United States Naval Academy Class of 1950 Museum Endowment
Captain
J. Richard Powell, Jr.
United
States Navy (Retired)
8123
Dunsinane Court, McLean,
Virginia 22102-2719
Tel:
703-893-4584 Fax:
703-893-1802 Toll Free:
866-859-4362 Beach:
757-721-3452 E-Mail: kneebasher@juno.com
Beware
of Pickpockets and Save the Return Envelope
Tuesday,
07 August 2007
Dear
Classmate:
I
opened my e-mail one day this past week and amongst some 75+ new messages was
one from the Naval Academy Foundation. They apprised me of having mailed their
annual mendication to all for unrestricted funds .
Since we continue to sponsor the Museum Endowment we have made strong
objections to this type of solicitation in the past, most recently last fall.
We recognize the market, your pocketbook, has limitations.
Coordination with the Class, etc. was promised. Hah!
The drums are beating!
So
much for background. I was p….d
(oops)….upset, let us say. Several
phone calls and e-mail have not raised a response.
Thus, this self-preservation retaliatory fire.
In the meantime
don’t get pickpocketed
by doing what they ask without first giving serious consideration to our
Museum Endowment. But do save the return
envelope in case you feel the urge to make a donation to the Class
of 1950 Museum Endowment.
Be sure and note attribution on your
check.
Sure,
they need income. Dues have never
hacked it—only about $541K a year; there is little to sell, no product, but
some rents. Investment income is a
great assist, about $13million; management fees bring in more than a million a
year. This and other sources PLUS
donations provided a joint revenue for FY 2006 of $50
million.* Much of this is in fenced endowments, or restricted for other
designated purposes. Thus, they
emphasize the need for unrestricted funds. Notwithstanding, I note from George
Watt’s latest Leadership Update that in FY’07 the Foundation “exceeded
$8million in unrestricted gift receipts against a stretch goal of $6.8
million” and as a result, the “the total unrestricted support to the Naval
Academy for the fiscal year ending 30 June [was]
$1.85 million (an all time high…)” Lack
of funds is certainly not curtailing operations.
The foregoing stats are from filed 2006 IRS Forms 990 (tax form for reporting tax exempt organizations income akin to your 1040) for both the Alumni Association and the Foundation. These are available at: www.GuideStar.org. Registry is free for minimal service access. You must enter the exact filing name of the institution you are looking up, in this case two individual filings: U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, Inc. and U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, Inc.
The 990s provide a candid insight and make interesting interpretation. Then there’s almost a million for ‘consultants’, one of which looks like a direct mail house; they are probably the source of the malapropism in the gimme plea. That consultant was also unable (or unwilling) to provide a post mailing efficiency and effectiveness measure for us when we thought the Foundation with its resources could do an October 2002 mail out for us. Absolute disaster!
Relatively new www.CharityNavigator.org provides free analyses of tax exempts in their evaluation portfolio wherein you can find the USMA and USAFA, but no USNA evaluation. As a public service, I have requested an analysis of the Foundation be made and will expand this to include the Alumni Association if they are willing. I fully expect a four star (highest) evaluation. The web site specifies their criteria.
So
why does a fundraiser become such a
buttinsky? Simply because it’s
bad josh to alienate the ultimate client—your market.
The alum—your Classmates. Also,
if you don’t have complete faith--and passion—in your product which includes
the fiduciary responsibility of knowing that a contribution will be used wisely,
how can you look Classmates in the eye and take their money?
You can’t. “Trust,
but verify.”
Then why be so hyped on having an awareness or involvement in direct Foundation contact? The biggest reason is that if we solicit gifts our costs historically have been no more than a penny on the dollar contributed; the Foundation’s costs are15 times greater. Our money goes further, we are more efficient. Pay is lousy, too. You get more muscle for your contribution.
Then, capping it off consider this: Our Museum Endowment is perpetual. While able, it behooves us to maximize capital accrual and attendant investment earnings through astute management (Association manager, The Investment Fund for Foundations: www.tiff.org/staff.html ) at times when there is no demand for endowed funds’ use to keep it invested and compounding.
CY 2006 the Foundation received cash, stock and pledges of $629,025 from Classmates for various purposes including unrestricted (discretionary) funds. Of this, our museum account received $125,988 from Classmates plus securities income of $221,852 for a total of $347,849; realized earnings on past accruals of almost twice the amount of donations! At the height of our fundraising prior to our 50th, two big mailings a year with individual stroking would be lucky to raise $200K. No one told me I couldn’t mix two different classes of money—it’s all green! With total investment gains near $600K, all 50’s Museum Accounts now total $1,930,220.
