THE CAMPS OF THE ALOHA FOUNDATION

FAIRLEE, VERMONT

August 2014 2

Dear Aloha Community Friends,

On the eve of a camp season in the early 1900s Aloha’s founding matriarch,

Harriet “Mother” Gulick, addressed a letter to her campers that captured

the essence of our mission:

Place in your trunk great bags of the best brand of merriment, humor,

courage, and good cheer. Sprinkle into all the cracks quantities of

gentleness and gracious tolerance and also sympathetic imagination.

Should you find some small packages of “I can’t” throw them out and fill the

spaces with plenty of parcels of “I’ll try.”

And so it’s been at the camps of Aloha for well over 100 years.

The Aloha experience has always been about more than just a summer full of fun and

exciting adventures. Families have long treasured a place where campers can safely

and confidently be who they really are and achieve not for the approval of others, but

for themselves. It is a community of exceptional leaders and mentors who model the

qualities of character essential to success in life. Even its Hawaiian nomenclature was

chosen with special meaning. Aloha means “welcome,” “peace,” and of course, “love.”

Lanakila means “victory,” but over one’s self not others. Ohana means “family” and

“community,” who now number in the tens of thousands.

The Aloha Foundation came to be almost fifty years ago at a time when the future of the camps was uncertain. Back

then a group of devoted alumni and parents pooled personal funds to purchase the camps from the retiring Gulicks,

and created a nonprofit umbrella to sustain them into the future.

August 2014 3

Today’s Foundation trustees have resolved to ensure the well-being of

the camps once again for generations to come, by substantially

strengthening the Foundation’s leadership, community and campus-

sustaining endowments. It is for this reason that we reach out to you

today. As you will read in the pages that follow, the Foundation has

launched an endowment-building campaign we’re calling The Gift of

Generations.

A gift to endowment is a gift that keeps on giving, with annual income

that helps the Foundation reduce tuition dependence and maintain

affordability; ensure tuition aid for generations of diverse campers to

come; support the recruitment and retention of the finest camp

leaders and counselors in the field; and preserve the natural beauty

and magical settings for the life-changing experiences that have been

the hallmark of the Aloha camping tradition.

We are continually inspired by the extraordinary generosity of the Aloha community when it is called upon to do big

things. It is our great privilege to lead this Gift of Generations campaign. Knowing its promise we ask for your help in

ensuring the strongest possible future for the exceptional camps and programs of The Aloha Foundation.

With gratitude,

Fran Rosenfeld John Herrick, Jr.

Co-Chair Co-Chair

August 2014 4

MEADOWS FULL OF MOONLIGHT, MOUNTAINS BRIGHT WITH SUN

110 Years of Camping in Vermont

Five generations of children have lived, played, learned and

grown together at the camps of The Aloha Foundation since their

founding in 1905.

With encouragement from strong directors, kind counselors and

longtime campmates, thousands of campers have become

competent, self-confident and resilient at camp -- more so here

than in other childhood settings, many later tell us.

Equally important, campers and counselors alike have gained

friends for life from diverse backgrounds and homes the world

over.

Meanwhile, the personal qualities camp fosters -- self-awareness,

curiosity and adventurousness, honesty, respect and responsibility -- continue to shape their adult lives as caring partners

and parents, creative workers and leaders, and committed contributors to their communities.

August 2014 5

And when they return to Fairlee for

reunions, family camp vacations, or just

plain visits to their old summer stomping

grounds, camp alumni always marvel at

the welcoming sameness of the tradition-

rich places they “left home to come

home to” in their childhoods, many years

ago or merely a few.

Campers, counselors and their parents

write often to tell us what aspects of

camp have had the greatest influence

on their personal development.

Overwhelmingly, three recollections stand

out:

Their inspired leaders and

dedicated mentors.

The diversity of their camp

communities.

The peacefulness and beauty of

their timeless surroundings.

These nurturing camp essentials have endured at the Alohas for over 100 years, through good times and bad. By building

generous endowments dedicated to their continuity we can bequeath them to a second century of campers.

Five generations from now, thousands more camp families will thank us for it.

August 2014 6

FINANCING FINE PEOPLE AND FINE PLACES

Campaign Goal: $6 Million

Outstanding leaders.

Diverse communities.

Timeless environments.

Alumni of the Alohas remember these distinguishing characteristics of their camp experiences for a lifetime. They’re also

the costliest qualities of camp to sustain by far -- and depend on tuitions and fees for nearly 90% of their support today.

