Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School has received a $1,000,000 endowment gift from an alumni family which is the lead gift to Heschel’s Endowment Fund. The gift to Heschel is also the first endowment gift received by the seven Jewish day schools in Los Angeles participating in Generations LA grant program.
Heschel is a participant in Generations LA, a collaboration among PEJE, BJE, the Lainer Day School Endowment Fund, local Los Angeles donors, and the AVI CHAI Foundation, which is designed to transform the way schools fund their budgets by raising endowment and legacy gifts. As a result, Heschel will receive the annual investment earnings on a 25% matched portion of the endowment to be used for financial assistance.
An endowment gift is one in which the original principal is never touched. The gift exists infinitely, with interest from the principal generating a stream of income. For independent schools such as Heschel, a healthy endowment makes it possible to respond to advancements in technology, offer competitive teacher salaries, and provide financial assistance for students who might otherwise be unable to afford a Jewish education.
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Hopefully, this endowment is not “interest only” spending, but rather has been put in place with a spending policy so that investments can be made according to a formula for overall growth and not only with concern about liquidity.