Wednesday, August 8, 2012

He'atid's Fundraising

I know I said I was taking a break but I thought everyone should see the email below.

I think it makes sense that He'atid first set the tuition price & then sought donors to make it happen, rather than doing the reverse.  If you seek donors & hope to use their donations to make the school more affordable you won't collect as much.  Donors are worried that their money will be used to hire friends & relatives of admins to unnecessary positions.  But if you start with an affordable price you will attract more donations to help make it work.  The donors know that money isn't being wasted if the base tuition is so much lower than the other Yeshivas in the area.


August 7, 2012

Dear Supporters and Friends,

This September, Yeshivat He’Atid will provide Jewish communities nationwide with a groundbreaking new model for high quality, affordable Jewish day school education. We’re re-imagining the Jewish day school classroom of the 21st Century. Opening with 110 students in our first year, Yeshivat He’Atid will save the community an astonishing $600,000 this year alone! When fully built out, Yeshivat He’Atid is estimated to save the community $5 million annually. We have hired a principal, teachers, and staff; ensured our facility is student-ready, and put in place the tools and curriculum to support our blended learning model.

Yeshivat He’Atid benefits the entire community. Since Yeshivat He’Atid came on the scene, several schools have lowered tuition and others increased the hours children spend in school. The schools in our community continue to make efficiency strides, and blended learning is on the rise. We take pride in these accomplishments; our mission has always been to advance the community.

The school’s impact transcends this community. Lay leaders and educators across the country are watching our progress with much enthusiasm. Yeshivat He’Atid’s goal has always been to see its model replicated in other Jewish communities. We are in contact with 10 Yeshivat He’Atid-style Jewish schools that are in the planning phases in places such as L.A., San Antonio, and Boston.

National organizations are taking notice. Yeshivat He’Atid is grateful for early support from The Avi Chai Foundation to hire blended learning experts to develop our educational model. We are thankful to the Orthodox Union for providing seed funding to develop blended learning Judaic studies curricula. Our efforts have also inspired a group of philanthropists to form the Affordable Jewish Education Project, whose mission is to help schools like us grow to a point of sustainability.

We need your support. Launching a new school necessitates significant start-up costs. We salute the many donors who have recognized the importance of this groundbreaking initiative and have generously contributed $1.3 million to date. We now ask the broader community to join our efforts to revolutionize Jewish day school education while also making it affordable. Please help us raise additional funds to continue to build out our blending learning model and help other schools replicate our efforts. Your tax-deductible donation will be matched dollar for dollar, ensuring that the community provides our children with educational excellence that is sustainable.

With gratitude, The Board of Directors, Yeshivat He’Atid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Your Contribution Will Make A Difference – Every Dollar Counts
Every year, the Jewish community spends $2 billion on Jewish education. Our goal is to enhance Jewish day school education while simultaneously lowering costs.

Checks can be mailed to:
 Yeshivat He’Atid
 139 South Washington Avenue
 Bergenfield, NJ 07621

You may also donate online with a credit card:http://www.yeshivatheatid.org/donate.html

Comments (43)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
Why dod they need to fundraise? They said they can deliver quality education at $9000 per student! Makes no sense to me
At first glance this email seems amazing but when I looked at it again it raises many questions in my head.

How are they saving the community $600,000 this year? How will they be saving the community $5 million when built out? These numbers don't mean anything? It seems they have actually cost the community $1.3 million in "start up costs" that wouldn't be needed if these 110 students were absorbed into the 5 other schools.

They have fundrasied roughly $12,000 per student . The cost of tuition is ~$8995. They are spending over $20K per student. How is this model more efficient or more sustainable than the other schools? As a new & growing school they will have large start up costs for the next 10 years. These can't be considered separate and really are just regular operating expenses. In 2 years they will need a multi-million dollar building.

It is crazy that schools are already being modelled after a school that has done nothing other than create hype about sustainable education. They have not taught one child or had one budget year to recap. In reality they just seem to be good fundraisers who are having the general community subsidize the cost of their students' education.
1 reply · active 659 weeks ago
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

WADR, you're not making mathematical sense. You are assuming that the entire 1.3mm is being used in the first year and will require another 1.3mm next year. Why not amortize the figure over, say, ten years, or even twenty - then you're only talking a $600 subsidy per student, per year.

