The fund provides half the tuition to a private elementary school, with families paying the rest. The principals and teachers who run these schools have told us that having families paying is a critical element. The fund awarded 40,000 scholarships in 40 cities in 1999, but that barely reflected the demand for them. Mr. Dewey says that 1.2 million families applied. As a result of the gift and the challenge, we've been able to increase corporate and individual contributions.
Success attracts donors.
She adds that increasing the endowment is essential to giving stability to the organization's program. Any money we raised in a fiscal year we distributed in scholarships that same year. That left two significant gaps. Those issues were included in discussions with Lilly about the grant, and resulted in a portion being split off for an endowment. The money has already allowed the group to expand its scholarship program significantly.