Alumni Fund

Welcome to the Alumni Fund! This fund is built through the generous donations of alumni and honorary alumni... and it keeps on growing (check out the most recent appeal). The overarching goal is to catalyze special projects of the local DREAM programs, Central Office, and Camp DREAM (through an alumni managed grant-making process). Another portion of the money raised goes towards building an endowment for long-term sustainability.

Current Assets (May, 2007)

Value: $25,679
2007 Grant Allocations: $2379
2007 Appeal Income: $11,573
Specific Allocations:
   -Trips: $1500
   -Fridays: $508
   -Camp: $1000
   -Alumni Fund Endowment: $1733
   -Scholarship: $1000
   -Community Development: $1000
   -Unrestricted: $4813

Want to help out?

All alumni are welcome to be involved in the Alumni Fund, which is administered by the Alumni Fund Committee. There are a number of ways to participate:

• Give Money: Donate! The stronger our fund's financial base, the more we can assist DREAM fulfill its mission. Alumni can give online, connect with corporate matching, donate in-kind gifts, services, stock transfers... think creatively!

• Raise Money: Volunteer with the Alumni Fund Committee to help run the Alumni Annual Appeal in conjunction with the Central Office and Class Representatives. This annual fundraiser is the fund's biggest source of income.

• Manage Assets: Have financial planning skills? Our endowment (currently invested in socially-responsible Calvert funds) needs strong guidance.

• Distribute Grants: Join the Committee and vote where the money goes (see alumni funding priorities below). Also, each grant application needs an Alumni Sponsor to help guide it through the process, which involves working directly with applicants and the Alumni Fund Committee.

Please email your alumni officers at to get involved -- let us know what you'd find exciting! You can also see what we've been talking about by looking over our meeting notes.

2005 Alumni Funding Priorities

An Alumni e-Ballot allowed all alumni to be involved in setting the Alumni Fund Committee's funding priorities. Alumni responded with the following:

• High priority (in green): was given to Local Program Trips and Camp DREAM, both of which can be addressed in the short term.
• Some priority (in yellow): was given to College Scholarships, Endowment and staff Central Office, which are generally longer term concerns.
• Less priority (in red): was given to one-on-one mentor activities, high adventure programs and summer scholarships for kids wanting to enroll in programs outside of DREAM.
• Additionally, summer scholarships and one on one activities were ranked as not a top 5 priority by 30 people and 21 people respectively.