Six Greater Boston Day Schools to Participate in National Jewish Day School Endowment Program  

BOSTON, March 13, 2013 – Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead, Gann Academy in Waltham, JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School in Watertown, Maimonides School in Brookline, The Rashi School in Dedham and Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston in Newton are pleased to announce that they will be participating in Generations Boston, a Jewish day school endowment building initiative supported by Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Boston’s Jewish Federation, and 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.

As part of the program, professional and lay leadership teams at these schools will engage in hands-on training and customized coaching to cultivate, solicit and steward endowment donors.

The goal of Generations, part of PEJE's Endowment & Legacy Institute, is for each school to include endowment in their strategic development plans and raise endowment funds of at least $4,000 per enrolled student by the end of the three-year program (comprised of approximately 50 percent in cash gifts and 50 percent 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 10 years, each school is expected to have grown their endowment funds to approximately $25,000 per student, placing them in the top 25 percent of all independent schools.

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

“We believe an investment in day schools 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 excited by the potential of the schools who are participating and are looking forward to working with them by providing our financial and program management expertise to ensure that Generations is a success.  We believe that the impact of Generations will be felt beyond the specific participating schools as the culture of endowment philanthropy is developed throughout the day school community and beyond. ”

The program launched on January 28, with an event at CJP that included inspiring stories of endowment gifts from day schools and independent schools as well as training in endowment development. CJP will offer the schools access to the Jewish Community Endowment Pool, LLP, an investment platform managed by CJP and used by more than 60 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.

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