Study of Independent Schools Marks its 20-Year Milestone

In 2005, what was then called the National Business Officers Association (now NBOA: Business Leadership for Independent Schools) had reached the seventh anniversary of its founding. Having its formative years behind it, the association was broadening its services and teamed with Commonfund to produce the first annual Commonfund Benchmarks Study of Independent Schools (CSIS). NBOA’s mission statement speaks to the motivation behind the Study’s founding: “NBOA develops, delivers and promotes best business practices among independent PK – 12 schools.”

Even before the first CSIS, there was a much more fundamental relationship: Commonfund donated key funds to launch the startup that in 1998 was known as NBOA. Before NBOA, independent school business officers were served by regional groups. A national organization was more robust, more strategic and would be able to provide support unavailable on a regional level.

It was a natural partnership: the mission and purpose of these two organizations were (and remain) virtually interchangeable, starting with the aforementioned development and promulgation of best practices in endowment management and institutional governance in the independent school community¹. Toward that goal, both organizations focused on ongoing education for practitioners; served as timely, reliable sources of information and data; and published original research. The ultimate objective was and is enabling institutions to fulfill their mission over the long term by helping to secure their financial health and well-being.

For endowed independent schools, best practices are of critical importance to the fulfillment of their mission. The data offered in each annual CSIS is intended to support that task by providing a useful, relevant tool for boards, investment committees and financial staff members to use in their deliberations and decisions.

In Tracing Twenty, a special supplement to the 20th annual CSIS, we present selected data on returns, asset allocation, spending, gifts and more gathered and summarized in the annual Studies from FY2005 through FY2024. Presented in one place and analyzed over this period of time, the data offer insight into trends that evolved during the period and that helped to shape current endowment management practices.

Included in this analysis is a series of short essays by thought leaders sharing their insights and experiences in or in service to the independent school community—a personal, qualitative contrast to the quantitative analysis and charts of the core narrative.

1.  Commonfund more broadly serves the nonprofit community, to include independent schools but also higher education, private and public foundations, operating charities, and nonprofit healthcare.