When is a Surplus not a Surplus?
10/17/2019 09:20:07 AM
Never. A surplus is always a surplus. However, a surplus does not mean that you have met all of your financial challenges. A family may make more money than it spends in a year, but it may need to prepare for college expenses or retirement down the road.
Har HaShem is in a similar situation. Last year, we had a surplus of almost $100,000 and added more than $50,000 to our Endowment. Hooray! Congrats to Marianne Balin and her fundraising team. Kudos also to Alan Halpern and the staff, who watch every Shekel spent.
But. We had this surplus in part because of the generosity of two families, whose Brit Tzedakah totaled $350,000. They will contribute that amount again this year, but then it will decline. In two years, their gifts drop to $0. When that happens, we will need to have replaced those funds. Consequently, we must build on our success from last year.
Stay tuned for our next installment wherein I will explain how we are off to a good start!