“Generations Boston” and CJP to help day school endowments

BOSTON, October 25, 2012 – Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Boston’s Jewish Federation, announces its participation in Generations, a collaboration with the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) and the AVI CHAI Foundation, designed to assist Jewish day schools in transforming the way they fund their budgets by soliciting endowment and legacy gifts.

PEJE selected Boston to join only three other communities across the U.S. to pilot this program. CJP was chosen for its long-standing commitment to the promotion of Jewish education and strong partnerships with Jewish day schools in Greater Boston.

CJP and PEJE will jointly select five Boston area day schools through an application review process. Once selected, professional and lay leadership teams from the schools will engage in hands-on training and customized coaching to cultivate, solicit, and steward endowment donors.

“We believe an investment in the community is an investment in the next generation, so we are thrilled to be involved with this program,” says Barry Shrage, president of CJP. “We are pleased to be recognized for our commitment to Jewish education and are happy to provide our financial expertise and program management to ensure the Generations program is a success.”

CJP will offer the schools access to the Jewish Community Endowment Pool, LLP, an investment platform managed by CJP and used by over sixty Jewish community organizations, to invest the endowment funds that they raise.

“PEJE is excited to partner with CJP to propel Boston’s selected Jewish day schools toward long-term sustainability. Endowment building is one piece of the affordability puzzle and ensures that the grandchildren of today’s kindergarteners, and their communities, will benefit from a vibrant Jewish day school education,” says Amy Katz, Executive Director of PEJE.

The goal of Generations is for each school to raise endowment funds of at least $4,000 per enrolled student by the end of the three-year program (comprised of approximately 50% in cash gifts and 50% in legacy gifts). With endowment development firmly entrenched in the philanthropic culture of the schools at the conclusion of Generations, schools will continue to engage in active endowment and legacy solicitations. After ten years, each school is expected to have grown their endowment funds to approximately $20,000 per student, placing them in the top 25% of all independent schools.

CJP has promoted Jewish education by making Jewish day school more affordable with its own Discover Day School Program. This initiative helps families who may not qualify for financial aid but still struggle with the cost of tuition. CJP Discover Day School funding provides up to $6,000 or 25% of day school tuition per year, for three years.

Los Angeles, Baltimore and New York are the three other Generations communities. Local community partners include Builders of Jewish Education in Los Angeles, The ASSOCIATED in Baltimore, and UJA-Federation of New York.

Any schools interested in applying to participate in Generations Boston, please contact elisada@cjp.org for an application. Applications are due on November 19, 2012.

For more information, please contact:
Elisa Deener-Agus, 617-457-8772
Larry Tobin, 617-457-8732
Program Managers, Generations Boston, CJP’s Initiative for Day School Excellence

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