Revealing Data about Endowments

In NYC to meet with the CASE/NAIS Senior Forum group today and tomorrow, so my thinking is much about advancement these days.  (It's the third leg of a 4-city, 3-country, 16-day haul--maybe I'll post about travel next.)

Interesting graph: the top 100 NAIS-member day school endowments (from Stats Online, 2009-10 data).  There are more than 1,450 members, so imagine how thin the curve becomes after, say, number 1,250 or so.  

Every board entertains the fantasy that endowment will save the school--if only they could find the right donor(s).  Reality is that the overwhelming bulk of day schools are tuition dependent to a massive degree, and that not very many have found the magic formula to build endowment.

Want a big endowment?  Fine, but in all likelihood you will need to grow it from within by self-funding from operations, and be ready for it to take a very long time to accumulate.  Geologic time, in terms of the typical day school board mindset.