St Vincent Ferrer

In 2024-2025 SVF school will rely on the new SVF ANNUAL FUND campaign to close the funding gap between school revenue (tuition/fees plus regular school fundraising) and school operating costs. This gap is growing due to fluctuations in enrollment and rising costs. The Annual Fund will be the cornerstone of our fundraising program to support our school while we work on realizing components of our 2025 SCHOOL STRATEGIC PLAN. The School Strategic Plan is being formed by our 2025 SCHOOL ADVISORY BOARD to sustain, strengthen and grow our school and to preserve our presence and legacy in the local community. By closing the gap between school revenue and school operating costs, the Annual Fund will enable the school to fulfill its mission and ensure our presence in the local community for generations to come.   

SCHOOL FINANCIAL MODEL  

School Revenue (Tuition/Fees + Additional Revenue Sources) = School Operating Costs

To successfully operate a school, tuition/fees plus additional revenue sources must be high enough to cover operating costs. Ideally revenue will exceed costs. This happens in schools with large enrollments (more tuition revenue), or in schools with a robust fundraising program (more donation revenue). With a surplus of revenue over operating costs things like school endowments can be created to generate future interest income for the school, funds can be reserved for long-term capital projects, tuition rates can be kept lower, and special interest purchases can be made to grow the school. Schools without high enrollments or with less robust fundraising programs must look for additional revenue sources to close the FUNDING GAP that often exists between operating revenue and the cost to operate the school. We are grateful for the generosity of the entire SVF community over the years for their generous fundraising to help reduce this gap but our goal going forward is to close the funding gap and work toward sustainability. As our enrollment grows we can surpass the funding gap and count on additional resources to help our school keep growing.  

FUNDING GAP 

When Costs to Operate the School > School Revene

In the past many churches generated a larger revenue surplus and were able to cover the funding gap to support their parish schools. In our own parish, SVF church has supported the school with over $1M going toward school operational funding over the last 10 years. However, with SVF Mass attendance still down over 33% since COVID and the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Church experiencing significant declines in membership SVF needs to work toward self-sustainability to ensure the presence of our school for future generations. The Archdiocese of Chicago has been encouraging schools to become self-sustaining for several years to ensure the future of Catholic schools in our communities. 

**ALL DONATIONS TO THE SVF ANNUAL FUND ARE 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE **

** THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT **