Fundraising pressure on parents, Hyde School, Bath Maine

[Anonymous]

One thing prospective parents should know is that they can be heavily pressured to make a "voluntary" contribution to Hyde over and above "tuition". This, in the past, was called "fair share giving." But, it didn't really feel voluntary. It felt like a PR tactic to keep upfront tuition down, and then pressure parents to pay more later. Possibly, this was also a tax dodge. The pressure to contribute was heavy,in my experience. And, if you didn't sacrifice to give, your attitude was called into question, a standard Hyde tactic in many situations.

 I have always wondered why Hyde didn't get in trouble for this with the IRS. It was presented to parents as a plus, because they got to take part of what actually was tuition as a tax write-off by calling it a contribution.  Parents were even given a specific dollar amount to contribute in order to meet their full tuition cost. This was their "fair share".

 In my time at Hyde this felt very manipulative. We were even pressured as students to contribute to the school from our own earnings at summer jobs as a way of showing our "commitment" to the cause.

I have read some about this in other posts, but would be grateful if others would post here about what the current fundraising is like. Perhaps it is no longer as I am describing it?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-08 08:49:00, Anonymous wrote:

"One thing prospective parents should know is that they can be heavily pressured to make a "voluntary" contribution to Hyde over and above "tuition". This, in the past, was called "fair share giving." But, it didn't really feel voluntary. It felt like a PR tactic to keep upfront tuition down, and then pressure parents to pay more later. Possibly, this was also a tax dodge. The pressure to contribute was heavy,in my experience. And, if you didn't sacrifice to give, your attitude was called into question, a standard Hyde tactic in many situations.



 I have always wondered why Hyde didn't get in trouble for this with the IRS. It was presented to parents as a plus, because they got to take part of what actually was tuition as a tax write-off by calling it a contribution.  Parents were even given a specific dollar amount to contribute in order to meet their full tuition cost. This was their "fair share".



 In my time at Hyde this felt very manipulative. We were even pressured as students to contribute to the school from our own earnings at summer jobs as a way of showing our "commitment" to the cause.



I have read some about this in other posts, but would be grateful if others would post here about what the current fundraising is like. Perhaps it is no longer as I am describing it?"

 I was called and asked to donate, what I considered to be an astronmical sum by a call center person. "would you consider a gift of $X,XXX."  "Yes," I said. "I will consider it very briefly before I say no"
Yes there was always the fair share.  My parents always gave.  I spoke to my parents about the solicitation. The reaction?  "You don't owe that place a thing. We payed your tuition and gave the contribution, all the while they had all those kids on scholarship. Half of thier families were doing better then we were."
 It was a big sacrifice for my family to send me to Hyde.  They were convinced it was what was needed to help me grow into the person they though I should be. They were not impressed by being abused in seminars by the high and mighty of hyde, and none too pleased when they were informed that I was not ready to graduate in the spring of my senior year, after Hyde had taken several years of our money.  My parents were hard working and loved me.  One of my darkest regrests is that I was not a better daugther to them.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-08 09:45:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-04-08 08:49:00, Anonymous wrote:


"One thing prospective parents should know is that they can be heavily pressured to make a "voluntary" contribution to Hyde over and above "tuition". This, in the past, was called "fair share giving." But, it didn't really feel voluntary. It felt like a PR tactic to keep upfront tuition down, and then pressure parents to pay more later. Possibly, this was also a tax dodge. The pressure to contribute was heavy,in my experience. And, if you didn't sacrifice to give, your attitude was called into question, a standard Hyde tactic in many situations.





 I have always wondered why Hyde didn't get in trouble for this with the IRS. It was presented to parents as a plus, because they got to take part of what actually was tuition as a tax write-off by calling it a contribution.  Parents were even given a specific dollar amount to contribute in order to meet their full tuition cost. This was their "fair share".





 In my time at Hyde this felt very manipulative. We were even pressured as students to contribute to the school from our own earnings at summer jobs as a way of showing our "commitment" to the cause.





I have read some about this in other posts, but would be grateful if others would post here about what the current fundraising is like. Perhaps it is no longer as I am describing it?"

 I was called and asked to donate, what I considered to be an astronmical sum by a call center person. "would you consider a gift of $X,XXX."  "Yes," I said. "I will consider it very briefly before I say no"

Yes there was always the fair share.  My parents always gave.  I spoke to my parents about the solicitation. The reaction?  "You don't owe that place a thing. We payed your tuition and gave the contribution, all the while they had all those kids on scholarship. Half of thier families were doing better then we were."

 It was a big sacrifice for my family to send me to Hyde.  They were convinced it was what was needed to help me grow into the person they though I should be. They were not impressed by being abused in seminars by the high and mighty of hyde, and none too pleased when they were informed that I was not ready to graduate in the spring of my senior year, after Hyde had taken several years of our money.  My parents were hard working and loved me.  One of my darkest regrests is that I was not a better daugther to them. "

We also felt lots of pressure to give Hyde extra money.  We got the full court press when it came time for the fair share campaign.  By the time that happened we were so furious with Hyde and felt so guilty about sending our kid there that we just resisted all the pressure.  They finally backed off.  We just weren't willing to subsidize all the bad things we saw happening at Hyde, especially the emotional abuse we saw over and over again.