Giving
The Friends of Franklin Foundation is the primary fundraising organization for Benjamin Franklin High School.
Its mission is to pursue, cultivate, and develop relationships with donors to advance philanthropic support for Benjamin Franklin High School and to actively manage the resources it receives.
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[text] Christy Cowart Read ’89. Development Director, BFHS
I’m Christy Cowart Reid, the Development Director at Benjamin Franklin High School.
I’m also a proud alumna from the class of 1989.
Our mission in the Development Office is larger than the resources provided to us as a public school.
We bring in additional funding, propelling our school community into an aspirational future.
As Development Director, it is my goal to connect with our alumni, families, corporations, foundations, and friends to partner with our beloved school philanthropically.
In the past, your gifts have helped with advanced placement testing fees, and entrance fees for scholastic competitions, have purchased consumable materials for classrooms, brought in outside expert speakers, and sent students and faculty on field trips and international travel to experience new cultures.
Please contact me to learn how your gift can have an immediate impact on our students, faculty, and staff.
You can ensure future generations of Falcons will have the same quality Franklin education that has endured since 1957.
Our Vision
Our aspirations extend beyond the resources provided to us as a public school. While Benjamin Franklin High School receives public funding through Louisiana’s Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), those dollars support the essential costs of educating our students. Philanthropic support helps bridge the gap between what public funding provides and the exceptional academic programs, opportunities, experiences, and facilities that allow our students to reach their fullest potential.
The Friends of Franklin Foundation works to nurture meaningful relationships with alumni, parents, past parents, grandparents, foundations, community partners, and other supporters while developing new opportunities for philanthropic investment in Franklin. By approaching fundraising strategically and intentionally and by responsibly stewarding the resources entrusted to us, the Friends of Franklin Foundation helps ensure that Franklin can meet the needs of our students today while investing in the future of our school.
Through these partnerships, we provide resources that strengthen academics, support faculty and student programs, expand opportunities beyond the classroom, enhance our campus and facilities, and make ambitious initiatives possible.
For 70 years, generations of the Franklin community have helped make excellence possible. Together, we are building the foundation for the next 70.
With a $150,000 fundraising goal, Bennaroo is an opportunity to celebrate Franklin while investing in our students’ futures.
Why Give to Franklin?
Ben Franklin High School is a transformational experience.
While only the exceptional are accepted, individuality is embraced and diversity is cherished. Students are empowered through academic achievement. Excellence is expected and accomplished.
The BFHS Robotics Team, Voodoo Voltage, was generously helped by the Friends of Franklin fund when we were granted a spot to go to the World Championships in Houston, a feat we had not managed since 2016. The team was very eager and excited to attend but the costs to attend were staggering. Without the assistance of FoF, I do not know that we would have been able to compete in Houston. The team is incredibly grateful for the opportunity.”
— Darren Eady, Robotics Coach
Friends of Franklin has helped some of the Band and Orchestra kids who are unable to pay the full price to attend Nationals in Orlando. The kids are really good kids who want to participate, and as a group, we’re able to be successful while we’re competing when more of our students are able to attend. You can’t beat the experience of performing at these national competitions; it’s fantastic for our student performers.”
— Carl Lacoste, Band & Orchestra Teacher
As a public charter school, we are as financially challenged as our students are academically. We strive to sustain our status as the #1 school in Louisiana with a budget of roughly $8,800 per student, approximately 40% of what other private/independent schools receive. Supporting Franklin is an investment in the future leaders and innovators of our community and our country.
Cash Giving
Current gifts are always appreciated and are tax-deductable to the full extent of the law. The school will accept gifts by check or credit card.
Recurring Gifts Giving
Give a little every month, every quarter or every year. You can set up a recurring gift on our secure website and your credit card will be charged.
Other Ways to Give
Matching Gifts
Many corporations have chosen this method as a way to support education. Companies will often match or multiply gifts made by employees and retirees.
Restricted Gifts
As a public charter school, Ben Franklin has constant needs for funding, maintenance and improvements, project by project. You can choose to restrict funds to a specific project or area of the school such as the writing lab, theater, science or athletics.
Sponsorships
You or your company may sponsor a Franklin event or project and have the ongoing appreciation of the community.
Donor Advised Funds and/or IRA Distribution
You can recommend a Donor Advised Fund grant to Friends of Franklin in support of Benjamin Franklin High School. If you are age 70½ or older, you may be able to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) directly from your IRA to Friends of Franklin.
Stock Gifts
A gift of stock saves two ways. You avoid capital gains tax on the increased value and you receive a deduction for the full market value of the stock at the time you make the gift.
Memorial & Honor Gifts
Franklin gratefully recognizes gifts made in memory or in honor of friends, family, or faculty members, or to acknowledge other significant events.
Planned Gifts
A gift to Franklin leaves a lasting impact. There are many vehicles that offer tax savings and benefits: wills, life insurance, charitable lead trusts, and real estate.