You do raise one good point: that among their other qualities they are "good fundraisers who are having the general community subsidize the cost of their students' education." What's stopping every kvetcher in Bergen County from doing the same. Kars 4 Kids has raised close to $30 million dollars with a silly radio jingle - and many (perhaps most!) of their donors have no clue what they are donating towards.

It's high time, someone (any volunteers) started raising funds at the national level to be distributed among the day schools throughout the US.
Non-profits fundraise.

Most Day Schools follow the poor Shul on the Lower East Side model... look, we're broke, we can't pay our electric bill, please give us money.

He'atid is trying the high end charity model: look at all the good work we do, look at what good use we put your donation to. Give us money, and we'll make even more good things happen.

We shall see whether it succeeds or fails.
Miami - i hear your point. However, to say we are saving the community millions and tuition is 9k, is very misleading. Rather, we raised 1.3 million to date for 110 students, and to continue, we need even more money. Call it start up, infrastructure, consultant salaries, rent, insurance, salaries, etc...it is money raised to keep tuition at 9k. So, tuition is really 20k+, but the public has donated over 1/2 of tuition.

When Yavenh says they have cut some line items and successfully raised funds to keep tuition stagnant or decrease it $100, people say, it still costs lots of money, just others are paying for it. Now, He'Atid is doing the same thing. Our cost average is well over 20k a student, but we need more to continue.

If average tuition is $5,000 more than He'Atid in Bergen County, did He'Atid really save the community $550,000? Well, if other schools were able to absorb the 110 children, make educational strides along the way, and the $1.3 million went to Tomchei Shabbos, terror victims in Israel, etc...perhaps we are actually costing the community a lot of money.

How dare they ask for more money now when they have not even opened their door!!!
Stunned,

Assuming that their donations would have gone to Tomchei Shabbos or Terror Victims in Israel is as realistic as saying that the money they are saving tuition payers will be given to those charities. And dividing all the start-up costs among the 1st year class to come up with a cost per pupil is BS as well.

The fact is, they are making Yeshiva tuition affordable to middle class Jewish families. That's something to be proud of. Their fundraising strategies are working. People want to donate when they see that it's being put to good use, like tuition reductions, rather than additional expenses that aren't necessary.
YD -

Then they should be upfront about it and not say they cover their costs with tuition alone and tout that their innovative education model allows for 9K tuition.

They haven't shown anyone "good use" . They haven't reduced operating expenses to reduce tuition, they have fundraised better. Who is to judge what additional expenses are "not necessary" and to say that He'Atid won't have any "unnecessary" expenses.
1 reply · active 659 weeks ago
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

Part of the He'atid model is to fundraise. Much of their donations are from outside BC (Avi Chai, the OU), so it is fair to say they are saving the community money. Furthermore, it is fair to say you are saving someone money when you are getting money voluntarily via non-coerced donations, rather than having to "force" people via tuition.
This is the first organization that has set itself up with the GOAL of providing a Yeshiva-style Jewish education that is relatively affordable for its community, focused on using modern educational techniques to control costs, and restrain tuition.

That is VASTLY different from setting a goal of providing a top notch education without regards to cost but without regards to ability to pay via an elaborate scholarship system.

Now, you don't believe in this mission, that's fine, don't give them a penny.

Personally, running an affordable cutting edge prep schools for families in the top 3% of American income can put 4 kids in private school while saving for retirement and taking vacations isn't high on my list of charitable causes, but I don't begrudge it's existence. People give money to Harvard, museums, performing arts centers, and plenty of other "causes."

I mean, people donate money to the Adrienne Arsht Center, which mostly seems to provide high brow entertainment to the well-to-do, but there are certainly plenty of people that consider it an important charity. I certainly don't scream "how dare they" when I see something about them, even if I occasionally take in a Broadway Across America musical and benefit from those donations.

But "how dare they" rants are being a bit of a drama queen, no?
I haven't gotten mail from most of the other local yeshivot asking for money. I generally get asked by the schools my kids go to, not any other random school (except for the ones in Lakewood and Brooklyn which send their reps down my block). Is this how the school will deal with its financial plan? By paying for mass mailings and simply asking for people who are busy sending their kids elsewhere to send them money also?
The "scam' aka Heatid is finally starting to be seen by all. They havent made education affordable, they simply managed to fund raise and gets 100 families interested in their loss-leader year 1. What happens next year when they cant raise 1.3 million- does GD write a check or does tuition go to 14k?
Are You Serious?'s avatar

Are You Serious? · 659 weeks ago

Seriously, have you guys all gone through Yeshiva day schools? becasue your intellect sure isn't showing it. ALL businesses (for profit or not) require start up funding. The idiots here saying tuition is 20k by adding the 1.3mm to the tuition don't have two brain cells to rub together. That is a ONE TIME COST, after which the model is sustainable at 9k per kid.