Now
you know why I mother-hen donors. This
protects a Class of ’50 interest whose purpose is to create a maximum
investment corpus before inevitably passing endowment oversight to another Class
in the first leg of perpetuity AND at the least expense to you.
Today, we simply get more mileage out of your donation to the Class of
’50 as it is a self-priming endowment. It’s
a better “buy.”
Watch out for those pickpocket guys. Keep your powder dry, I’ll be back in a couple of months with a financial update so save that return envelope, unless you want to use it sooner, of course. If you have any questions don’t hesitate calling. Unlike the pickpockets—(can you imagine a fundraising organization without a toll-free phone number)—mine is above—call.
Sincerely,
and many thanks,
Dick - aka Kneebasher
United States Naval Academy Class of 1950 Museum Endowment
8123 Dunsinane Court
, Suite B, McLean, Virginia 22102-2719Home: 703-893-4584 Beach: 757-721-3452 Toll Free: 1-866-859-4362 Fax: 703-893-1802
A Tale of Two Coaches TM
A Parable by Kneebasher
22 November 2006
Dear Classmate:
I’ve missed you guys. I know, when I last wrote twenty months ago prior to our 55th in Hawaii I stated that I expected to not have to ‘beg’ the coin of the realm from you any more. I think ‘solicit’ was probably the word I used. This letter is not doing that. No begging, just info and advice.
This letter is about two "coaches" both of whom came to the Naval Academy at about the same time, five plus years ago. The Johnsons; well known vaunted football coach Paul--and the sleeper--fundraiser extraordinaire Dick, Executive Vice President of the Naval Academy Foundation; both experienced, energetic and at the top of their game.
The Johnsons (unrelated) brought levels of expertise to the Academy far beyond any shown in recent times and brought sighs of relief and smiles from the Supe as well as the president of the Association. They got the Alumni off their respective (tender) derrieres. Both developed organizations to support winning and they did.
Football Paul naturally gets lots of publicity—you’ve read it. He’s built winning teams going for four straight over Army and now the fourth consecutive year with a bowl appearance. Dick, in the meantime methodically broadened fundraising, picking up $40 million for a major stadium renovation along the way to a $246 million effort.
Football supports 30 varsity sports. But athletic facility enhancements not supported by appropriated funds were largely supported by Foundation fundraising; e.g., prep schooling of promising athletes, the new Warner soccer stadium facilities; the Crown Sailing Center has been enlarged and refurbished, new squash courts, ice hockey rink, baseball stadium, wrestling team support and on.
The Athletic Department is managed superbly by Chet Gladchuck. You can bet that with a football team going like ours in 1-A ball and drawing sellout crowds, that TV receipts and endorsements will be right behind it
With our early start for our Fiftieth gift supporting The Naval Academy Museum—Preble Hall—we spearheaded the formation of the Museum Syndicate of multiple classes all supporting the same project. Others icons of notable significance include Memorial Hall; refurbished and a gleaming preservation of both architecture and artifact. Examples of Classmates’ philanthropy are two (hard science) academic chairs (by one generous soul), several academic retreats have been sponsored, another Classmate donated a perpetual scholarship to Oxford. At one point not too long ago our museum gallery was the only Center of Excellence that could be pointed to and touched. Nimitz library and Mahan Hall have been beneficiaries of this private refubishment, and since come on line as have numerous pockets of academia including additional academic chairs.
This beneficence has come to fruition in just the last five years and facilitated largely through the coaching direction and shoe leather of Dick Johnson and staff. Notwithstanding, individual alumni and Class efforts are still the bed rock of generating income as well as most predictable.
Both Johnsons have achieved marvelous records that will be hard to beat. Both are tremendous income generators. We are most fortunate to have them both but there are limits. Were it not for the liberal tax laws in the treatment of IRC 501(c)(3) corporations the fundraising side would not be near as fertile.
Alone without corporate, extraordinary grateful-alumni gifts and bequeathments this largess would not have been possible without everyday donations of alumni. Thus, competition for individual class donors is significant.
The Foundation wants your contributions to be unrestricted allowing them the flexibility of using the gift in support of an Academy requirement—OR--toward operating costs supporting their overhead. This is understandable but if a Class with a specific project such as our Museum relieves the Foundation from having to provide that support there is no overall difference. Moreover, the Association "taxes" all donations five percent, upfront, for their support. Plus, a small quarterly management fee is charged. Purportedly this charge is to offset marketing expenses. For the past three years ’50 has borne all its marketing costs. Thus to insure that a gift goes into the right pocket make a notation on the lower left corner "...’50 Museum Endowment." This should be mailed to:
United States Naval Academy Foundation
P.O. Box 64740
Baltimore, MD 21264-4740
Some of you may already have been solicited by the Foundation but by following the above guidance you’ll be supporting the Class as well as the Alumni Association and the Academy. The Association opines their expenses, larger staff, more projects, resurrecting Alumni House, Ogle Hall, etc. A need for an adequate operating budget is readily acknowledged and agreed to.
