Right Now, It's Your Tomorrow

As I was listening to Van Halen Radio on Pandora this week, one of my favorite songs of all time came on, Right Now, by Van Halen.   When the song was first released I was in middle school and it was used for our track team video (I still have that on VHS somewhere) and has always had special meaning to me for that reason.  The song has a ridiculously awesome piano intro which builds and builds and from there the song remains stuck in your head and you can't help but sing along, however when listening to the lyrics this time, something resonated in a way it hadn't in the past.  (Just listen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMV-fenGP1g ^* )

As a development professional (and this is applicable to most professions) I need to focus on reaching this year's fundraising goal of $1M yet also need to put strategies in place to guarantee the financial long-term affordability and financial sustainability for my organization.  Over the past week, I have been doing some financial projections for what dues and tuition may cost in the future using some standard compounding rates to see estimates of how costs may grow.  Based on the rule of 72^** (http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/04/040104.asp), day school tuition, not only for my school, but also across the entire country will double in the next 15 or so years.

Therefore, the challenge truly is how to be focused on the Right Now, but also at the same time setting goals for future affordability.  How do you make current donors care about tuition and dues in 14 years when they will likely no longer have to pay tuition and may or may not be a member of the synagogue?  How do you inspire current older donors to leave legacy gifts in their estate plans to help offset future cost increases?  In Judaism, in the Babylonian Talmud in chapter Taanit on page 23a, you find the following story:

Adding an additional childhood reference "The Auryn Knot"
Bonus points if you know how I chose the name Auryn

One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?" The man replied, “Seventy years.” Honi then asked the man, “And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree?”The man answered, “Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this    world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children   and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.”

If others before us did not set up the framework for our children to have an amazing experience and opportunity at Day School, we would be missing a great opportunity; therefore, we have the obligation to make sure the same opportunities are afforded to the next generation of day school students.

To inspire people to follow the teaching of Taanit 23a, you may need to "Catch a Magic Moment," which is not an easy task, however if you never ask you will never get.   In addition, it takes planning, coordination and multiple meetings with a prospect to obtain a legacy gift.

It is easy to focus on the future, just like I did in the prior three paragraphs, but I cannot forget about the here and now!  I still have the goal of leading the community to raise $1M this year despite having limited capacity and if I do not, then it won't take 15 years for tuition to double (which it hopefully won't because we are putting plans into place) but it might only take 10 since we will need to address larger budgetary gaps.

So you see that Right Now, it truly is our tomorrow and it is important to package opportunities that address the here and now, but also provide investment for the future to offset projected increases.  If you are interested in helping the amazing team working on this either with your time or financially, I welcome that!

^*Please note that statements included in the video do not necessarily reflect my personal views

^**Taking an estimated growth of 5%, you would divide 72 by 5 and come up with just under 14 1/2 years.  If you take the current cost of tuition and multiply it by 1.05 compounded over 15 years you will see the amount more than double. Test it out using excel or on this investment tool: http://investor.gov/tools/calculators/compound-interest-calculator