That’s a problematic equation we plan to change, in order to minimize increases in tuition over time while maintaining the

excellence of the Aloha experience for generations to come.

The Gift of Generations campaign aims to double the value of the endowments that support the operating costs of

Aloha’s camps and programs -- from approximately $11 million today to $22 million, with market growth, by 2018 -- the 50th

anniversary year of The Aloha Foundation. It’s an ambitious goal that will yield nearly $1 million annually to sustain the

leadership, community and campus qualities that keep families connected to the Alohas, generation after generation.

August 2014 7

FINANCING FINE PEOPLE AND FINE PLACES

Campaign Goal: $6 Million

The Aloha Camps have endured for over 100 years while

scores of others older and younger have failed.

We continue to thrive because five generations of camp

families (now going on six) love the ways their children grow

summer after summer.

And most fortunately, with support from literally thousands of

camp alumni and parents, the finances of the Foundation

have remained strong through eras of national prosperity as

well as economic challenge.

In 2012 the Board of Trustees of The Aloha Foundation

adopted an endowment-building strategic plan designed to

ensure the strength of the camps long into the future, while

keeping them accessible to all.

That’s the promise of The Gift of Generations.

August 2014 8

ENDOWING LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE | $3 MILLION

Every day of every summer fine counselors help campers imagine, pursue and succeed in

reaching goals of their own choosing. In the fall, winter and spring student groups gain

community-building and leadership skills in the School Programs of the Hulbert Outdoor

Center. “Success Counseling” is our time-tested method for helping children thrive. It’s a

uniquely-Aloha set of mentoring skills that every camp counselor and Outdoor Center

instructor learns to apply consistently and naturally, with often transformational results.

Perhaps more than any other factor, it’s our supportive, role-modeling leaders that camp

and program participants say they “leave home to come home to.”

The Aloha Foundation dedicates over $1.5 million each year to salaries for our superbly

experienced, longtime directors, assistant directors, camp unit and instructional department heads, and school program

leaders -- as well as wages for more than 300 carefully-selected staff members seasonally, at Aloha, Hive, Lanakila,

Horizons, Ohana and Hulbert.

A virtually unparalleled ratio of one counselor to every 2.5 campers sustains the

exceptional quality of the Aloha experience. To guarantee that renowned

quality in the future the Foundation must continue to retain and attract

significant numbers of staff with superior teaching and mentoring abilities. Yet

recruiting talented young adults is challenging in an increasingly competitive

marketplace for the best and brightest college students and graduates. Paying

wages at levels that honor the longevity, talents and responsibilities of veteran

leaders is a stretch as well.

The Gift of Generations campaign will raise $3 million in endowment funding for

leadership excellence, yielding $120,000 annually toward good salaries and wages for the finest leaders in the fields of

camping and outdoor education.

August 2014 9

ENDOWING CAMPER OPPORTUNITY | $2 MILLION

We often talk about camp as a safe place for youngsters to venture out

of their “comfort zone.” Paddling a kayak or hiking a mountain trail

might qualify for some; playing a lead in a camp musical might do it for

others. Living cooperatively 24/7 with campmates from backgrounds

very different than their own tests the limits of almost everyone’s

comfort zone.

It’s also one of the most important growth-fostering challenges the

Alohas provide to campers. Awarding full and partial camperships

each summer to children from families of modest means and diverse

lifestyles affords this fundamental growing experience to children of a

wide range of backgrounds.

To sustain and enhance the economic, racial and cultural diversity of

the camps and provide Hulbert learning experiences to students in

financially-strapped schools, The Aloha Foundation dedicates 10% to

12% of its annual operating income to tuition aid. In 2013, 135 children of low and middle income families -- 13% of all

residential and day campers -- received campership awards totaling more than $570,000.

August 2014 10

ENDOWING CAMPER OPPORTUNITY | $2 MILLION

In addition, families of deployed and returned members of the

Vermont National Guard participated in Ohana’s annual free

family camp in June, underwritten by $45,000 in local

philanthropic donations; and schools will receive nearly $40,000

in financial assistance for student participation in the education

programs of the Hulbert Outdoor Center.

The Foundation also supports several free or low-cost programs

for special populations of campers, including children of

agricultural working families in northern New England and

children affected by juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

The Foundation’s Annual Fund is the largest single contributor to camperships

and sponsorships today, providing about $355,000 in tuition assistance to

residential and day campers.

Several dedicated campership endowments and program-specific

foundation grants have augmented that sum by about $200,000 annually.

The Gift of Generations campaign will raise $2 million in additional

endowment funding for camperships and sponsorships, yielding $80,000 in

new income annually toward tuition assistance.