It is noted that the Association has had a surplus of a couple of million bucks for each of the past two years indicating enough market elasticity to start an endowment for themselves. Considering the fundraising success achieved over the past five years a significant dent in a possible $100-$120 million endowment supporting a $10-$12million operating budget is not inconceivable. I’d appreciate anyone who has strong feelings on this approach sharing them with me; e-mail me. I’ll take it further. I’m not looking for the 29 billion Harvard has, just enough to take some of the sweat out of a marketing promotion.
I’m also trying to keep the Association/Foundation out of "my" market; my Class! They cry "cooperation and support." This cooperation and support is in part the reason for their existence, But the core reason for existence is to support Alumni and the Academy. The tool affecting this support is the Association/Foundation and that entity should not be seeking its support at the expense of approved and committed Class efforts by sneaky solicitations of alumni. When they do this their "cooperation" is about as welcome as splicing in ten more feet on your bungee jump line.
I make this point because over the past ten plus years we have supported the Museum with over $2 million largely without any interference from conflicting, competitive solicitations by the Foundation. During this time an additional $6 million was donated by Classmates to other Academy interests across the spectrum from the Chapel to education to sports to midshipmen’s welfare, etc. This is a total of some $8 million without suffering the cannibalistic instincts of errant fundraisers grazing in our fields.
As the two coaches in our parable continue their winning ways the climate for the football team appears excellent and unless you give away a lot of points we should put Army to bed with five straight—losses that is--and Coach Paul comes out a winner hopefully not succumbing to enough gilt for a ten year contract buy-out.
But in our Tale of Two Coaches will Coach Dick be able to feast as well without eating the young? He knows how to do it. He also knows it’s more difficult but can be done. We are different; we are the only Class that has been doing its own basic populist- oriented fundraising—and doing it successfully. He’s as busy as a bare-footed organist playing in a West Virginia snakepit. And a lot of steamroller pressure means running faster. A tough job; especially looking forward to a couple of years of less than outstanding economic conditions.
We have no ref like Madam LaFarge knitting but we sure have two great Coaches with winning genes. The wine barrel will likely get broken at Lincoln Financial Field but let’s not have bad sushi with Marie Antoinette’s cake back at Bancroft.* Stay tuned to find out if we survive and continue ‘steaming as before’.
For those who may be considering donating securities instead of writing a check, special instructions apply. The Alumni Association/Foundation has a new portfolio manager but the transfer will still be to Morgan Stanley with DTC #0015 for further credit to the U. S. Naval Academy Foundation, Inc. Account #645-041508. Remember, only donate big winners that are LTCGs. And use losses yourself to offset gains.
The Museum is on track for a full refurbishment and restoration with work starting this coming year and completion planned for late 2008. We’ll be able to take the grand tour of it at our Sixtieth! Cost is now projected in the vicinity of $17 million of which over $9 million will be federally funded. Over $7 million will be required in private subscriptions of which all but about $1.2 million has been identified from amongst the ten Syndicate members. While ’50 has no direct support commitment we will be loaning some of our un-endowed monies as bridge loans.
Finally, a quick recap on funds. There is $1,000,000 earmarked for the endowment and it is now earning money on its portfolio. This account realized $82,090 in income last year (ending 30 June) and $29,484 the first four months this year. Another account for the benefit of the Museum, not endowed in order to retain management flexibility during the construction period amounts to $648K with realized income of $49,420 last year and $19,942 thus far this year. Incidentally, this should make you aware that all these great mounds of money have not been pure generosity on the parts of Classmates. Over the years our accounts have realized investment income of over $300K—not chopped liver.
I’ve expounded enough—and see, I didn’t ask for one red cent. But I’d be disappointed if you don’t make a contribution to the Naval Academy Foundation annotated "’50 Museum Endowment" which will have the dual benefit of helping the Naval Academy and also letting the Foundation know how ’50 does it. Also we will not use telemarketing and bother your Thanksgiving dinner just as you are standing to carve.
The October SHIPMATE credited ’50 with having only 15% of members making contributions the first nine months of the calendar year, the bucket for the fifties decade. They forgot we gave a $1.5 million check the year before. Ah, well….how time flies…and we forget. Some days chicken, some days feathers. Which reminds me….
Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving. BEAT ARMY, and keep the Football Johnson string intact. Make a contribution for ’50 attribution and keep Mme. LaFarge off Fundraiser Extraordinaire Johnson…for his sake and ours.
