Wizard Academy is a place we return to. It’s a place that resets something in us and reminds us who we are when the world gets loud.
You’ve probably had the same thought at some point:
“I really hope this place is still here 20 years from now.”
But then life takes over. You go back to work and back to building your own future. There are too many things competing for your attention. Every now and then, you give when we ask, but mostly you just hope it works out.
WHAT JUST CHANGED?
Last month, something meaningful happened.
Dewey and Renee Jenkins made the founding gift that officially established the Wizard Academy Endowment.
It’s possible you may not realize how big that moment is, because most people don’t really know what an endowment is. An endowment is not a donation. It’s a permanent funding engine.
It’s a pool of money that is invested, where only the earnings are used to support the organization. The balance of the donation stays intact. That means one donation continues to contribute every single year to the future of the Wizard Academy.
It’s the kind of thing that takes Wizard Academy from surviving to enduring.
Institutions like Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution operate this way. Not as a matter of scale, but as a matter of structure. That same structure is now in place for Wizard Academy.
That’s what just became possible for Wizard Academy.
Before an endowment does anything, it has to reach a critical mass. For ours, that number is $250,000. That’s the point where it begins generating meaningful support for the Academy.
And beyond that?
The real vision is a $5 million endowment. At that level, Wizard Academy is no longer dependent on any single season, market, or moment.
At that level, Wizard Academy can start investing in other people instead of maintaining itself. We can offer scholarships, invest in future startups and growth, help fund things that we believe in and bring people to the campus that turn Wizard Academy into a destination for forward thinking entrepreneurs all over the world.
Maybe this still looks like “just another fundraiser.” But it’s actually the structural step toward continuity at Wizard Academy.
What’s the current goal?
Large donations take us a long way towards our goal. But just as important is our entire alumni community saying, “Yes, let’s go on this journey together! Let’s protect this place we love so that it’s still here when our grandchildren start their own businesses!”
This is what we’re asking for.
Not a reluctant yes. Not a “maybe later.”
We’re asking for a, “Hells yes. I’m in.”
Think about what Wizard Academy has meant to you… this is your moment to help shape what it becomes.
You can contribute to the Wizard Academy Endowment by:
Heading here and donating any amount with a credit card. (please put “endowment” in the notes field)
Mailing a check of any amount to Wizard Academy, 16211 Crystal Hills Dr, Austin, TX 78737
If you’d like to talk about a larger gift, we would love to have that conversation.
Wizard Academy exists today because people like you chose to care. Now we have the chance to ensure it exists for everyone who comes after us. Let’s build something that lasts.
Daniel Whittington – Chancellor
