The majority of day school parents cannot afford to pay full tuition. And even after they’ve paid all they can, they often have a deficit of $5,000 – $30,000 per year. Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh launched an e-Dollars Program to offset this amount by asking the parents to commit to earning $50 – $100 e-dollars (virtual dollars) per hour by providing “school service,” via on or off the school campus.
The highly successful program proves that time is indeed worth money.
The jobs range in levels of expertise including cutting letters at home, substituting in the classroom, and fundraising thousands of dollars via supplemental sales and high profile events. Schools could save up to $250.000 in expenses per year in payroll areas such as the IT department, substitute teachers, lunch monitors, landscaping, building maintenance, administrative assistants, etc.
Parents now take full responsibility for the tuition obligations of their children. Approximately 80% of our parent body has e-Dollars obligations to meet during the school year. They commit to work for 30 – 180 hours over the course of the school year, bringing in much needed cash, through phone calls, ad solicitation, bake sales, and high profile raffles and fundraisers. This directly impacts tuition affordability
The program employs the user-friendly, confidential Timebanx e-dollars online system, which instantly organizes all available and completed jobs, accounts, earnings, and balances. Parents log in with their individual passwords, then select the jobs that they are able to do; the administrator contacts them to explain the details. The parent then completes the job and submits the total hours online.
Since the program has the direct dollar value of $50 – $100 per hour, parents earning that amount are receiving its exact value in exchange for tuition costs. The fact that they can earn large amounts in any given week gives them the added incentive to complete their financial obligations. Parents have also commented about the feeling of accomplishment that they have in earning $500 in one day!
Schools in Monsey and Los Angeles have recently implemented the program and are already enjoying financial success, as well as overall community support.
In its fourth successful year of the E-dollars Program, the Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh has witnessed lowered costs and increased cash flow.
For more information contact Chana Shusterman at cshusterman1@gmail.com