Sincerely,
Dick
P.S.: My e-mail is: kneebasher@juno.com. If you are having difficulty finding an e-mail address on the USNA website for any living person mentioned above I’ll get it for you
* With apologies to Charles Dickens and Marie Antoinette
Home: 703-893-4584
Toll Free: 1-866-859-4362 Fax:
703-893-1802
To thine own self be true….
Polonius to Laertes in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, Act I, Scn III
Dear Classmate:
Congratulations! You—We—all of us are winners—or about to be. We’ll make our million dollar endowment goal establishing the museum endowment with just a bit more effort.
Remember, now is the last chance many of you will have
before our 55th
We’ll make it tho’. We just need a little help. As a Class we are committed. Right now about fifty guys are doing the heavy lifting—some very heavy! That means almost ninety percent are letting shipmates carry them. Thirty percent have yet to make a donation of any sort. This is supposed to be a team effort fellas!
We make it by recalling where personal
character and values matured and started crystallizing—at the
In the past, barring unfortunate exception, an affordable benchmark gift of $5,000 for retired flags; $4,000 for O-5s and O-6s; and $3,000 for all others was suggested over the five years of this drive. That standard has not changed. N.B.: For retired military, beneficial health care legislation, on average, has saved families more than $16,000 during this period while increasing individual retired pay and annuities by $10,000.
Here’s why being true to thine own self is needed. Here’s where we stand: $686K has been donated (including $36K in investment gains) and $75K in outstanding pledges for a total of $761K over the past five years towards the endowment. Against this there were $9K in management charges for a net of $752K over the five years. Short, short, short! A far cry from one million dollars in contributions!
Now, the rabbit! We have net investment earnings remaining from the initial museum effort marking our 50th, of $112K for a total in both museum funds of $864. The rabbit’s a bunny, and flamed out. Another $30-$40K has been identified enroute from donors recognizing the timing situation of a reunion well in advance of the end of the collecting year. This is not enough. We are $100K short of the million dollar commitment!
Generosity—and that is what we really are talking about—is something that has to be sincerely felt. And there is a return or reciprocity; the satisfaction of a donor accomplishing something as a reciprocal act of thanks. The donee blossoms in the ability to provide a societal enhancement that is beyond individual donors’ means.
Great discussion and debate has been held on such topics just as considerable lip service has been lent to our Class philanthropies and their pursuit. But for too large a number that talk is the moral equivalent of high school boys discussing sex. It bypasses romance, destroys poetry, ignores art—and, in lower forms of life, misses the reason spawning fish swim upstream this time of year.
We still have some stuck in the locker room when it comes to getting in the game but are fortunate enough to have committed, caring Classmates who more than compensate. There’s not all that much time left in the maturation process to not truly enjoy one of the greatest aspects of life. The fortunate are already there.
Let’s all join them in joyous urges of philanthropy and put a healthy contribution check made out to the Naval Academy Foundation in the enclosed envelope noting Class of ’50 Museum Endowment in the lower left corner and make up the $100K shortfall.
I expect this to be my last solicitation letter. I also apologize to those who have already contributed (many more than expected--they know the joys) for too much beating the drum.
But all should spawn with the seed of contributing to our Preble Hall perpetual Museum Endowment.
“To
thine own self be true and
it will follow as the night the day, thou can't then be false to any man."!
We
are winners!
Aloha,
Dick
J. Richard Powell, Jr. USNA Class of ’50 Kneebasher
P.S.: If you have a question regarding other means of making donations such as investments, charitable gift annuities, credit card payment and haven’t found the number on the Naval Academy Foundation web site, or SHIPMATE, don’t hesitate calling me. Over the next three weeks I expect to be home every day except for 30 March and 15 April.
Also, it being IRS time of the year, call me if for tax purposes you need to confirm your annual gifts given to the Museum Endowment over the past five years.
See you in
United
States Naval
Academy Class of 1950 Museum Endowment
Home:
703-893-4584 Toll
Free: 1-866-859-4362 Fax:
703-893-1802
24 December 2004
Re: Class of ’50 Christmas Carol Commitment
Dear Classmates—Scrooges, too:
This is a genteel reminder dodging the daily stigma that engulfs your mailbox. Money grubbing trash mail on Christmas Eve.
I didn’t
even send out a mailing with an envelope for you to send a gift to the U.S.
Naval Academy Foundation for accreditation to the Class Museum Endowment.
(Of course,
if you want it, call me and I’ll give you the address and all the numbers to
get the gift in the right pocket.) You
can also find it on Jack Akin’s Class Web site: http://usna50.8k.com/.