Gift In Kind
Gifts of goods and services are always welcomed. There are so many different needs at the school and these donations can be distributed where best suited.
Volunteering
Your time and talent can help Franklin. Support events and activities throughout the year. Help raise money and awareness for Franklin.
Your Funding at Work
Bennaroo Music Festival
Last year, Bennaroo brought money in to fund student musicians as they travelled to Orlando, Florida and Natchitoches, Louisiana. Both Band and Orchestra won 1st place. We were also able to purchase new instruments and fund several other field trips for clubs and classes.
Robotics
Last year, FoF helped our Robotics team travel to several competitions. After finishing as runners-up at the FIRST Robotics Competition Magnolia Regional Tournament in March of 2026, Robotics qualified for the World Championship! The team headed to Texas to compete against approximately 600 teams representing up to 58 countries.
The Katherine Johnson STEAM Center
The Katherine Johnson STEAM Center, opened in 2025, brought much-needed classroom space and critical upgrades to our fabrication lab, giving our students the tools they need to move full STEAM ahead and compete at a national level. The STEAM center includes a Publications studio, makerspace for our Engineering classes, and Robotics space.
Rose Athletic Field
Franklin’s new Rose Athletic Field brings state-of-the-art turf to athletic programs with long traditions of winning. It’s more than a football field. It’s a soccer field, a girls flag football field, an ultimate frisbee field. It’s a place for our community to gather together and cheer each other on. The modern surface improves safety and program quality by offering a consistent, level playing field that reduces injury risk. Turf also lowers long-term maintenance costs, allowing more resources to be reinvested directly into students and programs.
Current Initiatives
Ben Franklin High School is renovating the Human Performance Center building that is a 3-4 minute walk from the main campus. We hope to create a campus where students and faculty can learn, collaborate compete, gather, and thrive.
FAQs
Our Team
- Natalie Beck ’01, Assistant Development Director
- John Parauka, Alumni Director
- Christy Cowart Read ’89, Development Director
Board of Trustees
- Richard Chen ’17, Treasurer
- Alea Cot, Past President
- Jenny Kottler ’79, Secretary
- Jonathan Levy ’03, President
- Sandy Katz Levy ’65
- Dolly Malik
- Kenny Michael ‘91
- Dr. Alexis Parent-Ferrouillet ’96
- Todd Ragusa
- Mitchell Turnbough ’90
As a public charter school, our work is limited only by our budget. We strive to maintain our status as the No. 1 school in Louisiana with a budget of roughly $8,800 per student, approximately 40 percent of what private/independent schools receive.
Supporting Franklin is an investment in the future leaders and innovators of our community and our country. Your donations improve the quality of education each student receives and helps prepare the next generation of Franklin alumni to change the world.
For all intents and purposes, there will be no change for you. Your donations, restricted and unrestricted, will still be made to Benjamin Franklin High School.
You may still use the website for donations, or you may mail them or drop them off at the school. Your donations are still tax-deductible. Any restricted gifts that you will make or have made in the past will remain restricted to that purpose.
The Friends of Franklin Foundation will be audited, and there is a link between the Friends of Franklin Foundation and the Advocates of Academic Excellence in Education, working with faculty and administration to maximize the impact of your gift.
We look forward to working with you to maximize your support of Benjamin Franklin High School.
The funds are used to support our academic programs, professional development, new technology, athletics programs, theater and visual arts programs, award-winning publications, and innovative programs such as Robotics (a recent second place winner in the world competition), and a new collaboration with LSU in STEM Pathways.
In addition, we have a student-needs fund to help ensure that the full Franklin experience is available to all students, regardless of their families’ ability to pay — allowing students to take AP exams, participate in sports and clubs, and travel to academic competitions, among other things.
As a public charter school, we are limited in the fundraising avenues we can pursue. Having a separate fundraising organization allows us to explore innovative and exciting opportunities to raise and use money to provide the best educational experience for our exceptional students.
Our ability to enroll every qualified student, without a lottery or second step, is critically important for us to be the best school for the best students in our city.
Our current building was designed for approximately 850 students, yet our enrollment has now surpassed 1,000! To meet this demand in the short term, we are leasing classroom space from the University of New Orleans.
Our Sponsors
Give Now
Show that you care about Franklin with a gift today!
To make a one-time or recurring donation online, use the following secure form. You can designate your gift to a specific effort by choosing an option in the “I want to support” field.
You may also pay by check. Mail checks payable to:
Friends of Franklin, Inc.
Attn: Development Office
2001 Leon C. Simon Drive
New Orleans, LA 70122
Benjamin Franklin High School will not sell or trade a donor’s personal information to any other entity in existence without the donor’s written permission.
Contributions are tax-deductible! Franklin is a 501 (c) 3 organization. Our legal name is “Friends of Franklin” and our Tax ID number is 83-2479067.
For more information, please contact Development Director Christy Cowart Read ’89 at 504-286-2615 or by emailing cread@bfhsla.org.