I wrote this case study as part of my PR Practicum class. During this class we worked with two foundations that sought to support Catholic education.

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Tanya Dainoski
PR Practicum
Professor DeRosa
March 26, 2009
Case Study: Futures in Education
Background
Founded in 1989, the Futures in Education Foundation operates on a grant from
the Diocese of Brooklyn. The foundation raises money to support Catholic education in
the Diocese of Brooklyn. Ninety percent of funds raised go toward scholarships for
Catholic school students with remaining funds paying for programs and special events.
The foundation’s leadership consists of two boards: a corporate board which
decides on costs and budgets, and an advisory board which advocates for the foundation,
raises funds, and runs programs and activities.
Demographics
The Diocese of Brooklyn was established in 1853 and includes the 179 square
miles that is Brooklyn and Queens and a 1.5 million Catholic population. The Diocese
has 117 elementary schools with over 37,000 students. Of these students, more that
15,000 are living below the poverty line, 64% are minorities, and 22% are not Catholic.
Scholarship receivers mostly come from immigrant families that have an annual
income of $26,000 (for a family of four). These students also receive free or reduced
lunches, a federal indication of poverty.
Objectives
The mission stated on the foundation’s website is “to help ensure the continuance
of the Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens by providing tuition assistance and
program support to the neediest of students and schools.”
Problem
More than 2,000 Catholic schools nationwide have closed since 1990. In
Brooklyn and Queens 40% of Catholic schools have been shut down in the past seven
years.
Closings can be blamed on a number of issues including: the shortage of nuns and
priests applying for teaching positions, the demographic shift in the communities where
closing schools are located, and a 15% cut in state aid to schools for mandated services.
The closings are also directly related to low enrollment caused by rising tuition costs and
the current economic situation.
To combat this growing trend the Diocese of Brooklyn has implemented a number
of steps to raise money and reconfigure schools, including working with the Futures in
Education Foundation.

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Challenges Faced by the Foundation
The foundation faces a number of challenges in trying to accomplish its goal. The
average tuition at a Catholic school is $3,100 and increases annually. The tuition is
becoming more of a burden for low-income parents, even with the assistance of a
scholarship. The current economic crisis coupled with the resulting decrease in fund
returns and donations, means the foundation cannot have the same influence in students’
lives as it was accustomed to.
Current Strategies
The foundation offers a number of donation programs to supplement its
scholarships.
“Be an Angel to a Student” Program - The “Be an Angel to a Student” program
connects financially needy catholic school students with “Angels” who supply a
$1,500 donation towards the student’s education at a Catholic school in Queens or
Brooklyn. Currently there are 225 “Angels” assisting 501 students. Many take on
more than one student during the year, with one family assisting 30 students.
There are 2,600 students in the Diocese of Brooklyn that are eligible for this
program.
School-Business Partnership - The School-Business Partnership connects
schools with businesses to share their time, talent and finances. The businesses
supply financial and business expertise to their designated school.
Other Events – The foundation also offers Angels on the Fairway, an annual
spring benefit and golf outing, and multiple dinners to supplement its
scholarships. Direct donations are also accepted online and via phone and mail.
Results
The Futures in Education Foundation raises approximately $1 to 2 million
annually through its many events providing tuition assistance of $500 to $1,400 per
student.
The Futures Endowment Fund, a separate entity, was established in 2006 as part
of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s plan to establish a $100 million endowment. The fund has
raised over $15 million since its creation.

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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• The Diocese of Brooklyn is the 5th largest diocese with 1.5 million
Catholics. A large community could be a valuable fundraising base.
Weaknesses
• There has been an insufficient effort to create a database of past students
and people who used to live in Queens.
• The website needs better and more descriptions.
Opportunities
• Many students from the Diocese’s Catholic schools have graduated and
can be included in fundraising efforts.
• Many resources are available in a large city such as NYC.
Threats
• There has been some confusion as to the association between the Diocese
of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of New York’s Inner City Scholarship
Fund. There is none.
• The current state of the economy affects schools, tuitions, students, and
scholarship funds in negative ways.
• Rising tuition is always a factor that scholarship funds must compete
against.
• The changing demographics put more schools at risk and cause more
students to require a scholarships.
Suggestions
In order to continue its success in the current economic crisis, the foundation
should focus more on gathering small donations from its publics. The Diocese of
Brooklyn has a large population, but the foundation is unable to use this resource because
there is no database. The diocese needs to develop and continually update a database of
current parishioners and people that graduated from their Catholic schools. These people
will later be used as a base group for fundraising and event planning.
The foundation also needs to plan ahead and get people to create endowment
funds now so that there will be increased returns in the future. The foundation should
begin a campaign about the benefits of investing in a down economy.
The foundation should urge Catholic schools to partner with other non-secular
and private schools to create a campaign supporting the creation of a tuition tax credit for
all students. The creation of public service announcements and printed materials should
target all parents of school-aged children to gain support for this legislation.
The Futures in Education Foundation’s website needs to be revamped. A calendar
of events should be put up on the Event page and detailed description of each event
should be available for media people and anyone else frequenting the site.
The lack of affiliation with the Archdiocese of New York’s Inner City
Scholarship fund is not displayed prominently enough. This point should be stressed to
all potential contributors.