This is a reminder with but four months to go ’til Aloha time. A reminder that we, at best, are about $200,000 short of our goal of a million dollar endowment contribution to the Naval Academy in support of the museum in Preble Hall. But reminders should bring to the fore your own real efforts supporting our Class Project.
A few Classmates have been exceptionally generous and with the means supporting it; the Class is a fortunate beneficiary. Others contribute more than reality would suggest and will not be able to do this much longer—and shouldn’t. I am reluctant to mail these over-contributors but suppress it out of a combination of goal achievement and knowing that they would have it no other way. There is no definition of equitability and fairness. The majority of donors’ philanthropy is balanced and includes our project at a level they consider fair. Others don’t respond to the level that would be considered normal—equitable. Still others have not contributed at all—one third of the class! These are the Scrooges of this Christmas Eve story.
I wish the Scrooges would reconsider their stand and become the butterflies their sleeping grubs represent. If financially possible I wish they would remember—the good, what was learned, who their life-long friends are, what the Mother Bancroft experience meant to them.
With less than 80% of the commitment identified and less than 10% of the soliciting time remaining, I feel somewhat like Charles Dickens in December 1843.—discouraged and in debt. But as the facts now stand unless the non-donor Scrooges step up other blessings will have to be reaped. Stranger things have happened: Scrooge saved Dickens’ Christmas. I’m looking to Scrooge to help in ours too.
Appended to this letter is an attachment which reacquaints us with Dickens’ A Christmas Carol--thanks to the Reader’s Digest is--The Second Greatest Christmas Story ever Told .
Roy, who is making snow in
Sincerely,
Attachment
|
|
The Second Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told BY THOMAS J.
BURNS From
its first publication, "A Christmas Carol" has charmed and
inspired millions. There have been scores of editions and translations,
and many stage, TV and film adaptations, making it one of the best-loved
stories of all time. Less well known is the fact that this little book
of celebration grew out of a dark period in the author's career -- and,
in some ways, changed the course of his life forever.
On an early
October evening in 1843, Charles Dickens stepped from the
brick-and-stone portico of his home near Regent's Park in A handsome man
with flowing brown hair and normally sparkling eyes, Dickens was deeply
troubled. The 31-year-old father of four had thought he was at the peak
of his career. The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas
Nickleby had all been popular; and Martin
Chuzzlewit, which he considered his
finest novel yet, was being published in monthly installments. But now,
the celebrated writer was facing serious financial problems. Some months
earlier, his publisher had revealed that sales of the new novel were not
what had been expected, and it might be necessary to sharply reduce
Dickens's monthly advances against future sales. The news had
stunned the author. It seemed his talent was being questioned. Memories
of his childhood poverty resurfaced. Dickens was supporting a large,
extended family, and his expenses were already nearly more than he could
handle. His father and brothers were pleading for loans. His wife, Kate,
was expecting their fifth child. All summer long,
Dickens worried about his mounting bills, especially the large mortgage
that he owed on his house. He spent time at a seaside resort, where he
had trouble sleeping and walked the cliffs for hours. He knew that he
needed an idea that would earn him a large sum of money, and he needed
the idea quickly. But in his depression, Dickens was finding it
difficult to write. After returning to The yellow glow
from the flickering gas lamps lit his way through The dismal scene
reminded him of the nightmare that often troubled his sleep: A
12-year-old boy sits at a worktable piled high with pots of black boot
paste. For 12 hours a day, six days a week, he attaches labels on the
endless stream of pots to earn the six shillings that will keep him
alive. The boy in the
dream looks through the rotting warehouse floor into the cellar, where
swarms of rats scurry about. Then he raises his eyes to the
dirt-streaked window, dripping with condensation from This was no scene
from the author's imagination. It was a period from his early life.
Fortunately, Dicken's father had inherited
some money, enabling him to pay off his debts
and get out of prison -- and his young son escaped a dreary fate. Now the fear of
being unable to pay his own debts haunted Dickens. Wearily, he started
home from his long walk, no closer to an idea for the "cheerful,
glowing" tale he wanted to tell than he'd been when he started out.
