St. Andrew’s Episcopal School

$21.5 Million Capital Campaign for a New Fine Arts Center

Problem:

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School needed a new fine arts center for the campus of its upper school.  More space, enhanced technology, and state-of-the-art equipment was essential in providing students the experiences to develop their creativity, addressing one of the four “pillars” of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School’s educational mission:   to develop students as scholars, servants, athletes, and artists.  With no fine arts facility on the upper school campus, students were rehearsing for plays, practicing for musicals, and creating artwork in the gymnasium and in unsuitable classrooms.  There was no dedicated space for theater and the school was prohibited from hosting independent school theater competitions as a result.

Solution:

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School hired Lee+ Associates to launch its $21.5 million capital campaign for a new fine arts center.  The work included:

• Creating a compelling case for support
• Managing a comprehensive plan that empowered leadership, board volunteers, and staff members to engage in cultivating and soliciting donors
• Strategizing on ways to engage a significant foundation donor
• Conducting a comprehensive development assessment leading to restructuring of the development office to support the campaign
• Instituting new gift policies and acknowledgement procedures
• Partnering with St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in accomplishing established goals and deadlines to ensure campaign milestones were achieved

What Lee+ Associates Delivered:

Lee+ Associates created a comprehensive campaign plan outlining the essential processes needed to attain campaign success.  From the identification, cultivation and solicitation of new donors, to the restructuring of the development office, to the achievement of campaign deadlines and goals, to the final analysis of campaign results, Lee+ Associates was a strategic partner in St. Andrew’s successful campaign. Ultimately $23.1 million was raised for the new Dell Fine Arts Center.

Results:

The staff and volunteers listened to the advice and counsel of the Lee+ Associates team.  Marion Lee said,  “The reason the campaign worked is that we were intimately engaged with a dedicated group of volunteers and staff.  We became like family.  We embraced the culture of the school and their passion for accomplishing this building campaign.  We had a great team of people who accepted us and listened to us carefully.”  Our team was able to keep the volunteers focused on the goal and to help motivate them throughout the process.  In a campaign, said Lee, “You need to know when to push and when to let up on the gas.”