Help the Foundation Match a $125,000 Challenge Gift to Grow Its Annual Grantmaking Program

With gifts pouring in from all across our community, the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools has now raised over $86,000 toward the $125,000 challenge made late in 2005 by an anonymous private donor. If the Foundation can raise $39,000 more in unrestricted gifts by March 31, 2006, it will receive another $125,000 from this anonymous donor to stabilize and grow the endowment fund that supports the Foundation's annual district-wide grantmaking program.

Last year, MMSD staff gave nearly $12,000 during our 2005 employee campaign. While the Foundation will continue soliciting funds from the community toward this challenge goal, another $12,000 in unrestricted giving by staff during the 2006 campaign will virtually ensure that this goal is met. The campaign begins on January 30th and runs through March 3rd, and the Foundation asks you to consider a gift to one of the Foundation's unrestricted funds.

2006 Foundation Giving Campaign Offers Incentive Gifts to Schools

Remember: This year's employee giving campaign for the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools features $1,000 incentive gifts to the endowment fund of each of two schools: one to the school with the highest percentage of staff contributing and the other to school with the highest percentage increase in number of staff giving compared with the 2005 campaign. (Note: To qualify for the latter gift, a school will need to have at least a modest minimum number of donors, to be announced by the start of the campaign.) Your building captain will have information on the number of staff donors from the 2005 campaign, so each school will know at the outset where they stand in this incentive program.

School Endowments Continue to Grow

The Foundation for Madison's Public Schools has now broken the $700,000 mark in funds raised toward its goal of establishing an endowment for each of the 47 schools in our district. Of the 39 schools with endowments already established, 10 have endowments that have grown beyond $25,000 and 6 have balances of more than $35,000. Foundation staff and volunteers will be working closely with the remaining 8 schools to help them reach the $5,000 mark this year that will trigger a $5,000 matching gift that will enable these schools to open an active endowment fund that will generate grantmaking income for that school every year, forever. The next big opportunity to grow these individual school endowments is the 2006 MMSD employee giving campaign, that begins on January 30th.

Principal for a Day Program on March 7, 2006

On March 7th, the Foundation's "Principal for a Day" (PFAD) program will once again bring a group of community leaders into our schools to "walk a mile in a principal's shoes." Now in its third year in Madison, PFAD offers these leaders a unique hands-on chance to develop an appreciation for both the strengths of our schools and the challenges we face each and every day. And it offers a chance to forge new relationships between our schools and the community.

This year's program will also feature a keynote address by Janet Corcoran, the President of PENCIL (Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning), the organization that founded PFAD in New York City over a decade ago.

After shadowing their principal during the morning and hearing Ms. Corcoran's presentation, these leaders will meet with their host principals and Superintendent Rainwater for debriefing and discussion of ways that additional community resources can be brought to our schools and the Foundation. At that time, they will review the "wish lists" of resources prepared by our host principals, as the Foundation unveils its new "Adopt-A-School" program.

Other Related Links

• Foundation for Madison's Public Schools