Note From Judith Parrish

As of June 30, and after 3 ½ years, I will be stepping down as President of the SEPM Foundation. It has been a great honor to lead the Foundation, and I thank the current and former members of the Foundation Board of Directors with whom I had the privilege to serve: Dr. Rick Fluegeman, Dr. Don McNeill, Dr. John Suter, and Dr. Lesli Wood. Dr. Wood has, as you know, moved on to be President-Elect of SEPM and Dr. McNeill has earned a well-deserved retirement. I will continue to serve on the Foundation Investment Committee until a replacement for Dr. McNeill can be found.

During my tenure, we accomplished several things. First, we put the Foundation on a firmer financial footing by discontinuing the expense of a professional money manager. SEPM has managed its portfolio very well without professional guidance, and with the establishment of a Foundation Investment Committee, which meets jointly with the SEPM Investment Committee, we can take advantage of the collective investment wisdom of all our members. In addition, we moved the portfolio to a more-aggressive balance of investments. Over the long term, stocks provide much more growth, and there isn’t any investment timeline longer than a foundation’s. In addition, SEPM had in the past been subsidizing student grants, which they told us they were no longer able to do. In order to allow our portfolio to grow as quickly as possible, we set a very conservative draw rate. Because we wanted to maintain the same level of funding for student grants, that meant that we did draw down some of our general funds. I am pleased to report that the Foundation portfolio has grown substantially and we can see that, in the near future, we should be able to stop drawing down the general funds and even increase funding for students.

This does not mean the Foundation can do it all on its own. We still depend very much on our donors, and so I would like to again thank everyone who contributes to the Foundation. Your donations are critical.

Second, we put the Foundation on a firmer legal footing. As a separate 501(c)3 organization from SEPM, our governance was too entangled with SEPM’s, against which auditors have been warning for several years. We fixed that. Now, SEPM Council holds the authority of approval over Board of Trustees nominees, but the Board has final say.

We hope that the Society’s 100th Anniversary celebration will again inform members of the importance not just of the Society, but of the Foundation as well. If you are in a position to do so, please consider a generous donation to the Foundation in support of our students.

Finally, I want to give a shout-out to Theresa Scott, who serves not just SEPM but the Foundation as well. Her contributions, and the help of Howard Harper in interfacing SEPM and the SEPM Foundation, have been invaluable.

With this column, I formally hand over the presidency of the SEPM Foundation to the capable and enthusiastic hands of Dr. Cari Johnson. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Johnson to the SEPM Foundation!

Sincerely,

Judith Parrish

SEPM Foundation

Foundation Student Research Grants

Foundation Student Travel Grants

What Is a Foundation?

Many organizations, both for-profit and non-profit, have foundations. Foundations that serve non-profit organizations raise funds for those organizations. Priorities for fund-raising are set by the organizations, and the foundations are charged with raising funds to support those prioritized activities. Most foundations associated with professional societies raise funds for research grants and conferences, often concentrating on supporting students.

What Does SEPM Foundation Do?

SEPM has charged the Foundation with raising money to support Society activities. Because we are a small society (and foundation), we are unable to spend a lot of money to raise money, as larger foundations can. Gifts are generally unsolicited and come to the Foundation through the generosity of our members. Currently, the Foundation is responsible for funds that exist to support a variety of activities, including providing research and travel support for students. Responsibility for deciding where the funds go is split between the Foundation, which collects and reviews student research grant proposals and makes awards; SEPM, which manages proposals for research conferences, student travel, and other activities; and the Gulf Coast section and NAMS, for whom the Foundation manages some funds. The intent of the original donors is followed strictly, meaning that the money can be used only for the purposes for which they were intended.

We manage funds and endowments. Funds can be spent down, and consist of unrestricted funds, such as those in the general fund (see below), can be used for any purpose, and restricted funds, which can be used only for the designated purpose and may be spent in their entirety. Depending on the needs of SEPM, the funds may carry over year-to-year, and they are invested just as the endowments are. Endowments, in contrast, must be maintained in perpetuity, meaning that only the income from them can be spent. They are also unrestricted or restricted. See SEPM Funds List

How Can You Help?

Non-profit organizations like the SEPM Foundation depend on donors to fulfill their missions. Donations to any of the funds are welcome, and where your money goes is entirely up to you. The Foundation is all volunteer, but does have expenses. For example, the Foundation uses the services of personnel at SEPM and pays for those services (as a non-profit itself, SEPM cannot give away services for free, and the Foundation and Society are two different entities). Fortunately, the Foundation has a general fund that helps defray these expenses, but the more robust that fund, the more the Foundation can do to raise money and meet those expenses and, more importantly, expand the opportunities for students and SEPM activities. It’s easy to give! You can do so by contributing when you pay your dues or make separate donations.