And I've spoken to GD. The goal is to fundraise on an ongoing basis (as ALL the other schools do) so that they can bring tuition down even further!
3 replies · active 659 weeks ago
"(as ALL the other schools do)"

Really?

I haven't gotten mail from the other schools unless I specifically put myself on their mailing list by donating in the past. Occasionally I get an invitation to the dinners when someone in my neighborhood or social circle is being honored, but I don't get cold-mailed solicitations for donations. I don't think I have ever gotten mail from most of the schools, let alone requests for money. Somehow He'atid found me and is asking me (with no kids in the He'atid age group, never having gone to a parlor meeting or made any connection to the school) for money. When BPY started, I don't recall being asked to pay. When Noam started I didn't get mail from them. SAR high school? Nope. But somehow I'm already on He'atid's radar.
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

That's a big mistake the other schools are making. I send my kids to only one, but it's fair for the others to ask for something. After all, it's a communal service like Tomchei Shabbos or Project Ezrah.

The schools don't do enough fundraising outside of their parent body. Big mistake. There are grandparents, alumni, and wealthy Jews all across the US who would send an $18 check if they got an envelope in the mail.
I'm pretty sure that neither NOAM nor BPY needed $1.5 million plus tuition for start up costs in order to open their doors.

Each year they will be adding 3-4 sections minimum, there is expense related to this ( furniture, staff training, curriculum, supplies, consultant fees etc). Will they be fundraising for these "start up costs" each year?
I get fundraising solicitations from some "area" schools, areas that are quite a few miles away.

To be honest, assuming you are one one or more lists as "Jewish" it's not hard to get your info. You can buy a database of postal addresses in a Zip code or area that are in an ethnic group.

Clearly, He'atid is much being much more aggressive about reaching donors. Direct Mail pieces like this are usually cost effective, because while they are unlikely to generate large donations, they usually cover their costs, if well written, and help you build a database of donors.

Plenty of people give a small donation when asked, and that gets them on a list for development to focus on cultivating.

Have none of you ever helped an organization you are involved with fundraise? Do neither you nor your wife sit on any non-profit boards? You guys are the cheapest, non-giving, self-serving rich people I've ever met.
1 reply · active 659 weeks ago
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

Hey that's not true! Not all of us are "rich"...
Wait a second's avatar

Wait a second · 659 weeks ago

Miami,

Why would you say "you nor your wife". Are you assuming only males read and post on this blog?

I could understand that some of the $1.3 million is needed for "start up costs", but when someone posts that they spoke to Gershon and he said this is to LOWER tuition even more, it is basically saying tuition costs are not 8 or 10k, it is much higher, but we are just looking for permanently subsidizing said costs by others in the community. So, regardless of your ability to pay, we are attempting to get most of your tuition paid by outsiders.

The OU and others are trying to get "school vouchers" approved by the state legislatures, for at least lower income individuals that choose parochial school. He'Atid is saying, within community, we will set up vouchers for EVERYONE. That is very clearly their model - not lower cost, just subsidized cost. If that is the case, so be it, but I don't want to hear "yeshiva affordability" is our model...rather "subsidized yeshiva" is our model. Blended, technology or 21st century aside, it appears that this is simply a subsidized program.

Stunned - I dont know if $1.3 million would go to Tomchei Shabbat or similar programs had He'Atid not taken said tuition subsidies from the community, but clearly their marketing of lower cost yeshiva model is misleading - it is subsidized yeshiva program.
2 replies · active 659 weeks ago
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

I gotta say, I think GD's plan is to keep fundraising like hell, and as he builds out the school lower tuition to an eventual $5K a year. Ingenious!

BTW, am I the only one here who reads the Wall Street Journal. There was a piece today by Michael Gelernter about internet-based education.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443...

Here's a prediction: In ten years - wait, no, make it five - many if not most yeshivos will follow in he'atid's footsteps vis-a-vis online learning.
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

That should be "David Gelernter"
Miami Al -- it is adorable when you sling names from afar and reveal your absolute lack of either knowledge or understanding about any other person.