However, as he
neared home, he felt the sudden flash of inspiration. What about a
Christmas story! He would write one for the very people he passed on the
black streets of But Christmas was
less than three months away! How could he manage so great a task in so
brief a time? The book would have to be short, certainly not a full
novel. It would have to be finished by the end of November to be printed
and distributed in time for Christmas sales. For speed, he struck on the
idea of adapting a Christmas-goblin story from a chapter in The
Pickwick Papers. He would fill the
story with the scenes and characters his readers loved. There would be a
small, sickly child; his honest but ineffectual father; and, at the
center of the piece, a selfish villain, an old man with a pointed nose
and shriveled cheeks. As the mild days
of October gave way to a cool November, the manuscript grew, page by
page, and the story took life. The basic plot was simple enough for
children to understand, but evoked themes that would conjure up warm
memories and emotions in an adult's heart: After retiring alone to
his cold, barren apartment on Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly
Gradually, in the
course of his writing, something surprising happened to Dickens. What
had begun as a desperate, calculated plan to rescue himself
from debt -- "a little scheme," as he described it -- soon
began to work a change in the author. As he wrote about the kind of
Christmas he loved -- joyous family parties with clusters of mistletoe
hanging from the ceiling; cheerful carols, games, dances and gifts;
delicious feasts of roast goose, plum pudding, fresh breads, all enjoyed
in front of a blazing Yule log -- the joy of the season he cherished
began to alleviate his depression. A Christmas
Carol
captured his heart and soul. It became a labor of love. Every time he
dipped his quill pen into his ink, the characters seemed magically to
take life: Tiny Tim with his crutches, Scrooge cowering in fear before
the ghosts, Bob Cratchit drinking Christmas
cheer in the face of poverty. Each morning,
Dickens grew excited and impatient to begin the day's work. "I was
very much affected by the little book," he later wrote a
newspaperman, and was "reluctant to lay it aside for a
moment." A friend and Dickens's future biographer, John Forster,
took note of the "strange mastery" the story held over the
author. Dickens told a professor in At last, on
December 2, he was finished, and the manuscript went to the printers. On
December 17, the author's copies were delivered, and Dickens was
delighted. He had never doubted that A Christmas Carol would be
popular. But neither he nor his publisher was ready for the overwhelming
response that came. The first edition of 6000 copies sold out by
Christmas Eve, and as the little book's heartwarming message spread,
Dickens later recalled, he received "by every post, all manner of
strangers writing all manner of letters about their homes and hearths,
and how the Carol is read aloud there, and kept on a very little shelf
by itself." Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray said of the Carol:
"It seems to me a national benefit, and to every man or woman who
reads it a personal kindness." Despite the
book's public acclaim, it did not turn into the immediate financial
success that Dickens had hoped for, because of the quality production he
demanded and the low price he placed on the book. Nevertheless, he made
enough money from it to scrape by, and A Christmas Carol's
enormous popularity revived his audience for subsequent novels, while
giving a fresh, new direction to his life and career. Although Dickens
would write many other well-received and financially profitable books --
David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Great
Expectations -- nothing would ever quite equal the soul-satisfying
joy he derived from his universally loved little novel. In time, some
would call him the Apostle of Christmas. And, at his death in 1870, a
poor child in In a very real
sense, Dickens popularized many aspects of the Christmas we celebrate
today, including great family gatherings, seasonal drinks and dishes and
gift giving. Even our language has been enriched by the tale. Who has
not known a "Scrooge," or uttered "Bah! Humbug!"
when feeling irritated or disbelieving. And the phrase "Merry
Christmas!" gained wider usage after the story appeared. In the midst of self-doubt and confusion, a man sometimes does his best work. From the storm of tribulation comes a gift. For Charles Dickens, a little Christmas novel brought new-found faith in himself and in the redemptive joy of the season. |
United States Naval Academy Class of 1950 Museum Endowment Trust
8123 Dunsinane Court, Suite B, McLean, Virginia 22102-2719
Home: 703-893-4584 Toll Free: 1-866-859-4362 Fax: 703-893-1802
-- We are over $400K short of the Class of ’50 Endowment goal of $1M.
-- This shortfall would be $50K greater were it not for investment capital gains.
-- Classmate donations to other Foundation sponsored activities--primarily unrestricted donations--amount to about $80K (not credited toward $1M goal). This does not include the Kinnear and Nolan programs of $4.2M and $500K respectively. Or the Ryan squash courts, either. Aside from these personal projects all are very generous donors to Class efforts with overqualified lifetime memberships in the President’s Circle as well.
--Museum Fundraising is supported by eight classes—aka The Syndicate—with ’50 and ’51 the first plankowners providing bridge loan financing guarantees.
-- Planned Museum renovation capital expenditures will exceed $15M (second only to
Memorial Stadium’s $40M) with $7.5M expected to be paid by private subscription.
-- Alumni Association/Foundation sponsored projects—such as the museum—require cash on hand prior to letting a contract; there are no bridge loans although near term pledges may be considered. This is where Syndicate guarantors really come in.
-- Shortfalls in Foundation/Class supported projects, by default, become a liability or are covered by NAF unrestricted funds and thus are not permitted.
