JLSP ENDOWMENT FUND ACHIEVES MATURITY WITH A $25,000 MATCH

BY LESA SHOUSE

During 2022-2023, the Board of Directors looked closely at the accounts of the Junior League of St Petersburg, and in particular, the endowment fund with Community Foundation of Tampa Bay (CFTB) In June 2022, Denyve Boyle of CFTB presented to the Board of Directors regarding the details of our endowment fund She later shared the opportunity of an annual matching program Beginning July 1, 2023, CFTB would have funding to match ten endowment contributions of $100,000+ with a $25,000 match

The Board of Directors began looking at this as an opportunity to fully fund the endowment with our own reserves*. This match would be a 25% return on our investment, which is far greater than what we were receiving in our CDs or Money Market accounts (all at or below 2%) Along with Board discussion, the Community Advisory Council was consulted about the opportunity and shared their support On April 25, 2023, the Board of Directors approved the deposit of $100,000 into our endowment fund from our Hancock Money Market ($85,608.02) and LMCU Checking ($14,391 98) to take advantage of CFTB’s $25,000 matching program on July 1, 2023

Nikki Brame, JLSP Treasurer, completed the process by physically delivering a $100,000 check to the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay on June 30 to ensure we were in the first ten agencies to receive the match Now that the endowment has reached maturity at $250,000, it will produce $10,000 or more of annual unrestricted income The Board of Directors will determine whether to take the draw or reinvest the monies back into the endowment fund

*Per the League policies (Section XIV Finance, D Financial Operations, 4 Reserve Fund, a ) “The League shall maintain an operating reserve of a minimum of three (3) months of expenses to assure sufficient funds in the case of unforeseen events These expenses are defined as all administrative expenses, plus the following operating expenses: audit, accounting, legal, and bank charges ” Our annual administrative expenses typically range from $50,000 to $60,000, of which, 3 months reserve would be $13,550 to $15,000 With reducing our LMCU checking account by $14,391 98 to fund this, we would still have $46,613, far above the required reserves In addition, as noted before, the First Internet Bank funds can be accessed at any time, so would really give the League $146,430 in operating funds