Proctor Academy announced that it will receive a $10 million gift, the largest donation in the Andover private school’s 178-year history.
The gift caps an extraordinary run of fundraising for the school, which received its second-largest donation of $5 million, along with $3 million and $1 million gifts, over the past year.
“There’s a lot of momentum on campus and our supporters, our alumni, our parents are really excited about what’s going on at the school, and so that leads to this kind of impactful philanthropy,” first-year Head of School Amy Bonnefond Smucker said in an interview.
The $10 million gift is part of the estate plan of an anonymous family with ties to the school. The family has contributed to Proctor for over three decades, Scott Allenby, the school’s chief strategy and communications officer, said.
Because of the nature of the gift, there is no timetable for when it will become available to Proctor. As a result, Smucker said the school hasn’t decided yet how it will use the money.
“I think we can easily say that, for right now, it will serve as an inspiration to others to support the school, and is a really impactful way to talk about how meaningful Proctor is in the world,” Smucker said.
The 390-student high school sits on a 2,500-acre campus and has an endowment of roughly $40 million.
Smucker said that the gift was already in the works when she started at Proctor in July.
“Planned gifts like this don’t happen quickly,” she said. “They are the result of lots of conversations over a long period of time that involve a lot of people.”
She described the moment of meeting the donor family as “one of the most impactful moments” of her career.
“They were able to share with me in person that they had made the gift and it was a moment that I’ll never forget — to see someone give of themselves so much to Proctor,” Smucker said. “It made me just so proud to be here, especially as a new head [of school], to just see that this is the kind of place that inspires this kind of philanthropy.”
With funding from the other major gifts received recently, the school is currently building an $11 million health and well-being center, which is set to open next fall.
Depending on when the school receives the $10 million contribution, Smucker said it could go toward work on its residential facilities.
“I’m so grateful to this family,” Smucker said.
