Funding News

Endowment Reaches $100,000

The late Alfred Strouts, of Coos Bay, Oregon, started out as a $10 contributor and wound up giving over $40,000 to establish Sabre’s first endowment fund. This endowment has now grown to over $100,000. Having read about Sabre’s work in the annual report that all contributors receive, Mr. Strouts asked if Sabre would "consider an endowment fund so that others could see their contributions do more good over a longer period." The growth of the endowment fund serves as a testament to the fact that many of Sabre’s contributors share Mr. Strouts’ focus on the Foundation’s long-term financial stability.

Funding Returned to State Department Budget

In 1995, funding for international book donation programs was eliminated from the United States Information Agency’s base budget. After five years of effort by book donation advocates, this funding was restored for fiscal year 2000, on the recommendation of outgoing USIA Director Joe Duffey. Sabre owes a great deal of thanks to Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts, former Senator Hank Brown of Colorado, and Congressmen Tom Lantos of California and Christopher Smith of New Jersey for their bipartisan efforts to restore this funding. The pro bono assistance of Cassidy & Associates was instrumental in coordinating Congressional efforts. Deserving of particular thanks is Congressman Benjamin Gilman of New York, whose support as House International Relations Committee Chairman has been unflagging.

Mirroring Sabre’s own expansion into Internet training, the December 1999 State Department "Request for Proposal" to potential grantees in the book donation area asked specifically for proposals that "make available Internet and Information Technology training in conjunction with the provision of books." Sabre is glad to see that public funders are recognizing the strong link between printed educational materials and the vast information resources the Internet has to offer.

Private and Overseas Funding Sources Diversify

Crucial to the restoration of its public funding has been Sabre’s ability to match U.S. government grants with various private and overseas revenue sources. Examples of such support in 2000 include the William H. Donner Foundation providing funds for a book shipment to Tibetan refugee schools in India, the Achelis Foundation’s assistance with both book shipments and Internet training for Tanzania, and Books for Africa’s continued collaboration with Sabre on book shipments to a number of African countries. In addition, Sabre’s partner organizations in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ghana and Mongolia have all shared the costs of book shipments to their countries.

Sabre extends special thanks to its many individual donors throughout the U.S. and abroad who support a wide array of Sabre initiatives. Sabre also thanks an anonymous donor for its important contribution to the development of the Internet Training Workshops Program.

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