In a thought provoking opinion piece in eJewishPhilanthropy, “Strengthening Jewish education from the inside out: Supporting our teachers” (March 21), Sharon Freundel sparks an important conversation about how we can better support educators in Jewish day schools. The insights remain timely and relevant, especially as Jewish educational institutions face growing challenges around teacher retention, compensation and long-term sustainability. 

Fruendel emphasizes the fundamental need for greater investment in operational costs and strategies to improve teacher retention.  While many schools focus their fundraising efforts on capital improvements, new technologies or other special initiatives, the day-to-day realities of supporting teachers through fair pay, professional development and workplace stability are often overlooked. Yet these are the very elements that determine whether educators feel valued, supported and motivated to remain in the profession. 

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As the director of Jewish community grants and partnerships for Rose Community Foundation, I have the privilege of regularly encountering innovative organizations and initiatives serving the Jewish community. These encounters offer a front-row seat to the creativity and commitment that sustains and defines the nonprofit ecosystem in Greater Denver. One of these ideas, highlighted by Freundel as an “innovative approach to teacher compensation,” is a compelling model that reimagines how we value and sustain our teachers.  

A longtime grantee partner of Rose Community Foundation, the Denver Jewish Day School (DJDS) has piloted a teacher salary endowment — an initiative designed to boost teacher salaries while ensuring long-term financial sustainability. This model offers a powerful example of how schools can think creatively about compensation, not just as a line item in their annual budget, but as a strategic investment in the future of Jewish education. 

In the years leading up to 2020, DJDS observed an increase in teachers leaving for higher-paying positions or leaving the profession altogether for financial reasons. However, they found they were unable to significantly increase teacher salaries from their annual operating budget. Then, when COVID-19 hit and the community was largely confined to their homes, school leadership shifted its fundraising focus. Instead of pursuing capital improvements, the school launched an endowment campaign aimed at raising $4 million for a teacher salary endowment fund, now termed Phase I of their Raise Your Hand capital campaign.

The goal was simple but ambitious: create a sustainable funding source that would allow DJDS to draw down annually and increase teacher salaries beyond the typical raise from the annual operating budget. A DJDS alum stepped forward and offered a dollar-for-dollar match up to $1 million, ultimately bringing the total raised to $5 million.

Five years later, the impact of this initiative is clear. In 2023, DJDS was able to increase teacher salaries by 9%, offer additional stipend-funded roles and boost professional development opportunities. The school has gained wider recognition as an innovator in solutions for teacher retention and compensation. Perhaps most importantly, the number of teachers leaving due to salary issues has decreased annually since the initial increase went into effect. As we head into the 2025-2026 school year, DJDS has introduced a new teacher compensation model that increases transparency around pay, is more equitable and aligns more closely with the school’s values.

Communities seeking to address the important issue of teacher pay at local Jewish day schools may find a teacher salary endowment fund modeled off DJDS’s success a compelling avenue to explore. It’s a strategy that not only addresses immediate financial concerns but also builds long-term stability and trust between schools and their faculty.

In today’s current environment of financial and political uncertainty for nonprofits, foundations might consider partnering with grantee organizations — both day schools and beyond — to establish and grow their endowments. Endowments can be powerful tools for achieving long-term financial sustainability, allowing organizations to support and advance their missions for generations to come. 

Rose Community Foundation’s Endowment Building Pathways offer structured support to help organizations launch and grow endowments, sustaining a culture that builds for the future. The three pathways – Launch, Sustain and Growth — are designed to support organizations at different stages of their endowment building work, providing training, incentives, individual coaching, resources and a platform to connect with nonprofit peers. By supporting models like DJDS’s teacher salary endowment and broader endowment-building efforts, we can help ensure that Jewish day schools — and the educators who make them thrive — are equipped to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. Organizations interested in more information can contact the foundation’s director of nonprofit funds and legacy giving, Jill Henden.

Jacob Rosenblum is the director of Jewish community grants and partnerships for Rose Community Foundation in Denver.