Last month, we shared stories of sustainability, from our investment in a school farm and the cultivation of conservation education, to the empowerment of local staff and our stewardship of long running funding and project partnerships.
Sustainability is not a buzz word to us and questions of the future confront us every day, as our students step off the bright St Jude’s buses and towards a bright future…
How can we be sure to meet our commitments to the students in our care?
When a student enters St Jude’s in primary or secondary school, we must be sure that we can fulfill our promise to support them throughout their academic scholarship and beyond.
Our dream is for St Jude’s to have a multi-generational impact on the education system in Tanzania.
We have achieved so much to be proud of in our first 15 years and we believe the next 15 years, and beyond, promise to be even more fruitful!
While the students may be with us for 13 years, we are committed to driving effective change in Tanzania for many decades to come.
No matter how generous our supporters, or how frenetic the pace of our fundraising roadshows, we have no guarantee that from year to year we will be able to meet the costs of educating over 1800 students and our proud and growing cohort of graduates in the Beyond St Jude’s Program.
Our financial sustainability is informed by our mission, values and the facts:
- We will not charge school fees to the poorest families in Arusha.
- We rely on you for continuing support.
- We will continue to communicate with you what we are doing, in the hope that you will continue to partner with us on this long journey.
- We will continue to be the most diligent stewards of the financial support you give us.
- We will keep costs down, we will plan and budget for the future and we will ensure tight financial controls are in place.
To ensure the long term future of St Jude’s and the future of our school mission, we have established The St Jude’s Future Fund.
The Future Fund
While we currently budget and forecast costs and income, working towards sustainability means that we also put aside any surplus funding to secure the school’s future.
Whenever we receive more than we need, be it a bequest, or a supporter wishing to provide funds for long term support, we put these funds into a separately managed account.
The funds are invested in secure long term growth assets such as Australian and international share index funds.
Management fees are kept to a minimum because we have access to pro bono financial expertise on our volunteer board.
Income from the fund is reinvested — and used to cover the three cents in every dollar of your donation that is spent by our overheads in Australia.
The future depends on what we do in the present — and we hope that all our supporters are proud of the steps we are taking to pave a secure path for the future moral and intellectual leaders of Tanzania.
If you have any questions about the Future Fund, how we manage the school’s finances, or wish to provide support, please contact Mark Cubit on 0415 109817 or mark@cubit.org.au
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