Endowment

Why does REACH need an endowment fund?..........

As we have grown and finally moved into our permanent location, our annual expenses have risen.  Fixed and repeating costs, such as electricity, gas and telephone bills have gotten to the point of significance in our budget.  Due to the seasonal fluctuations in our fundraising, we could be faced with insufficient cash to pay some of these bills.  Imagine having to shut down the cold weather shelter because we couldn’t pay the gas or electric bill!  That may be a little bit of a stretch, but you get the picture.

Having a significant endowment fund will return predictable dollars annually that will allow us to guarantee payment of these overhead expenses.  If we can raise $212,500 in our current campaign, these funds will be matched (giving us a total of $425,000 in our fund).  This will return over $20,000 per year, allowing us to cover these overhead expenses and ensuring the continuation of our programs.

We have raised $100,000 so far for the campaign and have pledges of another 30,000 from Board members and a few individuals and Churches.  We still, however, need to raise almost $100,000 to reach our goal.  In addition, the money must be raised by June 30, 2010 in order for us to get the matching funds.

As you can see, every dollar is important.  Please consider giving (or pledging to give by June of 2010) a contribution, beyond your regular operational giving, to the fund.  We have also challenged each and every house of worship in Washington County to come up with a contribution, so if you have any influence, please encourage yours to put a campaign together.  If you need someone to make a presentation, please contact the REACH office.

Thank you for all of your help,

Thomas C. Newell
Endowment Campaign Chair