Endowment fund

The following is  the letter from Ravi regarding Endowment.


Dear All ,                                                                                                                   the  31^st  December ‘12

Wishing   Every One  & Family ‘’ Happy New Year ‘’

Please recall , on the  12^th Sept 2011 morning  when we  all  met at  the  portal of  the  college   at  the  Welcome Reception  and  started  travelling  through  the 40  year  old  memory lane,  we never  knew ,  we were   then  creating  history  by  turning  it  as  the  First  ever  Bishop Moore Alumni Re- union  with  Near  Total  Class strength.

No surprise ,  we didn’t even know  it  because  we  were  all then  literally  drawn  to  the spirit  of  the 20 year  old  boys & girls , where  we  all went  on  well  doing  things ,  went  on  well going around the  college  and class rooms, went on  well  turning  emotional  and went  on  well  recalling  the  old  feelings  &  remembrances  from  deep  within , as  if  we  were  all  back on campus  as the  same  old students  of  1971.

Please  also recall ,  while  we  met ,  ate , moved , cruised  and shared  together , after  so  long  a  time span ,  among  very many things  discussed,  we  also  decided to  do something  to  leave  a footprint  of our own  or  to create  a  meaningful and powerful  impact  by  the  Alumni ’71 by  supporting  the  hard  life  of  ‘’someone  smart  at  study  but  limited  at  means’’.

It  was  with this  heartening  thought in  mind ,  we  all  unanimously  decided  to ‘’Establish  an  Endowment Fund ‘’ benefit  of  which should go  every  year  to  the  best  deserving  student  by  the  above  definition of  ‘’ being  smart  at  study  and weak  in  means ‘’.

We all  know, no  time  would  be more  appropriate  than  Commencement  of  the  New Year   to  resolve  to  execute  such a  brilliant  idea  already  conceived,  ie  the  idea  of  Creating  an  Endowment Fund ,  hence  this  communication .

Going  forward  with  the  mission , we  need  to  do  a  few things   towards  brick by brick  structuring  the  endowment  that  includes  choosing  a  name , fixing  the   value , setting   objective ,  defining  goals  as well as  setting  roles ,  which  are  to  be  organized  collectively by  us .

1)      The 1^st in  order  perhaps  is  to  choose  a  name of  the Fund :   Eg .  it  could  possibly  be  ‘’Bishop Moore 1971 Economics Batch Endowment Fund ’’   Any one  can  send  a  mail  in  a  week  time suggesting a  better name as  could flash  an idea  in  mind.

2)      Size  of the Fund : Say, It  could be  1 lac , 2 lacs  or 3 lacs or more ,  but  minimum size  be 1 lac.

Please do  mail  your  brilliant   ideas / suggestions ,  preferably  not  later than  a week.

 

3)      Objective of the Fund :  To  extend  financial  support to  the  most  deserving  student  in  the  first year  of his / her  graduate  study  in  Economics  in the Bishop Moore College .  We  need to  set  guide lines  /  define eligibility criteria .

Eg It  could  be  such  that he / she  is  (a) 1^st year  BA Economics student in the college (b)  Top Scorer among the batch mates in the Plus II (c) Financially weak . These three  eligibility norms  could be established  easily , relying on College Authority’s  Certificate.

Please  mail  your  suggestions / feed back ,  desirably  not later than 1 week.

 

4)      Goals :  Once  the  best deserving student  by  above  defined guidelines is Identified  every  year , then pay  him / her  in the 1^st year  of graduate study  on  any   specific date  called  ‘’the 1971 alumni day “ by means of our  cheque .  The amount  can be  Eg  equivalent  to (100%) the  One Year Interest Earning on the Principal  amount  kept  as  the Endowment  Fund. Or  It  could  be  90 % of  the Annual  Interest Earning .  In case of  90 % ,  the  remaining  10 %  can  go  to  the  1971 Alumni Bank account (A/C  opened in SBT Kanjikuzhy  branch) every year  so  as  to  add  up  to  and  strengthen the  Endowment Fund  every  3 or 5  years .

Alumni day can  be  the 12^th Sept every year , being  our  1^st  meeting day .

Pl send  a  mail  towards  Consensus  or  suggestion ,  again requested  to  be with in a week.

 

5)      Structuring Endowment : 

 

Ø  Endowment Fund will  be  created  (a)  only  from  contributions  by  1971 Economics batch Alumni, not  from  any  outsider or out side source (b) contribution  is  willful  and  no compulsion, (c)  amount to be contributed  as per  individual  alumnus’s wish and wisdom.

 

Ø  Endowment Fund  creation  process  will  commence  from  the 1^st Feb 2013 ,  as  the ideas / suggestions  etc  being  solicited  now  will , on receipt,  be  consolidated  and  codified  by the  mid  of  January   or  latest  by  the  21^st  January 13 , enabling the collection to start from the 1^st Feb.  which  should  ideally  be  closed  in  three  months ending  on  the  30^th April 2013.

Ø  Existing Bank account at SBT, Kanjikuzhy  branch  can be, for  the  present,  used  to  mop up funds from  members.  Once  the  minimum  expected fund (Rs say one hundred thousand) is collected , then  a separate account could be opened , specifically  naming persons to operate and providing the operational mandate.  Alternatively, the Endowment Fund could be handed over to College Principal to  manage as  per our Alumni direction.

6)      Fund Administration:  Fund needs to be administered  by a Committee  consisting of  ideally three  or four alumni members .  Eg.  Mrs  Jolly Cherian , MRs  Susan Thomas , Mr R K Unnithan,  Mr Tulsidas,  being local  residents, may   be given  authority to  manage / administer  the Fund   and   for    convenience  bank account  operation  could be mandated to Mrs Jolly & Mrs Susan to  be  undertaken  jointly  . The committee  will over see the endowment administration  that inter alia  includes booking the interest earnings,  yearly  beneficiary  identification , circulating  by mails among members details of the yearly endowment benefits extended,  presenting  the account details when ever alumni  meet annually  or once in two years etc as the case be.

It  does not  mean , by  any  chance , that  other  than  the  four  named  above,  no  one  else  has  the  ownership  to  its successful  implementation.  Each  one  of  us,  not withstanding  where  do  we  live, is  an  equal  owner  to  accomplishing  this  mission.

We all  know  well,  no  mission  or  for that matter no  task   was  ever  accomplished  or  achieved  with out  total  and  whole  hearted participation.  We  1971  Economics Alumni  are the  ones  who , to  the  surprise of the rest ,  demonstrated  our  passion for unity  and  our  obsession  our  oneness ,   and our  excitement  for  the  re-union ,  rushed  in  to  the  college  in  the   unforgettable  september  of  2011,  from  different  parts  of  the  State , Nation  and even Globe.  And  the rest was   history !

For  enabling  members to send contribution, Bank Account Details  are  given below :

Bank details Deleted 

So let us all put our thump together to  the success of the mission  :- Mission  of  Establishing our own Endowment , benefit  of which will go in perpetuity , to  some  most  needy student , year after year , generation after generation, transforming his / her life …

‘’HAPPY NEW YEAR’’

Yours

K R Pillai