

Gifts of any amount are gratefully accepted and recognized annually in the Impact Report. You’re encouraged to consider what a meaningful gift amount for their family might be. The HKIS community celebrates parents, alumni and donors who choose to make a gift at a leadership level in the school’s Impact Report (link). 

Literally, anyone! Over the years, capital gifts have been made by parents and past parents, alumni, current and former faculty, members of the Board of Managers, and many others. Quite a few parents and alumni choose to make a capital gift through a family office or family foundation. 

Most people who make a capital gift do so through bank or wire transfer, or a bank cheque. Before making a capital gift, please contact Heath Hignight, Chief Advancement Officer for more specific information.

Because of the unique impact a capital gift can have, HKIS follows the global best practice to prepare documentation for donors to review, outlining the specific purposes or project, and timeframe for that project and for completing a capital gift. This documentation is signed by the donors and the Head of School to commemorate their commitment, and serves as an assurance that HKIS will use your gift only for those specific purposes or project. 

In the 2023-24 school year, HKIS has the following capital opportunities available. The amount of a capital gift can vary depending on the project.

• Student Activity Center
• Performance Hall and other Tai Tam projects

An endowed fund is a carefully and conservatively invested gift of great magnitude. This gift, similar to a long-term investment, is managed to produce an annual return. This annual return is used to supplement tuition revenue and Annual Fund giving each year. 

Endowed funds grow in value over long periods of time because only the annual return is spent, not the corpus of the gift. In this way, the impact of an endowed gift grows over time as well.

Endowed funds are a legacy of guaranteed support for the school. They ensure that the traditions and legacy of an American style of education, grounded in the Christian faith and respecting the spiritual lives of all, thrive not just today, but well into the future. 

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Literally, anyone! Over the years, capital gifts have been made by parents and past parents, alumni, current and former faculty, members of the Board of Managers, and many others. Quite a few parents and alumni choose to make a capital gift through a family office or family foundation. 

Most people who make an endowed gift do so through bank or wire transfer, or a bank cheque. Before making an endowed gift, please contact Heath K. Hignight, Chief Advancement Officer for more specific information.

Endowed gifts may include the invitation for the donor or donors to recommend a “name” for the endowed fund. The Board of Managers has the exclusive responsibility of offering and approving naming opportunities as part of an endowed gift. Not all endowed gift opportunities include a naming opportunity.

Naming an endowed fund can take many forms, and certain requirements must be met including conforming to the school’s history and existing practices. To learn more about naming opportunities, contact Heath K. Hignight, Chief Advancement Officer. 

The HKIS Endowment was established in the 1980s through the foresight of past school leaders and board members. The purpose of the HKIS Endowment is to support the general operating expenses of the school. In other words, the “main” endowment is unrestricted. 

Endowed funds operate exactly like the HKIS Endowment, but with one important distinction: endowed funds include restrictions on how the fund’s income may be used by the school. Typically, an endowed fund may be restricted to supporting the expenses related to a specific position at the school, a specific program, or another purpose like the Black Kite Scholarship program.

Donors who wish to help the school have a permanent fund to cover operations are encouraged to give to the HKIS Endowment. We welcome such gifts, because the endowment helps ensure the school will always have the unrestricted resources it needs to operate.

In 2021, the HKIS Board of Managers approved adopting one of the practices of the most successful universities and international schools: creating endowed funds for specific or special purposes. Similar to the first modern endowed funds established at Oxford University and Cambridge University in the sixteenth century, these new endowed funds at HKIS enable donors to have a long-term—and strategic—impact. 

In the 2023-24 school year, HKIS seeks donors who wish to support the following endowed funds:

• Mel Kieschnick Service & Experiential Learning Coordinator Endowed Fund
• Spirituality Coordinator Endowed Fund
• Black Kite Scholarship Program Endowed Fund
• Jim Handrich Service Leadership Endowed Fund
• The HKIS Endowment (unrestricted)

Contact Heath Hignight, Chief Advancement Officer, to learn more about any of the current projects and other ways you can support HKIS with an endowed gift.

You can find the school’s budgeted revenue and expense information in the latest Impact Report. For other budget or financial information, please contact Heath K. Hignight, Chief Advancement Officer.