Annual Appeal

Gifts to The Bermuda High School for Girls are one part of many relationships and interactions you have with the School. Volunteering, attending and supporting school activities and reunions, staying in touch with classmates and the community as a whole, and giving are all important parts of a strong relationship with BHS. It is a sincere desire of everyone at the School that alumni, parents and friends of the school will participate in every aspect of this relationship.

Participation in the BHS Annual Appeal is extremely important as giving by parents, alumni and friends of the school indicates a support for the overall direction of the school. This is critical to other funding sources such as foundations, which will ask how involved parents and alumni are involved in the School when we submit applications for funding.

The cost of a BHS education is significant. Whether a student receives financial aid or no financial assistance, the cost of educating a single student outstrips the price of tuition. In the current school year, the cost of educating each student will be $1,100 more per student than the full tuition amount. This is seen as a hidden scholarship that is given to each student.

The School depends on support from alumni, parents and friends to meet this shortfall.

There are many ways to give. Visit our Giving Page for full details. 

You may give a gift to the BHS Annual Fund at any time. However, many of our alumni, parents and friends understand the importance of annual support and make a gift each year.

The BHS Annual Fund closes on June 30 each year. All gifts that are to be counted in the school year must be received by then and are listed in the subsequent issue of the Torchbearer. This close date enables the School to record each gift in accordance with best accounting practices by the end of the School's fiscal year.

If giving on a monthly basis is of interest to you, please email the Advancement Office or call 278-3004 for more information.

Matching gifts are often provided by your employer as an employee benefit that helps increase the impact of your donation. A company with a matching gift programme will make a gift to BHS when you make your gift often matching your gift dollar for dollar. For example, if you make a gift of $500, your company would also send $500 to BHS, making the overall impact of your contribution equal to $1,000.

In order to take advantage of this benefit, you will need to get a matching gift form from your employer's Human Resources department or foundation and send it in with your donation and we will do the rest. It is that simple.

Although the amount varies from year to year, in response to the needs of the school, last year, the BHS Annual Fund raised about $200,000 in unrestricted gifts and another $200,000 in endowed funds. Additional income, besides tuition, is received from other income (facility rentals) and Restricted Donations which totaled $390,000 last year.

The Bermuda High School for Girls prefers unrestricted gifts to the annual fund as this affords the School flexibility in the use of the funds to wherever support is most urgently needed, as determined by the Head of School and the Board of Trustees. However, you may choose for your annual contribution to be restricted for a specific item/area in the School.

An example of a restricted gift would be one given to the Alumni Association Jubilee Scholarship. The Jubilee Scholarship is a restricted scholarship for students who have a parent(s) or grandparent(s) that is/are Alumni.

The cost of tuition only pays for a portion of the cost of a BHS education. Students who receive no financial assistance are in fact receiving a "hidden scholarship " that makes up the difference between tuition and actual cost. This year the hidden scholarship will amount to approximately $1,100 per student.

If you and/or your child(ren) have been a recipient of a BHS education, then you have also received the generous support of the alumni, parents and friends of the BHS community who have supported the School through the Annual Fund. Help to give today's students the opportunity that you and/or your child had at BHS.

BHS prepares its students to be confident, resilient and responsible global citizens – even if you do not send children to BHS, by supporting the School you are giving more children the opportunity to attend a school committed to educating its students to the highest international standards and preparing them for bright futures.