Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Board of the YRCAA is grateful to the many YRC alumni as well as current YRC members who have already responded generously to requests for financial support. We want to make sure that you are aware of our various fundraising plans, both long and short term.
1) Our first and most pressing priority is a 3-year campaign with the following goals:
Supporting any extraordinary needs of the YRC to ensure it remains a vibrant musical force on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic and the academic years that follow, despite the loss of rehearsal and concert opportunities suffered in 2019 – 2021/
Providing contingency funds for the proposed summer tour of 2021 or 2022 should the YRC lose the US State Department support which was promised pre-pandemic.
Creating a financial reserve for the 70th anniversary concert in 2023, with the intention of complementing our own Woolsey Hall concert with an entire weekend festival of Russian and Slavic music, featuring the involvement of multiple other choruses, ideally both domestic and foreign, in-person and virtual.
This is the campaign you have been contacted about most recently, asking everyone who can afford it for an average contribution of $100 a year over the next three years. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who have already contributed, no matter what you were able to give. Remember the YRCAA is a 501(c)(3) entity. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by the law.
2) In the middle distance are plans to establish an Endowment Fund which will support the musical and cultural missions of the YRC and the YRCAA. Having an endowment will allow the student group to be more competitive with other Yale singing groups in attracting the best singers on campus. As an example, an endowment might enable the Chorus to boast that any student joining as a Freshman would be guaranteed the opportunity of touring Russia and/or Eastern Europe during their four-year tenure with the Chorus. An Endowment Fund could also support workshops, conducting seminars, music festivals and cultural exchange opportunities benefiting both the YRC and members of the YRCAA.
The YRCAA Board would obtain professional guidance to assist in managing the Endowment Fund, making annual appropriations in such a manner that the purchasing power of the fund’s principal would be preserved over time. In the unlikely event that one day the YRC and the YRCAA cease to exist, provision will be made for the Endowment Fund to be distributed to one or more appropriate academic departments at Yale, and / or to a musical organization that pursues artistic and cultural goals similar to the goals of the YRC.
3) Thirdly, we wish to clarify a means by which our alumni can make bequests. Establishing an endowment will take time to plan and set up. In the meantime, we have received inquiries from alumni who wish to remember the Chorus in their wills. This can be done in a straightforward manner by making a cash bequest to the “YRC Alumni Association” in your Last Will & Testament. Any funds received before the formal establishment of an endowment will be held in a responsible investment account until details of the endowment are finalized. If you provide a bequest to the YRC Alumni Association in your Last Will & Testament, please communicate to the YRCAA President in a timely manner the name and contact information of your Executor. The amount of your bequest need not be disclosed and can remain confidential.
YRCAA Endowment Committee
December 2020