The Giving Campaign is the largest annual fundraising drive in support of the Piedmont Unified School District. It is a year-long campaign that asks every parent, guardian, and community member to make a meaningful contribution to our schools. 

Our community’s deeply held collective belief in public education unifies Piedmont and our generous community spirit helps to make our schools extraordinary. We rally around the notion that a well-educated population will enable the greater good and that we have a civic duty to sustain and support our local schools.

California has severely underfunded education for over 40 years. As a result, since 1985, Piedmont schools have depended on our local school parcel tax to preserve and maintain essential educational programs and services. But, even that does not cover the total cost of educating our kids.

For the 2025-26 school year, it will cost $22,277 to educate each student in our District.

PUSD will receive $6,068 per student from state & federal funds (which is well below the national per-pupil funding average). Parcel Taxes will fund another $13,936 per student, leaving a GAP of $2,274 per student. The gap is what we need to raise for our kids to receive a top-tier education.

The gap between what PUSD receives in state and local funding and what it costs to educate our students? That’s up to us. The amount changes each year based on what is granted by State and local funds.

The majority of the PUSD Budget is spent on teacher and student support staff salaries and benefits. The passage of Measures G & H (parcel taxes) made it possible for PUSD to increase salaries, ensuring we can attract and retain high-quality teachers at our schools. Piedmont also keeps its student/staff ratio low. We hire more teachers so we can keep class sizes smaller, and we ensure each student gets individualized attention with paraprofessionals and classroom aides. You can view PUSD’s budget information on their website.

Without your donations, our students would attend markedly different schools. First and foremost, your generosity supports the teachers and student support staff that make all this possible:

• Smaller Class Sizes
• Libraries & Librarians
• AP & Honors Courses
• Electives
• Classroom Aides
• Paraeducators
• MTSS, Differentiation & Intervention Specialists
• Wellness Center
• Elementary Counseling
• Nurses
• College & Career Center
• High School Athletics

It also helps to pay for:

• Computers & Technology
• DEI Director & Athletic Director
• Professional Development
• Classroom Supplies

In our mission to honor donor intent, PEF works with the school Parents’ Clubs, the PEF Grant Committee and the District to survey school parents to ensure funding goes towards projects and plans that are meaningful and impactful to our children’s education.

Every spring, funding surveys were sent to all parents and guardians. Here are the results from our May 2024 survey. We then match our grant to the donor intent.

Teachers and student support staff.

By funding teachers and educators, we can help the District fund smaller class sizes, librarians and aides, elective teachers, honors and AP classes and more. To see the details, visit our Grants and School Support page.

Individual fundraisers cannot fund teacher and staff salaries.

However, PUSD includes a line item for the PEF grant because PEF has such a long history of meeting fundraising goals and because we fundraise each year for the next year (so can accurately predict what we can grant for the next year). There is sufficient evidence that the district can count on this revenue stream for them to be able to use the funds for ongoing costs.

To learn more about how PEF can fund teachers, visit How the PEF Grant Supports Teachers and Staff.

We try to make it as easy as possible for each family to make their financial contribution in the way that is best for them. In addition to one-time checks, payable to Piedmont Education Foundation at 401 Highland Ave, PEF offers:

• Monthly/bimonthly/weekly/quarterly check payments – add us to your bill pay!
  • We love checks. They’re easy to process, and we don’t need to pay credit card fees on them!
• Payroll contributions – Sign up through your company where offered
• Gifts of stock – let us know it’s coming! Give us a call at 653-1816 or email amy@piedmontedfoundation.org
• Donor Advised Funds – our tax ID is 94-6426176 (and let us know they are coming please!)
• Credit card payments – online at PiedmontEdFoundation.org/Donate
  • You can also use our online portal to set up monthly credit card deductions
  • If you would like to set deductions with more (or less) frequency, give us a call!
  • Please note that your gift does not automatically renew each year. You will need to enter or provide us with your credit card information each year.
• Does your company offer charitable gift matching? Please consider designating PEF for your match!

We deeply appreciate donations of any amount and are happy to work with you to ensure giving is as convenient for you as possible. We regret that we are unable to accept unsolicited donations of physical items or property during the Giving Campaign. Learn more about our Gift Acceptance Policy. 

Do you have good-quality designer clothing to donate? Would you like to purchase some gently used clothing? Please visit our wonderful partner, Dress Best for Less.

Most public (and private) school districts in California run an annual campaign to supplement their school funding. In the Bay Area, there are 35 education foundations that share PEF’s mission of providing sustained financial support to their schools. Annual campaigns can range from $300 to $5,500 per student and vary from district to district based on need, programmatic offerings, and number of students. Private schools also have annual campaigns where families are asked to make contributions over and above tuition. The Giving Campaign in Piedmont and similar school districts is a key component to the creation and maintenance of strong programming.

Every fundraiser has its place. When you join your parents’ club, you are supporting school-specific activities and student events. Contributing to support groups helps with program-specific advocacy, like arts and athletics. The Giving Campaign — and all PEF fundraisers, including Spring Fling,  — provide a significant portion of PUSD’s annual budget funding strong classroom instruction, small class sizes, libraries, student support, and wellness initiatives.

Click HERE for an overview of giving opportunities throughout the year.

Everyone who makes a donation by November 1 gets a lawn sign! Our Giving Campaign elves love covering Piedmont in a sea of Giving Campaign signs. And, we’ll come pick them up for you when the campaign ends. 

Don’t want a lawn sign? Let us know by including a note with your gift.

Want to help distribute and pick up lawn signs? Let us know! Email info@piedmontedfoundation.org.

Piedmont Education Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide sustained financial support to Piedmont schools through fundraising and community engagement. Our biggest project each year is the Giving Campaign. We also produce the Piedmont Student Directory, run PiedmontStore.org and PiedmontPortal.org, manage Spring Fling, assist Parents Clubs and Support Groups, and put on various fundraisers and community activities, like the Harvest Festival Carnival and Scarecrow Auction.

PEF has a 27-member volunteer board of directors and a three-person staff. We are located at 401 Highland Ave., right above the police station, and can be reached at info@piedmontedfoundation.org or 510.653.1816.

Give us a call or stop by if you have questions. Our goal is 100% transparency with our donors and our community.

Detailed information on our financials can be found here: https://www.piedmontedfoundation.org/about/our-mission-and-financials/

Participation matters for several reasons. Every dollar counts and participation matters. Some families give more and some families give less. We are grateful for every donation.

Community involvement. Parents must demonstrate to the greater Piedmont community that we are actively working to support our children’s education with our time and our dollars.

• • Roughly 60% of Piedmont residents do not have children in Piedmont schools
  • If parents/guardians give more, the community gives more
  • When parents show support financially, the community is more likely to vote yes on parcel taxes and bonds

Teacher morale. A great way for parents to show that they support our teachers is to show them that most parents give to the Giving Campaign, much of which is then used for teacher salaries. 

It all adds up. Every dollar really does count. Participation at any level helps.

It helps with grants. We aren’t eligible for many grants, but when we do apply, prospective funders like to know that the bulk of our funding comes from the community

Participation breeds participation. The more participation we have, the more it becomes the norm for everyone to contribute.