You don't know me or my finances or my tzedakkah giving habits. You don't know my experiences or even, it seems, the source of my frustration and the last point is truly shocking because it reflects a simple lack of reading comprehension. The question was not "how did they get my name" or "why would they send mail out to get money" but why would any school claiming a certain measure of fiscal responsibility take a step that other schools (accused of wasting their money) have not taken?

So, no, I don't currently sit on a board. I guess this makes me unable to ask a question about why I am getting solicitations from a school with which I have no affiliation. I know for a fact that they went through the lists and deleted certain people, but apparently, not others and that logic escapes me. Do you have any other assessments of my character and practices which you'd like to level?
Thatguy,

I know nothing, but your attitude on here shows a total ignorance of the basics of non-profit fundraising and even the most BASIC of CRM math.

What was the cost of sending you a solicitation? $0.50 - $2.50, depending on materials and postage. The cost of getting you on a list was already sunk when they bought or "borrowed" the list.

5 Minutes on Infousa.com generated 6,569 "leads" matching the following: Bergen County NJ, 30-54, $100k+ income, Married, Single Family home, Jewish

Assuming a once over to remove obvious problems to cull it down to 5,000 leads...

The entire solicitation campaign probably cost less than $10,000.

"How dare they indeed."

If they get a single student from the awareness campaign, or a few $250 donors, this is totally reasonable.
Miami Al -- someday, you'll actually have to do some of the work that you slough off so glibly. The design and manufacture of what was sent (did you get one?) took man hours. I know how many approximately, because I work in a school and have seen similar materials produced. How about you?

And, again, swing and a miss on the actual concern. Even if spending 10 grand on effectively blind fundraising is a reasonable option, the entire idea of blind fundraising which is an exception to the rule in this area seems to be more than just a bit misguided. Though I'm sure you know better because...um...why is that again?
1 reply · active 659 weeks ago
The design and manufacture of what was sent (did you get one?) took man hours.

I saw Yeshivat Heatid thank a parent named Kate Davis for producing the nice brochure. Sounds like those man-hours (actually woman-hours) were donated gladly by this concerned parent.
thatguy,

Really? 90% of that letter looks like it would go to a targeting message, probably an upsell to small donors looking to raise more money.

They have materials for their other fundraising efforts. Adding the shot gun approach to rounding up more donors was an incremental cost.

At any rate, it's there money, they think it will work, you're just on here criticizing and complaining at any effort that is a deviation from the norm.
Yeshivat Heatid told us they would send a letter like this one year ago. They said that they would fundraise from the community in order to keep tuiton down/provide scholarship.
That being said, it takes a tremendous amount of chutzpah to do this. My children do not attend this school. I do not appreciate being told that my donation is saving the tuition crisis. It is clear that there is a certain amount that is required to run a private school. Most yeshivas do it via tuition; Heatid wants tuition and the community. Why should I get hit on both ends.

Heatid is not being completely honest with the community. Blended learning keeps costs down bc it eliminates teachers and makes class sizes larger, a fact not being publicized. The jury is out if this approach works in elementary/middle school. And there is NO Torah curriculum for blended learning. The community DOES NOT have a responsibility to support this specific school any more than the legacy schools
Glad to see some of the personal insults and name calling has returned to this section of the blogosphere. It adds so much. (Sarcasm)

But in all seriousness, I think an exaplanation is needed. Are we supposed to understand that this $1.5m is one-time start-up costs? What can those costs possibly be? (That is the cost of a small building, which they have not bought.) Or are the expenses-per-student just as much as the other schools, despite having no special services, no chumash rebbi, and paying teachers a bit less? In which case, what has HeAtid accomplished? As a donor and supporter, that was not my understanding of the goal.

I would like to hear them please explain, as part of their pledged "transparency".
1 reply · active 659 weeks ago
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

At the end of the day, it comes down to trust. I know GD. I've spoken with him. He's a nice, smart, honest, fiscally responsible person, whose day job happens to be at the upper tiers of financial management. He does this on his "spare" time and has been doing it for some time. He tried to turn around one yeshiva, but his suggestions were so "radical" it made sense to simply start a new school. I take him at his word.

(PS: I'm not sending my children to He'atid for other reasons)
CJ Srullowitz's avatar

CJ Srullowitz · 659 weeks ago

If you think that He'atid's model is a pipedream, read this:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443...

