Tom Lee Endowment (TLE) Overview

The JBE endowment fund is an investment portfolio with the initial capital deriving from donations.  It is named after longtime principal Tom Lee and provides funding via grants for strategic, cultural and curriculum initiatives not funded by the PTO or CCSD budget.  Donations and gifts to the JBE endowment can be donated in the form of cash or stock, or through bequests and other estate planning vehicles and are tax-deductible.

How It Works

Parent volunteers help set strategic priorities with the school administration and review and approve the grant requests that create opportunities for all students.   The endowment team focuses on these strategic priorities and creates outreach programs for funding.   

JBE is fortunate to have donors, past and present, who are committed to growing our endowment and we welcome and need volunteers to help identify strategic priorities.  JBE is an enduring institution, and a robust endowment provides assurance that it will thrive for generations to come.

Endowment Fund Types

JBE has two endowment funds, unrestricted and restricted. 

Gifts to our unrestricted endowment account provide our school with stability and flexibility and can be used for grant making.  The unrestricted endowment provides a stable source of income and it leaves the decision of how to spend that income to the endowment board.  What we deem essential to our quality as a school today may not seem as essential tomorrow, and what we may not even foresee today may be absolutely critical to the quality of the school tomorrow.

Gifts to create restricted funds can fund teaching positions, STEM, art, music, language or other programs and expenses as designated by the donor.  These gifts may be established through outright gifts of cash or stock, or through bequests and other estate planning vehicles.

Importantly, all funds are managed by the Charleston based Coastal Community Foundation to generate investment earnings that support and perpetuate the mission of JBE.

Donors who give to our endowment, unrestricted or restricted, leave a meaningful legacy that will perpetually support and grow the aspects of JBE that mean the most to them.