-- NAF long term capital fund raising campaign is well ahead of the curve at $167.5M at the 30 month point and a two-year hence goal of $175M. You can track these through www.usna.com (or directly with http://usna.com/Foundation/Campaign/Chart.asp.)
-- Despite recent difficult economic times sapping investment portfolios, large NAF investor/donors remained committed even if at reduced sizes. (Well balanced giving plans.)
-- Individual Classmate contributions may have been hurt by the economic conditions as well as by the disaffection regarding the means of solicitation--TM.
-- Classmate failure to credit contributions to the Class of ’50 Museum Endowment deliberately, or otherwise, deprive the Class of contributions. These unrestricted monies are credited to NAF’s capital campaign which is ahead of schedule thus not making the most efficient use of the contribution (cash) flow. This is not meant to cannibalize NAF income inasmuch as they have bills too—just to keep the distribution balanced as long as bridge loans are not available and we have a goal date to meet.
-- Pro: For those with military retirements Tricare For Life is worth about $3,200 a year. You are ahead of the game by about $10K now. This saving would fund an annual President’s Circle membership and leave something over
-- Pro: The above living near Military Medical Facilities avoid significant drug costs, frequently several hundred dollars a month. Others have commercial discounts not available to the general public
--Pro: The same lifers have had a generous (socialist, voter based) system increase their retired pay at a greater rate than inflation over the past fifteen years in large part, because inflation has been under control.
--Pro: "Senior citizen" bennies largely offset much—take the 10%! Plus, chances are you imbibe less, or not at all. And, because your tail may be dragging you ration the traveling, rigorous stadium climbing, skiing, late theatre tickets, Four Seasons excesses, chasing high-heeled, long-legged types who don’t know how to cook, etc. Now, I’m not saying all those things are eschewed—you just don’t pursue them with quite the same vigor and fervor. You can achieve them with cunning and deceit and much less effort.
--Con: The anticipatory salivating was fun—and there was no dollar value cost. Fantasy.
U.S. Naval Academy Foundation
P.O. Box 62203
Baltimore, MD 21264-2203
Posted 12/16/01:
United States Naval Academy Class of 1950 Museum Endowment Trust
8123 Dunsinane Court, Suite B, McLean, Virginia 22102-2719
Home: 703-893-4584 Toll Free: 1-866-859-4362 Fax: 703-893-1802
Christmas Season 2001
Dear Classmate:
My apologies for getting this letter mixed up in all your holiday mail--plus all the appeals for divers charitable contributions.
But, with swift thinking (duh!) getting the new 2001 Class Register to you in 2001 seemed important. It
’s dated 4 July 2001 but the corrigenda (see over) updates it. We can all thank Larry Hawkins for this massive effort in creating a useful Class Christmas gift.If at this point you think I might be asking for something in return, my spots haven
’t changed--you got it!Also, you should have gotten this more than three months ago but it became prudent to verify procedures for the optimal use of gifts in support of the Academy Museum, Preble Hall. This done, your last minute opportunity to take advantage of a 2001 tax deduction is at hand.
At our Fiftieth last year, you heard the announcement of our current Class Goal--sponsoring a million dollar endowment in support of the museum. Copies of this endowment trust agreement were in my last letter to you. The Challenge Fund consisting of very generous commitments from as many as 18 Classmates amounts to about half-a-million bucks when the overshoot (investment income) from our initial museum effort is included. The challenge is for the rest of the Class to match the half-mil.
Now that really is a challenge and if I were a hired fund-raising hand I
’d fire me for non-performance. To-date there have been 49 (not even ‘50’) Classmate donors other than the 18 awaiting in riposte. This is sad. I am sad. I feel like a rubber-beaked woodpecker in a petrified forest.The good news is that the bad news is not because of a lack of generosity. Two Classmates have established programs that are counted in the millions. Others have specific interests such as the honor chair, chapel, athletic and scholarship programs. These are recognized and honored. There have also been 71 unrestricted (non-designated purpose) contributions made to the Alumni Association or the Foundation since our reunion.
Lacking a specific objective, unrestricted support is recognized, but remember: (1) Projects, such as the Museum that are in the Supe
’s Strategic Plan are underwritten by the Foundation to the extent that they are not specifically supported by Classes, thus were we not supporting the Museum, the Foundation would have to do it out of unrestricted funds; (2) We are "taxed" five percent on all restricted gifts to cover overhead. Unrestricted gifts count towards a Class but not a specifically designated Class Project. Connect the dots. We have a specific objective.In this season of gratitude keep in mind that a majority of us are now benefiting from new legislation providing supplemental Medicare coverage—Tricare For Life—a savings of over $2,000 a year. Please consider sharing this bonanza and share yourself in meeting the Challenge.