August 2014 11

ENDOWING CAMPUS CHARACTER | $1 MILLION

Tradition infuses the camps of The Aloha Foundation in many

ways – bugles at morning, noon and evening; gatherings at

Council Fire, Father Gulick’s Ravine, Rainbow’s End; music

and song in the Hale, Comb and Barn beneath five

generations of names on camp-year placards. Visiting

alumni from as early as the 1930s invariably marvel at how

familiar the camps they knew back-when look and feel today. That’s because the Foundation’s campuses have retained

their essential appearance and aesthetic character for over 100 years, earning National Register of Historic Places

recognition as fine examples of Vermont’s rustic architecture and rural landscape at the turn of the 20th century.

Ensuring the beauty and longevity of the camps’ treasured

settings requires loving attention to hundreds of built and

natural environments lodged in the memories of thousands

of campers, counselors and camp parents. Stewardship of

the Foundation’s 1,300 acres of lakeshore, forest and field is

increasingly costly in a region subject to mounting

development pressure.

Fortunately, Aloha’s superb Buildings and Grounds

department looks after more than 400 camp structures and

their surroundings expertly, sensitively and efficiently. In

addition, our forester keeps the woods healthy; water quality

ecologists monitor milfoil growth and other invasive threats to

the lakes; and an architectural historian advises us

on best practices for sustaining the campuses’ authenticity. Maintaining the natural beauty and traditional character of

the Aloha Camps costs $2 million annually.

The Gift of Generations campaign will raise $1 million in endowment funding for campus care and enhancement, yielding

$40,000 in increased yearly income toward the preservation of the camps’ magical sense of place, long into the future.

August 2014 12

APPENDIX A | ENDOWMENT FAQS

1. How much does it cost each year to operate the Foundation’s camps and programs? Where does the money go?

The Foundation’s estimated operating budget for

2014 was approximately $ 7.3 million, including:

$2.9 million for staffing, equipment, supplies and

food for the five summer camps and the outdoor

center;

$2 million to maintain the five campuses, 400

buildings and 1,300 acres of land, and sustain

related property stewardship expenses including

rising real estate taxes, from which even nonprofit-

operated camps in Vermont are not exempt;

$1.8 million to promote and administer enrollments, manage the finances of all the programs, raise funds for

camperships and special projects, and nurture our worldwide community of camp and program alumni;

Nearly $600,000 in tuition aid for more than 100 camp families.

2. Don’t tuitions and program fees cover the operating costs of the camps?

Tuitions support approximately 88% of the Foundation’s annual operating costs at present. Fund raising and

endowment income sustain the remaining 12% -- nearly $1 million today. The Gift of Generations campaign will

build an endowment portfolio of over $20 million with growth over the next five years, reducing our tuition

dependence by many hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

3. How do tuitions for the Aloha camps compare to those of other camps of their kind and quality?

The tuition for seven weeks at Aloha, Hive and Lanakila is less than four of our “peer” camps with long histories and

excellent reputations in Northern New England or Upstate New York, and more than six others. We monitor the rates

of these ten camps regularly to remain competitive while still balancing income and expenses.

August 2014 13

APPENDIX A | ENDOWMENT FAQS

4. How has the economic recession that began in 2008 affected the financial health of the Foundation?

Is the Foundation in good fiscal condition now?

Each year for at least a decade the Foundation’s income

from all sources has met or slightly exceeded its operating

costs. The Foundation managed expenses carefully in the

initial years of the recession, kept tuition increases to a

minimum, and focused its fundraising efforts on donors

able to assist affected families with support for

camperships. Enrollments held steady in 2009 and 2010

and began to climb in 2011 to the optimal levels of

today. Building our endowments will help to keep our

finances strong in the face of any future economic

turbulence.

5. Campaigns cost money to conduct. What percentage of the funds raised will actually go toward the endowments

this campaign is intended to benefit?

The expense budget for The Gift of Generations campaign is $585,000, for personnel, communications, events and

travel. At under 10% of the $6 million goal it’s consistent with best practice for major fund raising initiatives.

6. The Foundation raises money every year for its Annual Fund. Will that continue while the endowment campaign in

under way? Is there really a need for both?

The Annual Fund is a significant source of

current support for the Foundation’s

campership program, which extends

over $650,000 in tuition aid to families of

low and moderate income, and to

financially-challenged schools each

year. Endowment gifts sustain critical

functions of the Foundation over time. So we hope that many donors will continue to contribute to the Annual Fund

while fulfilling their Gift of Generations pledges.

