Endowment and Other Funds
History of the SABS Endowment
The function of the Castanea Endowment is to provide long-term financial security for the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society. The society established the endowment in 1984 and began to solicit funds from its members. In 1985 the society contributed $5,000 from it's treasury to form an investment base and a goal of $200,000 was set for the fund. Pledges of $300 were solicited to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the organization in 1986. It was envisioned that the goal would be reached in a few years. By the end of 1990, after seven years of donations, the society had only accumulated 8.5% of the $200,000. Under the supervision, encouragement, and relentless work of Don Windler, the endowment continued to grow.
Finally, at the Spring 2005 meeting of the society in Florence, Alabama, we received the last of the contributions to push us over our goal amount of $200,000 for the endowment. At that point, the total of the membership contributions had reached $149,910 with the rest of the funds coming from dividends and interest to the endowment accounts. As of January 1, 2007 the endowment was valued at $236,145.70.
A New Endowment Drive
Recently, the SABS Council has recognized that the society funds are not enought to support to spirit of the Earl Core Student Award. As a result, we are undertaking an endowment drive to get the Earl Core Student Award Endowment up to $30,000. As of April 2007, the fund stood at $18,798.