The Children’s Aid Society Foundation, under the direction of its Board of Trustees is most excited to embark on the Foundation’s first ever Endowment Campaign. The goal of the multi-year campaign is to raise an additional five million dollars in endowment to support the Foundation’s long-term mission.

At the successful conclusion of this Campaign, the Foundation will be positioned to continue to fund the long-term budget shortfall that has existed for some time between public funding and the actual cost of the services that are so desperately needed by so many children and families in Western Pennsylvania.

For example, The Children’s Aid Home Programs has operated with a funding shortfall of $4,617,840 over the past six years for an average shortfall of $769,634 per year. Although the Foundation’s Endowment Campaign goal of $5M dollars will not cover this shortfall entirely, it will go a long way toward ensuring the continued support that the Children’s Aid Home Programs will need to provide its great work of enhancing the lives of children and families. The Endowment will also afford increasing support of a variety of other nonprofits serving children.

The Foundation is most fortunate to have many resources donated by the community and it’s Board of Trustees. For example, administrative staff expense and rent expense for the Foundation office are and always have been 100% donated by supporters of the mission. The Foundation is focused on ensuring that vast majority of donations are used to serve children and families.

Why support the Children’s Aid Society Foundation in this Endowment Campaign? You don’t have to look very hard to see the headlines of funding cuts, downsizing, unfunded mandates and regulations. Like many other businesses, organizations we support in non-profit social services are facing these same headlines. The one difference is that our Foundation is serving children – vulnerable children. To reduce or stop needed services is not an option for us.

To assure care and services to help children with ever increasing and complex problems, we created our Foundation. In very simple terms we hope to raise the needed resources to both sustain and grow services for children to meet their needs and to help them grow and develop into responsible, productive, and caring adults. Our dream is that no matter what the future holds with public funding, we will be able to provide for the children with the most appropriate and very best care. To fulfill this dream, we need your help. Remember, these are our children but it is their future we want to assure.