August 2014 14

APPENDIX B | ENDOWMENT GROWTH AND INCOME PROJECTIONS

OPERATIONS-SUPPORTING ENDOWMENTS

Pre-Campaign / Post-Campaign Values

Constant Dollars

Pre-Campaign Campaign Additions Post-Campaign

Staff Leadership $900,000 $3,000,000 $3,900,000

Campership $4,100,000 $2,000,000 $6,100,000

Campus Stewardship $1,200,000 $1,000,000 $2,200,000

Unrestricted $4,400,000 $4,400,000

Totals $10,600,000 $6,000,000 $16,600,000

August 2014 15

APPENDIX B | ENDOWMENT GROWTH AND INCOME PROJECTIONS

ENDOWMENT GROWTH & INCOME

6% Annual Increase in Investment Value

4% Annual Income Transfer to Operating

August 2014 16

APPENDIX C | FOUNDATION & CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP

Board of Trustees

Peter W. Gaillard, President, Fairfield, CT

Anne Conway Juster, Vice President, Shaker Heights, OH

Joseph Dobronyi, Treasurer, Larchmont, NY

Emelie Bean Ventling, Secretary, Lake Forest, IL

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Current

Leigh Alderson-Smith, Rye, NY Jennifer Mogck, Haverford, PA

Jean Bender Jarvis, Seattle, WA Christopher Overtree, Williamsburg, MA

Susan Clearwater, New York, NY Charles Pughe, Charlotte, VT

Kathleen M. Fisher, New York, NY George P. Richardson, Delmar, NY

Lindsay Frazier, Cambridge, MA Fran Rosenfeld, Larchmont, NY

Rudy Glocker, Henderson, NV Lizzy Schulzinger, New York, NY

Kathleen Harvard, Hanover, NH Matthew Slaughter, Hanover, NH

John F. Herrick, Jr., Shaker Heights, OH Deborah Wolf Streeter, West Seattle, WA

Robert G. Mann, Cambridge, MA Stephen A. Zipf, Jr. Gladwyne, PA

Patricia Michaelson, Delmar, NY

Emeritus

Elliot Baines, Jr., Naperville, IL Kate Merritt, Boston, MA

Matthew Bender IV, Albany, NY Elizabeth Harte Owens, Boston, MA

Skip Brown, Burlington, VT Faith Parker, Stowe, VT

Peter Christie, Etna, NH Sally Reid, Boston, MA

Sam Cooley, Bloomfield, CT Robert White Jr., Mentor, OH

Mary Kohring Highberger, Hendersonville, NC Donald Williams, Naples, FL

Robert Kenagy, Litchfield, CT Edmund Winnicki, Chester, VT

August 2014 17

APPENDIX C | FOUNDATION & CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP

Campaign Leadership Committee

Campaign Co-Chairs Lead & Major Gifts Co-Chairs

John Herrick, Jr. Chip Baines

Fran Rosenfeld Kathleen M. Fisher

Past Trustee Co-Chairs Parent Co-Chairs

Peter L. Christie Leigh & Martin Alderson-Smith

Robert Y. White, Jr. Matthew Slaughter & Lindsey Klecan

Staff Co-Chairs Campaign Events Co-Chairs

Patricia Michaelson Skip Brown

Charles Pughe Lizzy Schulzinger

Campaign Communications Chair Alumni Chair

Janis Coates Susan Clearwater

Solicitor Training Chair

Deborah Wolf Streeter

Honorary Campaign Co-Chairs

Matthew Bender IV

Posie Merritt Taylor

August 2014 18

APPENDIX D | SUGGESTED TABLE OF GIFTS

Gift Level Number of Gifts Gifts Amount Cumulative Gifts

$1,000,000

2

$2,000,000

$2,000,000

$500,000 2 $1,000,000 $3,000,000

$250,000 3 $750,000 $3,750,000

$100,000 5 $500,000 $4,250,000

$50,000 10 $500,000 $4,750,000

$25,000 15 $375,000 $5,125,000

$15,000 20 $300,000 $5,425,000

$10,000 25 $250,000 $5,675,000

$5,000 35 $175,000 $5,850,000

$1,000 70 $70,000 $5,920,000

$500 100 $50,000 $5,970,000

$100 300 $30,000 $6,000,000

Total 587 $6,000,000 $6,000,000

August 2014 19

THE CAMPS OF THE ALOHA FOUNDATION

2968 Lake Morey Road ~ Fairlee, Vermont ~ 05045

(802) 333-3400 ~ www.alohafoundation.org