|
|||||||||
| Presently, we are addressing our schools’ financial needs via a combination of tuition and donations. Due to the ever-rising costs of educating our children, these donations, rather then being "saved", go directly to pay operating costs. If we continue to rely exclusively upon such "operating donations" we will all quickly be in the crisis mode described earlier. On the other hand, if we repeatedly call for emergency donations of the size necessary to cover future shortfalls, we will soon run out of sympathetic ears.
What is needed is a fund of capital which is never touched but which produces income from interest, dedicated to helping schools meet their financial needs. Such a fund, or endowment, as it is more commonly known, would help guarantee that high quality Jewish education would be available across the economic spectrum. The fact that the principal would never be touched means that your day school or yeshiva can count on this money each year. The goal stated for this operation is 12 times the annual budget for each institution. If this is done, the interest alone will make that school tuition free. Take for example a school whose annual budget is one million dollars. Once they reach the goal of 12 million dollars in their endowment fund, tuition becomes virtually free. To fully appreciate the feasibility of this project, consider that Harvard University has approximately 14 billion dollars in its endowment fund, which is the largest in the United States. If they earn an average of 7% interest each year they generate 980 million dollars annually in interest alone. If the 5 million Jews in the United States join in our efforts, the interest generated by these endowment funds alone would fund every day school and yeshiva in perpetuity. |
|||||||||
