A great big THANK YOU to all who donated to the LLI Future Fund. Approximately $45,000 was raised, and we appreciate your generosity. We know there are a lot of outstretched hands, and that you chose to support our beloved LLI! We value your faith in us.
Why did we need the Future Fund? In a word: COVID. In our 2019-2020 fiscal year, our membership was at 1,145, and our carryover fund balance from the previous fiscal year was $112,044. Sitting pretty, we made a significant financial contribution to computer and technological upgrades in the classrooms in Rose Hall. Some even questioned whether we could handle any more members.
Then COVID hit! Like most of the world, LLI members stayed home. Our membership dropped 56% to 508 members. That meant a drop of 56% in our revenue also. We soldiered on with Zoom classes and Zoom meetings, but it wasn’t the same. As much as we enjoy learning new and interesting “stuff,” we really like learning it with new and interesting people, right? And you just can’t do a Spring Fling on Zoom.
We raised our membership fee (regrettable but still a bargain), and we returned classes to campus once we started gathering again. That helped us avoid venue fees. We also became extremely frugal. But fixed expenses depend on membership, and there are office expenses, university support costs and parking fees.
Our membership is slowly growing back. We are now up to 773 members, but our break-even point is 1,019 members. We still have a way to go.
UW-Green Bay has committed to continuing its support for LLI, but we all know that educational institutions are under significant financial pressure today. We strongly believe that LLI wants—and needs—to be self-supporting. And that means we must grow our membership!
The Future Fund was established for that specific purpose. With a marketing plan ready, we are committed to spreading the word about LLI throughout the community. Our “new and improved” newsletter is part of this plan (so please share!), and a professionally produced short video, extolling our dynamic and vibrant organization, is now in production. We need to raise our profile in the community. If you know of an organization whose members could benefit from learning more about LLI, please let us know. We are available.
In case you’re wondering, you can still contribute to the LLI Future Fund. Just go to our website, www.uwgb.edu/lli, and click the DONATE button. Your contribution is tax-deductible, very much appreciated and will be put to good use.
LLI needs your support. Spread the word about our great organization, bring a friend to a class (check with the office to see if space is available) or to breakfast and donate if you can. Your contributions to date have kept us afloat. Let’s keep the gateway to lifelong learning open!