Even though the Wilmette Institute is headquartered at the United States Bahá'í National Center, it operates without direct support from the Bahá'í National Fund. Consequently, it is dependent on tuition payments, generous donations, and volunteer assistance from its students and friends.
I. DONATIONS AND ENDOWMENTS
II. VOLUNTEERING
III. INVITING OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WILMETTE INSTITUTE EXPERIENCEI. DONATIONS AND ENDOWMENTS
Once or twice a year, the Wilmette Institute Board sends a letter to a select group of friends informing them of the Institute’s progress, outlining its upcoming plans, and stating its financial and other needs. The generous contributions that result are placed in the following four funds:
1. Scholarship Endowment. Out of its interest, this endowment provides scholarship monies to needy students.
2. Orlando Nuńez Memorial Fund. Orlando Nuńez was a student of the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program during its first residential session in 1996. He died in an automobile accident in November 1996. To remember his devotion to teaching the Faith, the Executive Board has established a fund in his name, which gives scholarship money to needy students.
3. Development Endowment. This endowment supplies an annual fund for creating new courses, expanding the Institute's facilities, and meeting other needs.
4. Faculty Endowment. In its Ridván 1997 message to the Bahá'í world, the Universal House of Justice noted that "just as one deputizes another to teach in one's stead by covering the expenses of a pioneer or traveling teacher, one can deputize a teacher serving in an institute, who is, of course, a teacher of teachers. To do so, one may make contributions to the Continental Fund, as well as the Local, National, and International Funds, earmarked for this purpose." In response, the Wilmette Institute Executive Board has created an endowment to cover the costs of its faculty.
Donations that arrive unearmarked are placed in the development endowment, which can be used for anything, including scholarships. Eventually additional endowments will be established to meet more specialized needs. The Wilmette Institute is aware of some local Spiritual Assemblies that have established scholarship funds to assist students wishing to take the Institute’s courses.
Because the Wilmette Institute is an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly, which is a non-profit organization, contributions to the Institute are tax deductible. Checks should be made out to “Wilmette Institute” and mailed to us at 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201. Contributions can also be made to the National Bahá'í Fund and earmarked for the Institute. If you would like to be on the list to receive our progress and fund raising report, write Robert Stockman at rstockman@usbnc.org.
November 2003 Fundraising Letter
March 2002 Fundraiser LetterII. VOLUNTEERING
Because of the Institute’s shoestring budget, volunteers can and have made major contributions to its progress. We are in constant need of assistance in all sorts of tasks, big and small. Here is a list of some of our needs:
• Optical scanning of documents for posting to our website
• Publicity (see III below)
• Photoshop work on photographs to make them the proper size for our website
• Locating images of various sorts in the public domain to improve the appearance of our website
• “Course secretary” work: helping keep track of who might need additional assistance in making posts and identifying significant postings to keep for the benefit of future classes
• Drafting study questions, quizzes, text summaries, and text outlines. In general, our courses need more study materials
• Developing, maintaining, and expanding databases and other software; we are in serious need of expert computer assistance on an ongoing basis
• Secretarial assistance; for example, taking a generic syllabus and modifying it in predictable ways for all the new courses of a year, or drafting a year’s supply of press releases or course descriptions; or setting up all the needed emails for a course’s listserver.Volunteers often take our courses at a reduced fee or for free. If you think you can help, please write Robert Stockman, Director of the Institute, at rstockman@usbnc.org.
III. INVITING OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WILMETTE INSTITUTE EXPERIENCE
A very important way to support the Institute is to inform others about its programs and courses. Here are some ideas:
• Make a presentation about the Institute at Feast
• Make a presentation about the Institute at Unit Convention
• Make a presentation about the Institute at your cluster’s reflection meeting
• Make a presentation about the Institute at an institute class or after a devotional meeting
• Organize a local study group to take a Wilmette Institute course together
• Personally inform people who might be interested in taking Wilmette Institute courses, especially new believers
• Request to be on the “WINews” email list, which will provide you with updates about new courses
• Ask your newsletter editor to publish notices about Wilmette Institute courses.
• Volunteer to run a Wilmette Institute information display at a large Bahá'í conferenceThe Institute is considering the establishment of a “Friends of Wilmette Institute.” If you can help in any of the ways above, write us at info@wilmetteinstitute.org.