"The Friendly, Neighborhood Internet School" by David Gelernter
1 reply · active 659 weeks ago
I am not saying a reasonable-cost school is a pipedream, I am questioning in what sense are the people at HeAtid running one, if their actualt costs are running at over $20k per kid in these low grades?
yes, yes, "it's there money" and they want to augment it with mine. I'm concerned because their (ahem) methodology seems inconsistent with either sensitivity to the community or logic in light of their fiscal approach. When I get email from the new Tiferet Academy I will be equally vexed.
let me get this straight. heatid SAVED the COMMUNITY 600k? um, when you TAKE 1.3 million from the COMMUNITY you arent SAVING anyone anything. and second, since when do 100 families qualify as the COMMUNITY. and finally dont preach what you saved me when i have no kids going there.
reality stinks's avatar

reality stinks · 659 weeks ago

I went to a parlor meeting. I was told we needed 250k for start up costs and the model will sustain itself on 9k tuition. The one caveat was there will also be scholarships but those funds will come from outside donations voluntarily ...either parents of students or outsiders ...not baked in tuition.

1.3 million is enough for all 250k in startup costs and every student getting a full scholarship, ..yet we are still raising money?

Seems to me technology and larger classrooms may be waive of future...but clearly the promise of a selfsustained 9k program was at the very least highly misleading
"Seems to me technology and larger classrooms may be waive of future...but clearly the promise of a selfsustained 9k program was at the very least highly misleading"

BINGO!!! every single thing He'Atid has done so far is misleading. It is benefiting 100 kids but has tainted the rest of the community's view on the other yeshivot and convinced everyone that they are being raped by the schools. Even their graph on tuition vs.educational expense that was in their mailing was completely misleading and directly knocked the area schools.

Now other schools are modelling after them? A marketing & fundraising extravaganza that has no proven educational backing and no educators on the Board.

He'atid is posting ins upport of the new "He'atid style" school in LI. Tiferet Academy. Their slide show is more on point with what this model is. It is completely different than what he'atid is claiming.
The He'Atid spending is even more egregious when one considers that half the kids are pre-school, and no grades go past 1st. As GD himself said many times at parlor meetings, all the schools probably operate these grades at a expense of ~$9k. So even if HeAtid had operated at this price, they would not be proving they can run a lower cost school. But as it is, they are proving the opposite -- that they need a $1.5M subsidy to operate these grade at 9k, and thats sans the services other schools offer.

Can anyone explain this?
My guess is that they were a bit overly optimistic about the budget & that they now realize they can't deliver for the tuition rates they stated. A big success on the fundraising end may cover it up temporarily but it's hard to imagine they can really sustain a 9k tuition when the other schools are at around 15. Still, if it gradually increases to 12K as the other schools go to 17K its still a huge savings for a family with 3 day-school age kids.
reality stinks's avatar

reality stinks · 659 weeks ago

Spoke to some heatid parents they are not stupid. They are doing the math. They realize that as a new show in town they will probably fund raise the 50% tuition subsidy for a couple more years. However they chose this model for one reason...self sustained at 9k. They now fear tuition will skyrocket in a few years...I asked them why. It was not due yo this blog...it was due to heatid's mailing.
3 replies · active 659 weeks ago
But many don't care. The tuition is still 9K for them this year and probably next year. They will "save" money for the next few years.
Why is the word "save" in quotes?
-YD
woops - no reason other than a brainfart :)
reality stinks's avatar

reality stinks · 659 weeks ago

We know there are issues if yeshiva ad says they underestimated tuition by 33&
Spoke to some early heatid donors ...they are outraged. They believe they donated under false pretence.clearly, the school is not sustainable on 9k tuition and 250k start up capital.

Many are wondering what other false representations were made.
You can change an existing institution and work on lowering costs. I just returned from the INNACOL education conference in New Orleans. Non Jewish private schools across the country are also suffering a tuition crisis. They are changing the classroom model using technology (raising the quality and attention that each student receives) and increasing the classroom size (using true blended learning methods) and teaching the teachers how to work this new classroom. No need to reinvent the wheel. Just take a look at some of these schools. They do exist and they are successful. The same practice is also being introduced in high schools and colleges across the country. We shouldn't be afraid to change the model. More comments to follow........

Post a new comment

Comments by