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Background
PEJE was established in 1997 with a mandate to support the founding of new Jewish day schools. Over the course of PEJE's first five years, the organization supported the opening of 16 elementary schools, 28 middle schools and 16 high schools. PEJE developed a model of grantmaking that included cash coupled with technical assistance, primarily in the form of a madrikh who coached the lay and professional leadership of the school.
Experimentation with Existing Schools
In 2001 PEJE started to see a decrease in the number of new school applicants. Over the next few years this decrease continued, indicating the beginnings of a saturation of the new school market. PEJE began to experiment with support to existing schools in the form of the Charles Schusterman Small Communities Enhancement Grant Program, DE'AH (an initiative designed to deliver expertise and assistance to existing day schools), RDI (Resource Development Initiatives), a Judaic Excellence Program, and Professional Development Program. In addition, PEJE began to provide technical assistance to new Jewish day high schools and their planning groups.
A New Focus: Capacity Building
In 2002, anticipating the completion of PEJE's first five-year period, understanding that the new school market was becoming saturated, and appreciating PEJE's rapid development, the organization engaged in an intensive strategic planning process. PEJE retained The Conservation Company (TCC), a respected management-consulting firm experienced with non-profits similar to PEJE.
The result of the year-long strategic planning process was a re-formulation of PEJE's mission and focus, including a revision of its grantmaking activities. The organization decided to serve the entire day school field, not just new schools. PEJE's primary goal became the growing of day school enrollment across North America. Finally, following leading trends in institutional philanthropy, PEJE made a purposeful decision to become a capacity building organization.
In his article, Building to Last: A Grantmakers Guide to Strengthening Nonprofit Organizations, Paul Connolly defines capacity building: "Capacity building refers to activities that strengthen an organization and help it better fulfill its mission." PEJE's grant program supports day schools in building their own capacities to grow enrollment through the support of coaches for schools, and in some cases modest sums of cash to plan for implementation. In addition, one of PEJE's grant programs supports a school in engaging in an assessment process followed by support to implement recommendations generated from the assessment.
PEJE Grantmaking Philosophy
- Capacity building is at the core of all of our programs.
- Capacity building in its purest form is a long-term process, and grants are often structured with that in mind.
- There is also value, however, in short-term capacity building strategies.
- Grants for capacity building succeed in a collaborative atmosphere where PEJE and the schools together determine the intervention.
- Holistic capacity building strategies have a greater chance for success than those that deal with a specific problem or issue in isolation.
PEJE's primary goal is to stimulate enrollment growth in day schools. Applicants will be evaluated on their ability to increase the number of children enrolled in their school. Schools should demonstrate a willingness to participate in the capacity building strategies associated with the given grant program. The review process will include an examination of community demographics, the school's enrollment capacity, overall potential for excellence, and desire and ability to use expertise. In addition, PEJE will select schools that reflect PEJE values. Applicants should be aware that PEJE often finds itself in the difficult situation of selecting a small number of grantees from among a larger set of excellent schools and applications.
To learn more about PEJE's grantmaking philosophy and to learn about strategies for submitting strong proposals read "A Window Into PEJE's Grantmaking Philosophy." We also suggest that schools review the following short article "Twelve Characteristics of a Good Proposal." In particular, characteristics number two, three, six, seven, and eleven are most applicable to PEJE grant applicants.
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