Campaign Objectives
To help maintain the academic and spiritual excellence HFCS has established, we have embarked on a capital appeal campaign designed to generate funding to offset escalating operating costs and implement much needed upgrades.
In addition to increasing operating costs, other non-modifiable factors have contributed to the need to move this campaign forward including the following:
- The decrease in average family size over the past several years.
- An increasing number of families without school age children within parish boundaries.
- Negative impact on enrollment as a result of the ever-changing Rockford economic climate.
- Homeowner "flight" to areas outside city limits in an effort to avoid higher city property taxes.
Additionally, the decision to move forward with this campaign was impacted by the National Catholic Educational Association financial guidelines for a "financially healthy" Catholic school. In general, HFCS is near the recommended guidelines, however is lacking as it relates to fundraising and endowment earnings.
| NCEA Guideline | HFCS - 2007 |
| 60% of school revenue from tuition | 58% of HFCS revenue from tuition |
| 30% of school revenue from parish subsidy | 29% of school revenue from parish subsidy |
| 10% of school revenue from a combination of fundraising and endowment earnings | 2% of school revenue from a combination of fundraising and endowment earnings** |
**This is due to the parish's stance to adopt a strict stewardship model as it relates to fundraising.
Campaign Benefits
This program will make it possible for HFCS to continue providing unparalleled educational and spiritual opportunities for our students.
Other benefits include the following:
- Aid in helping to keep tuition as affordable as possible.
- Help in addressing the need to offer competitive benefits in order to retain quality educators.
- Maintenance of HFCS's notably strong spiritual development and academic programs.
- Improvement of the technology infrastructure, both from an educational and administrative standpoint.
- Addressing capital improvements including building repairs, building security, desks, furniture, teaching materials, etc.
- Helping the parish to amortize the cost of HFCS's new three and four-year-old preschool program.
- Adding to the current school endowment principal, resulting in increased revenue to the school through higher earnings.
- Maintenance and possible expansion of a print marketing campaign to help in attracting potential families to HFCS.
- Development and continuing refinement of our school and parish Web site.
For more information, give Holy Family Catholic School principal Tony Smerko a call at 815.398.5331.
