NEW CHALLENGES, SOLUTIONS

Serra International Foundation

Majorca Club

One year ago, the Board of Trustees of the Serra International Foundation voted to institute a new banner level to recognize club giving at the $5,000 level: the Carmel Club. The decision was a response to the increasing number of clubs surpassing the $3,000 Padre Club level year after year. The Foundation is happy to report that in its inaugural year, four clubs achieved Carmel status, and a number of others came very close.

Therefore, with the words of our patron firmly in mind, the Foundation Board has decided to keep “going forward” and is challenging Serra clubs to aspire to even higher goals. The Majorca Club banner will be given this year to any club that has a cumulative total of gifts to the Foundation of $10,000.00 or higher. The new banner is named for a small island off the coast of Spain that is the birthplace of Blessed Junipero Serra. Its color will be light gray, reflecting the Franciscan habit worn in the New World during Father Serra’s time.

We hope that the Majorca Club becomes a goal to which many Serra Clubs aspire in the years to come. Good luck to everyone in their efforts on behalf of the Serra International Foundation.

Siempre Adelante Award

Each year, as May 31 (the end of our fiscal year) draws near, the Foundation office begins receiving phone calls from anxious club Foundation representatives who want to know where their club’s total stands in relation to the totals of other clubs. It seems that there has been an unofficial competition brewing between some of our top-givers for years. Unofficial, that is, until now.

With so many clubs actively vying to raise the most money each year, it seemed natural for the Foundation Board of Trustees to make it an official competition. Thus, this year, the Serra club with the highest cumulative total number of dollars given to the Foundation will be named the inaugural winner of the Siempre Adelante Award.

Taken from the original Spanish of Blessed Junipero Serra’s famous motto, “Always go forward, never turn back,” the Siempre Adelante Award will be a new type of honor from the Foundation. Physically, the award will have two parts: first, a large, perpetual trophy engraved each year with the award-winning club’s name that will reside in the Serra International Foundation’s headquarters, and second, a smaller replica of that trophy to be given to the winning club. The Siempre Adelante Award-winning club will be announced at the Foundation-sponsored breakfast on Saturday morning, July 5 at the 2003 Serra International Convention in Chicago.

Who will be the top club this year? It’s too early to tell. By the time you read this article, though, you can be sure many club Foundation reps will be hard at work in a final push for gifts. Ask your club’s representative how you can help.

Recommitment to Vocations

At the 2003 Serra International Convention in Chicago, the Foundation will unveil its slate of grants for the 2003–2004 fiscal year. That slate will be noticeably different from those in recent memory. The changes are in response to feedback from Serrans the world over who have made it clear that they want to see their gifts used for vocations projects, not administration expenses.

Last year, the Foundation Board of Trustees voted to change the bylaw that legislated that 50% of all grant expenditures go to Serra International and its United States Council. Although these Foundation grants were intended for vocations work, the perception has been that at least part of the money went to cover administration expenses. With the elimination of that requirement, all of the grant funds are directed to vocations projects. The Grants Review Committee took this idea to heart by not only funding specific vocations work, but also by establishing a guideline that allows for a certain amount of money to be granted on each continent for seminarians. The board as a whole has pledged to maintain this commitment to vocations projects in the years ahead.

Another perception held by some Serrans is that the Foundation “has a hard time getting a handle on its expenses,” to quote one comment received. The truth of the matter is that the Foundation has cut its operating expenses by a total of 30% over the past two years. Its ratio of expenses to revenue for the annual appeal (the largest fundraising exercise in the Foundation’s year) is typically around 7-8%, which any fundraising manual will tell you is in the very low end of the acceptable range. There are two sides to the coin, however, and continually striving to increase donations to the Foundation is as important as reducing costs.

That is where the two ideas intersect. As always, the Foundation needs your help to fund some of the many worthy projects that seek grants each year. The Board of Trustees has heard the voices of Serrans such as you, and recommitted itself to funding only vocations work. We thank you for all that you do for Serra, and trust that you will continue to support the work of the Foundation.

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