Sustainer Program
Making a Sustained Committment
Making a Sustained, Enduring Commitment to Friends Education
Mike Hanas, Friends Council Sustainer
Once a month, every month, Mike Hanas makes a gift to the Friends Council Annual Fund. He didn’t always make his gifts this way, but five years ago, when Friends Council’s Sustainer Program was launched, Mike chose to participate. While the Sustainer Program is set up to be easy, convenient, and eco-friendly – and it is all of those -- for Mike it is about something much deeper and more meaningful. For him, it is about making a sustained, enduring commitment to something he feels has the power to change the world: Friends education.
“I am an idealist, if not a hopeless romantic. I believe education - teaching and learning - is the best medium for changing lives and circumstances in the world,” says Mike. “I believe independent schools have a moral obligation to lead, to use well the autonomy that our independence affords us and to maximize our opportunity to serve a public purpose. The commitment of Friends education to serving a public purpose – what we call “education for action” at Carolina Friends School - has been compelling and resonant for me. It has been enduring. And that’s what it takes. It takes an enduring, sustained commitment to creating the change many of us hope to see.”
Mike shares that while he may not have the means to make a large, transformative gift, he wants his giving to be as meaningful as possible. “Something about being a Sustainer resonates with what I consider to be the great values of Friends education, the enduring commitment to truth seeking, to stewardship as collective responsibility, and to the true celebration of diversity and inclusivity,” says Mike. “The path of being a Sustainer for Friends Council allows me to make my modest giving as meaningful as possible,” he says.
“In my twenty-nine years working in schools, I have never experienced better alignment of mission and practice than I have in the world of Friends education,” says Mike. “As I am able to be more deliberate with my philanthropy, I have chosen to support Friends Council on Education as a means of supporting Friends education everywhere. It has been an easy choice. In Friends education, the integrity between mission and practice means the world to me.”
“Having served in a leadership role in a Friends school, I know what a difference giving makes,” says Mike. “I would ask everyone, each of us, to recognize that our gifts have the potential to make a difference in what we believe is important. “
Mike Hanas, a current Friends Council Board member and head of San Francisco Friends School, formerly head of Carolina Friends School.
Benefits of Sustainership
Benefits You, Us, and the Earth
As a Sustainer, your regular contributions make a big difference in service to Friends education, with many advantages:
For You:
- It’s easy. You can make giving a part of your budget by simply authorizing a periodic deduction from your credit card or checking account on whatever schedule works best for you, which you can stop or change at any time.
- It’s satisfying. By spreading your gift over time, the Sustainers Program allows you to maximize your gift to Friends Council on Education.
For Us:
- It’s more effective. Your contribution goes farther in supporting Friends Council’s programs for Friends schools across the country. $10 a month would provide financial aid for a teacher from a small Friends school to attend a workshop. $20 a month would cover a speaker’s honorarium at a peer network meeting.
- It’s more efficient. Automatic deductions require less staff time to process and save on postage, too.
For the Earth:
- It’s good for the environment. Once enrolled, you will not receive another Annual Fund appeal letter this year. Sending fewer mailings means using less energy and paper.