For Immediate Release: January 16, 2012
Brevard Schools Foundation Ranks 5th in the
Nation in Supporting Public Education
VIERA, FLORIDA —
A recent national study of education foundations and
funds in the 50 largest school districts ranks the Top
20 education foundations/funds in the nation is
supporting public education.
The top 20 education foundations / funds are:
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Pinellas Education Foundation (FL)
-
Denver Public Schools Foundation (CO)
-
Clark Co. Public Ed. Fnd. (NV)
-
Hillsborough Education Foundation (FL)
-
Brevard Schools Foundation (FL)
-
Polk Education Foundation (FL)
-
The Fund for Public Schools, (NY)
-
Albuquerque Public School Foundation (NM)
-
Children’s First Trust Chicago (IL)
-
Broward Education Foundation (FL)
-
Philadelphia Education Foundation (PA)
-
Northside Education Foundation (TX)
-
New Visions for Public Schools, (NY)
-
Granite Sch. Dist. Foundation (UT)
-
Cy-Fair Education Foundation (TX)
-
Foundation of Lee Co. Public Schools (FL)
-
PENCIL Foundation (TN)
-
Dallas Education Foundation (TX)
-
Jefferson Co. Public Education Foundation (KY)
-
Austin Partners in Education (TX)
“We're very pleased to earn this national recognition
for the operational and programmatic achievements of
Brevard Schools Foundation,” stated Janice Kershaw,
Brevard Schools Foundation Executive Director. “Our
board and staff have worked hard to ensure the
effectiveness of the Foundation at raising support,
having that support go to help as many students as
possible, and to do this work in a highly cost-effective
manner.”
Duplicating the same study done in 2005, this year’s
study used school year 2009-2010 data (most recent year
available) from the Form 990 (page one) that nonprofits
use to report financial information. It also assessed
and compared most of the same performance categories as
the 2005 study.
First, the study analyzes the effectiveness of an
education fund/foundation at generating and sustaining
financial resources to serve the students of its school
district. "The rationale is that the more financial
resources a foundation can generate the more services
and programs it can provide to enhance the public school
experience for students,” said Dewey Caruthers,
president of dewey & associates, a 13-year-old
management consulting firm that conducts occasional
studies in education, juvenile justice and public
health. Second, the study assessed the effectiveness of
distributing financial resources, taking into
consideration the number of students in its school
district. "We wanted to see the amounts of financial
resources these organizations distributed through
programs to help students," Caruthers said.
A new topic added to this recent study was the role of
volunteers. “The ability to grow and sustain large
numbers of volunteers is an asset for a foundation,
which can be leveraged many different ways to improve
public schools,” Caruthers said.
More specifically, the recent study compared the
following variables:
-
Long-term financial sustainability (total assets,
assets per student, investment income)
-
Fundraising/revenues (total revenues and revenues
per student)
-
Program expenditures (total program expenses
and program expenses per student – both less
salaries and benefits)
-
Volunteers (total volunteers)
The overall Top 20 was the collective scoring of all
eight performance categories. The foundations that
appeared in the Top 20 in the most categories were
ranked highest, emphasizing the importance of being
well-rounded.
“There are a lot of ways to measure success of an
education foundation, but we chose these performance
categories because it is objective data reported in the
990s,” Caruthers said. “Program effectiveness would be
an excellent addition to the criteria, but there are no
consistent programs or program measures used by
foundations throughout the nation.”
dewey & associates, a Tampa Bay-based management and
strategy consulting practice, conducted the study (www.deweyandassociates.com).
The firm studied the education funds/foundations in the
50 largest school districts in the nation, which are
based on the number of public school students. The
purpose of the study is to compare the education
funds/foundations in supporting and enhancing public
education in their districts. dewey & associates has
worked with local education foundations and school
districts throughout the nation, including many in the
50 largest in the nation, on topics including teen
tobacco prevention, obesity prevention, juvenile justice
reform and education reform. The firm also has consulted
with corporations on how to best invest into these
issues to achieve meaningful and measurable outcomes.
-BPS-