There are fewer than 500 of us left; almost30 percent seem never able to contribute—you do the math and make your check to the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation with a notation on the lower left, Class of
’50 Museum Endowment or Account #8150, and mail it in the enclosed envelope.Thank most of you in advance, and others belatedly, for your generosity. And most of all, a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year!
Sincerely,
J. Richard Powell, Jr. Call toll free if any questions: 1-866-859-4362 or check
Chief Kneebasher
’50 Jack Akin’s Class web site: www.usna50.8k.com/
Posted 7/13/01:
Posted 6/20/01:
19 June 2001
Jack:
I had asked the Museum Director, Dr. J. Scott Harmon ('64), Professor of
History at USNA, To send me any comments that he had received in regard
to the new Gallery in Preble Hall that we sponsored for our Fiftieth
Anniversary Gift to USNA and are continuing to support with our Class of
'50 Endowment Trust. They follow below. It softens some of the skin
that has had to become calloused over the fund-raising years but more
importantly it is a dynamic example of how our relatively small
fund-raising effort has been leverged into a strong positive effect. We
are indebted to Scott for his stewardship. And our Class for their
continued generosity which eases my job.
Warm regards,
Dick, aka 'Basher, Class of '50
------------------------------------------
18 June 2001
Dick:
I don't think I can answer your request in the detail you would like;
most of the comments are from people who just walk up to the office, or
one of the staff, and say how great they think the Museum is,
particularly the new gallery. And letters present a privacy issue. But
what I have done is to go through my calendar for the past year and
select the scheduled visits and special uses of the Museum, things that I
feel would not have been done if it had not been for the new gallery.
Each of these has elicited wonderful praise and comments from the people
who participated.
June 2000: Dr. Benjamin Cuker, from Hampton University, brought a group
of his students who are participating in the Minorities At Sea Training
(MAST) program. They sail up and down the coast in a sloop and stop at
maritime sites. I gave them a lecture in the Cold War Theater, using the
equipment to give a multimedia presentation on the U.S. Navy's role in
the suppression of the slave trade (which happens to be the subject of my
dissertation). They liked the presentation and the Museum so much that
they are returning this year.
Ac Year: In the years prior to this past one, only one History professor
made regular use of the Museum as a teaching tool. Shortly before we
opened last year I gave a walk through to the Plebe Naval History
instructors. This past year we had at least half a dozen instructors
bringing their classes to the Museum, including a professor from the
Oceanography department.
Oct 2000 I made a presentation at the Officers and Faculty Club on the
history of the Museum to the local chapter of the Alumni Association.
Following dinner and the presentation, I conducted a guided tour of the
Museum. It was approximately one and a half hours and was followed with
rave reviews from the guests.
Nov 2000 The Cold War Theater was the venue for the "Poetry Café" in
which midshipmen and faculty read poems relating to war. In March the
Poetry Café presented poems in honor of Women's History Month. At the
second session, the multimedia capabilities of the theater were used. The
location is popular, we had to get all of our benches and still there was
standing room only. Regular visitors enjoyed the experience also,
stopping to listen.
Jan 2001 A delegation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police visited the
Museum. That organization is planning to create a museum at their
training academy and wanted to see ours as a model for their's.
Feb 2001 I gave a tour of the Museum to the residents of Ginger Cove. It
is fun to give tours to Navy and Marine veterans. They know a lot about
the events depicted in the Museum and it become a two-way experience: I
mention something and they amplify with their own experiences.
Mar 2001: The Cruising Club of America met at the Officers and Faculty
Club for dinner. I was invited to give a presentation on the history of
the Museum and then led them on a tour of the Museum, particularly the
new gallery.
Mar 2001: A three-day symposium on Naval Forces Under the Sea was held at
the Academy. The Museum supported the symposium by providing an exhibit
case for use in Alumni Hall and by having a photo/biographical plaque
created to memorialize "Swede" Momsen. After a formal presentation of
the
plaque to Momsen's son and granddaughter at the symposium banquet, the
plaque was installed in the USS S-4 and Squalus case in the new gallery.
Mar 2001 Members of The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of
Boston, Massachusetts, visited the Museum. I gave them a two hour tour
which was very well received. (Except for one letter that complained that
I did not have any mention of one of their members, a USNA grad, who had
been awarded the Medal of Honor in Korea.)
Apr 2001 Gave a tour of the Museum to members of the Class of '41 who
were here for their reunion. One of their members was Sheldon Kinney who
was Commandant of Midshipmen when I graduated.
We have received letters of thanks and appreciation from a number of
these groups. But most gratifying are the comments from people who come
to the Museum and leave, impressed with the collection and how
beautifully and educationally we display it in the new gallery