SUMMER 2008Tom Smith
Director of Advancement
In 2007, Friends Village launched a massive effort to bring attention to and raise money for the resident’s Endowment and Benevolence Funds. This theme marched forward as the trumpets sounded a Jerichoian effort to break down the many perceptions that seem to follow the Friends name. The legendary claims of deep pockets and well-to-do residents who live behind these golden gates have been the baseline of many unsubstantiated myths. Why would Friends ever need Endowment and Benevolence funds?
In today’s economy, people are extraordinarily vigilant with their spending, investing, and donating. Many charities and not-for-profit organizations fear these times. They fear that people do not understand the value of what it is that they do, what their mission is, or donors having them at the bottom of their charitable giving list. These organizations react by re-thinking their marketing and fund-raising strategies to better educate the community about their purpose and need. For many organizations, this effort is enough to stop the ship from taking on water. Still, others inevitably succumb to the mercy of this economic typhoon.
Let us be clear on one perception: Friends Village is not a charity. We are a faith-based, not-for-profit organization doing charitable work for our community. Inevitably there is a price for this. A good example of this occurred in 2007. Friends Village provided over one million dollars in charitable care to our residents receiving state funding, who made up 41% of all health care residents. These numbers directly affect our bottom line, which in turn affects all of our residents in the form of increased fees.
So how can our Friends help us effectively continue our mission of providing superior care to older adults of modest means? There are two ways. The first is supporting our Endowment Fund. This fund helps us offset resident rate increases by reducing the cost of the above-mentioned charitable work. The second way is by supporting our Benevolence Fund. This fund has been designed to assist our residents who are having temporary financial difficulty. Several events are held throughout the year to raise funding and awareness for these necessary funds. Please visit our website, www.friendsvillage.org, or call Tom Smith at 769-1500 to find out what you can do to support our mission.
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Last modified:
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 11:44 PM
