Pericleans, partners and friends,
I trust that you are all renewed by our recent break and are now ready to re-double your efforts to work together in partnership toward the goal of a better world for all.
Our program is growing, and we will induct our twelfth Class of Pericleans this April under the Mentorship of Dr. Carol Smith. I am excited for this new Class because they will re-engage with the nation of Namibia, the country of focus for the inaugural Class of Pericleans, the Class of 2006.
As most of you know I will be leading the Elon semester in Costa Rica this spring. Our family departs for San Jose on February 3rd and we are deep into negotiating the many details that come with preparing for such a long and intense travel experience. Dr. Steve Braye, Mentor for the Class of 2009 and also the incoming Mentor for the Class of 2018, will serve as interim Director. He will chair the Steering Committee this spring semester and work with the current Mentors to insure a great semester.
Just before the holidays Catherine Parsons –program assistant for Project Pericles- and I met with three key Elon staff persons concerning accounts associated with
the Periclean Scholars program with a central focus on accounts related to alumni Classes. At this meeting were Sara Peterson, Director of Donor Relations, Beverly McQueen, Coordinator of Gift Records, and Lorraine Allen, Director of Accounting.
Important accounting changes that came from the meeting include the following:
Effective at the end of this fiscal year (May 31, 2014) all funds that remain from any Periclean alumni Class will be transferred to the Periclean Foundation, the 501(c)(3) that was established as a legacy of the Class of 2012. Board members of the Periclean Foundation will decide on the distribution of those funds. Have our assurance that each Class will retain absolute control over funds directed toward their specific projects.
There will be a phasing in of this policy beginning immediately with new donations. Therefore, if an alumni chooses to donate to their Class project, it must directly be sent to the Periclean Foundation. If it goes through Elon University, it will be used for current Periclean Classes. Those alumni who are currently making automatic monthly contributions will have until the end of the current fiscal year to make the transition. One key reason for this policy is that we have been made aware that according to IRS guidelines, gifts to Elon accounts need to be used for current Class activities and that Elon accounts should not be used as “in-out” accounts for gifts going to alumni partners.
I will be working with University Advancement and key alumni in the next several weeks to develop multiple ways to communicate this change (e.g., web, a video and email blast). A major part of this communication will be elaborating on the nature and structure of the Periclean Foundation and the assurance that each Class will retain absolute control over funds directed toward their specific projects.
Beginning immediately we request that all communication from alumni Classes concerning accounting or gifts should be channeled through the Director and copied to Catherine Parsons cparsons@elon.edu.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns as we move forward.
On a closing note, I want to again thank all of the current Mentors for their dedication to the program and also Catherine Parsons for being an absolute rock as an administrative assistant.
Best,
Tom Arcaro
Director
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