Support the RCCO

The RCCO Endowment Fund

The RCCO Endowment Fund supports the present and future work of the College. Income received from the Fund is used in various ways, to increase the effectiveness of existing programs, to expand services, and in preparing to meet new challenges in the future. Among the programs supported are the Travelling Clinician Programme, travel assistance for College officers, and various aspects of RCCO publications. Support is also given to the College examinations, in grants towards conventions and other centre projects, and to outreach.

A major undertaking during 2005 was the preparation of the second volume of Te Deum Laudamus, the book of organ music in memory of Gerald Bales, which was released at the London Organ Festival in July 2005. While this project was in the hands of the Music Publications Committee chaired by Karen Holmes, it drew financial support from the Endowment Fund, and income generated by it and other publications goes to increase the Fund. Many thanks to editors Karen Holmes and Bruce Cross, and to the composers who have donated their royalties back to the Fund.

All these plans and programs, new and continuing, require a robust and expanding endowment for their support, and members are again invited to contribute to the Fund. The suggested level is one wedding fee (around $100) per annum; many members have pledged such an amount over a five-year pledge period. It is worth noting that just one hundred members donating such an amount would add $50,000 to the Fund. Others have preferred to offer one-time donations; there is also a range of possible gifts, through insurance policies, as bequests, or in kind. For further advice about these opportunities, contact the National Office, or email me.

The committee hopes that more members will join in donations to this Fund. Its support for current programs already has a significant effect on the College’s life. In the future the Endowment Fund ought to become the primary financial engine sustaining the College’s role in the Canadian church music community. The College has set a goal of reaching the amount of $750,000 in time for its Centennial celebrations in 2009. In support of this goal, articles have been published in Organ Canada. Perhaps local centres may wish to organise fund-expanding activities such as something similar to last year's nationwide Hallowe'en event.

Gilles Leclerc, Chair