It costs approximately $30,000 each year to maintain and make small improvements at Rickey Henderson Field. This is a large amount for a Volunteer organization to find on an annual basis, while still providing the thousands of hours of maintenance work invested in the field itself. After ten years of wrestling with this situation, we have decided to create an investment account (Endowment) that will provide funds to the field maintenance budget, on an annual basis. Many other organizations follow this approach.

The idea is to provide an Endowment Fund with sufficient base funding so that 4% return on investment of the Principal provides approximately 50% funding of the annual field maintenance cost. Extra investment earnings above 4% will be re-invested to grow the Endowment fund.

The initial goal is to provide $16,000 to OFOD each year — hence an initial base fund of $400,000. The hope is to establish this level of base funding within 5 years, and to start to draw from it once it has reached the target. To buffer against market fluctuations, other Endowments draw down 4% of a three-year average of the Endowment balance, rather than 4% of the past year’s balance.

If the past decades are an indication of future performance, we should plan for our Endowment to grow. Our long-term goals might include grants to other local sports groups as the base value of the Endowment exceeds our primary target. For example, we can envision three categories of grants, as follows:

  1. At $400,000+ we would provide 4% to OFOD (=$16,000), on an annual basis.
  2. At $500,000+, 4% = $20,000. We propose continuing $16,000 to OFOD, and could add a $2000 grant to the OTHS Softball Program and a $2000 grant to the OIHS Soccer Program.
  3. At $800,000+, 4% = $32,000, and we might propose to continue the program in (2), and add a $2000 grant to each of the six original OAL baseball programs — Castlemont, Fremont, McClymonds, Oakland High, Oakland Tech, Skyline. 

Intermediate ($600,000, or $700,000) smaller milestone increments for the baseball programs are also a possibility. We will need an advisory group to manage the Endowment, and help set priorities, for when our Endowment exceeds our initial $400,000 goal. Call 510-759-6875 (cell) or email pwilliams@oaklandfieldofdreams.org if you have an interest in joining the Endowment Advisory Group.

On Saturday 04/21/18, Board Members had already committed to $32,000 towards the Endowment, over 5 years. In addition, the Oakland Fire Department, Station 08, has given us a check for $500 towards our Endowment.

Currently, our priority is to meet Step One (funding $16,000 to OFOD each year) within five years. Join the fun!!

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Tax ID

Oakland Field of Dreams (Taxpayer EIN 38-3802277) is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and a tax-exempt charitable organization under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

To Donate by Credit Card or PayPal:



To Donate by Check:

If you’d like to contribute to the Endowment Program by check, please print and complete this Endowment form, and submit with your check to the name and address below. Please make Checks Payable to Oakland Field of Dreams, put Endowment in the Memo line, and mail to:

Our mailing address is:

Attention: Anthony Barr—Treasurer Oakland Field of Dreams
c/o The Henry Levy Group – A CPA Firm
1726 Solano Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707

Questions?

E-mail: info@oaklandfieldofdreams.org