The Head of Advancement is someone who has so much value that the school would not be able to operate without their contributions. This comes as a significant surprise as many people may have no idea this is even a position at the school. Yet, for hundreds of students, his role is necessary in providing funding for them to attend at HW.
The Head of Advancement Eli Goldsmith is responsible for raising 11 percent of Harvard-Westlake’s budget. This money helps supplement Financial Aid, which helps account for the attendance of hundreds of students at HW, as well as funding River Park. This amount increases every year as operating expenses increase, as well as funding for River Park, which costs around the same as building a third campus.
The goals are massive, so the efforts behind achieving them should be massive too, right? Millions of dollars do not grow on trees, so between the letters that are sent out annually to parents of students, and parents and grandparents of alumni, alumni networking across the country, dinners and so much more all contribute to the annual giving that the Advancement team works to raise. In addition, circumstances such as the writer’s strike and the screen actor’s guild strike may contribute to delays in gift giving, or a lower amount given.
“There are people who still do not know when they will get work again,” Goldsmith said.
There are some major gifts which total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most buildings at HW are named after someone. Major gifts usually go to fund large projects, such as new buildings, or even a new campus. River Park is the recipient of many major gifts. But, hundreds of thousands of dollars are not pocket change, so there must be a strategy in raising that much.
“We try to form relationships with people to find out what their interests are, what the schools interests are, and try to align those,” Goldsmith said.
Major gifts to the school can also be used to help fund new projects which are aligned with the interests of the givers. Goldsmith may have dinner with a family and listen to what the family has in mind for change at HW. For example the giver may want to make a change, like adding a pickleball team, which may not align with the school’s objectives. This may come as a challenge as common ground is not always accessible.
