Executive Summary of Update
Data from the five years of operating 4-week camp seasons, since 2015, indicate that the quality of the program has been maintained, compared to 7 weeks.
Budget and expenses are stable. Fundraising will need to increase 20% to result in sustainable annual portfolio withdrawals.
Given the current level of fundraising, it is unrealistic to expect to raise funds at a level that would allow for the reopening of the Red Hook campus.
We continue to own and to maintain the Red Hook property, using it for camper activities in the summer, and for hosting alumni events.
The 5-year strategic plan was adopted by the Board of Directors in the fall of 2016. The plan describes the primary objectives, ways, and means for the development of the Louis August Jonas foundation for the fiscal years 2017-2021.
To review the plan in its entirety, see: www.lajf.org/ strategic-plan
The CRS Program
A primary objective is to continue “to fulfill the mission by delivering annual summer programs for 60 boys and 60 girls that develop a lifelong commitment to compassionate and responsible leadership for the betterment of their communities and the world.”
The 5-year plan states that while working towards the long term goal of conducting two, single-sex, 7-week programs at two different locations, we would run two, consecutive, single-sex 4-week programs. The 2019 season marked the 5th year of running 4-week, consecutive programs.
Since the summer of 2011, the quality of the CRS program has been formally evaluated using multiple methods, including camper impact which has been measured using pre and post-self-assessments. The tool asks each camper to rank their knowledge, experience, and confidence within a range of areas related to our four key goals (diversity, education, leadership, and service), with differences between before and after indicating growth in each domain.
The results have shown consistent and substantial growth in knowledge, experience, and confidence in all the domains. Areas worth highlighting include greater confidence in:
Seeking out leadership opportunities
Expressing their own ideas
Doing the right thing under pressure
Taking actions to solve problems
Persisting in completing projects.
The results have remained remarkably consistent from year to year, suggesting stability in the quality of our program, including a comparison between 7-week and 4- week programs.
Financial Sustainability: Portfolio Draw & Fundraising
Fundraising relative to annual expenses (2017-2019)
Camp Rising Sun is funded by donations from our supporters and regular withdrawals from our investment portfolio. The graph to the right outlines the percentage of our total expenses that are covered by fundraising and portfolio withdrawal respectively. More than 50% of our total annual operating budget is covered directly by donations.
The strategic plan outlines gradually increasing goals for annual fundraising, with an end goal of annually raising $1 million, required to consider the re-opening and operation of Red Hook. Last fiscal year, 2019, the annual fundraising totaled $641,000. We are encouraged by the generous support from our donors and have made much progress but there is still a significant gap to reach our goal. If we can increase our fundraising results by 20% to $800K, then we would reduce to about a 4% withdrawal on our portfolio which was valued at $10.7 M as of September 30, 2019.
Moving Forward
The current strategic plan ties the potential reopening of Red Hook to the achievement of certain fundraising goals. Based on the fundraising results in the past three years, it is unrealistic to expect that we can raise adequate funds to fully reopen Red Hook in the next 5 years. In the meantime, there is no plan to sell the site. The Red Hook site embodies our profound historical heritage where Camp Rising Sun was founded in 1930 and we will continue to spend prudently to upkeep the Red Hook property, ensuring safety and that there will be no major deterioration to major buildings and structures. We continue to use the Red Hook campus during the summer. Campers go there for overnight wilderness trips and we use it to host alumni events.
The Strategic Planning Committee and LAJF staff will continue to seek expert guidance from the Building and Grounds Committee to plan and complete the property maintenance at Red Hook. The Foundation will also seek to identify potential appropriate sources of revenue for the property. The SPC has begun the initial phases of creating the next strategic plan to determine the course of the Foundation’s development following the year 2021.