A Letter from the President and Chairman of the Board

3 May 2014

Dear friends of The Interpreter Foundation:

As I write, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture is closing in on its hundredth straight week of publishing at least one article every Friday, the Foundation has just recorded its seventy-first scripture roundtable, our blog is flourishing, we’ve hosted a major conference on religion and science (the proceedings of which will eventually appear in print), we’ve established an article prize, we’ve obtained 501(c)(3) status from the United States Internal Revenue Service, and our first published book is selling well. And even that list doesn’t exhaust what The Interpreter Foundation has accomplished and what it has still in the works.

We’ve been able to do this on a remarkably small budget—and we’ve been wholly transparent about that budget. Some expenses are unavoidable, and we pay a few people (mostly well below market rates) because . . . well, we simply didn’t feel right about exploiting their willingness to serve to the degree that the work demands. But our donated funds have been used very efficiently. A very large proportion of our work is performed by volunteers, and I’m astonished at what’s regularly accomplished, every week. I can’t adequately express my gratitude for the generosity of so many people out there.

That said, our expenses are rising. (This is the inevitable penalty of success.) It costs significant money to sponsor conferences and publish books, and we intend to continue to do both—on an even larger scale.

So, just as I thank all of those who have contributed their time and their effort to make The Interpreter Foundation the resounding success that it is, I express my appreciation to all those who’ve contributed financially. This isn’t sentimental boilerplate: We couldn’t have pulled this off without you.

But there’s more to be done and—to put it bluntly—that’s going to require more money.  Our expenditures of late have been higher than our income.  Not by much, and we’re not in a crisis.  But I’m writing with the long-term prospects of the Foundation in mind.

So I wish to say to those who’ve contributed to The Interpreter Foundation what I’ve said to those who work with us.  We’re deeply grateful for what you’ve done in the past . . . and we need more.  Whether it’s an hour of time or a five-dollar bill—or, of course, a million dollars!—we are and will be grateful.

Instructions on how to donate to The Interpreter Foundation can be found at https://interpreterfoundation.org/donations/ .

Very sincerely yours,

Daniel C. Peterson

Chairman and President

The Interpreter Foundation

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