The journey of the capital campaign at Mentone Girls’ Grammar School (MGGS) could be likened to a roller coaster ride. Moments of exhilaration and moments of panic! Overall though, it was an enjoyable ride that has left me with the desire to do it again – bigger and better. MGGS is located in bayside Melbourne and comprises 800 girls from ELC to Year 12. A growing sports program and strong wellbeing focus led the school to invest in a one-third transformation of the campus with the development of an Aquatic Centre and Outdoor playing fields. The School Council and Foundation set an internal fundraising goal of $1million for the project. This was ambitious given engagement with donors and philanthropic support had been sporadic in the past. Additionally, the current parent and Old Girls communities were not regarded as having significant financial capability. I completed an in-house feasibility study and in October 2016, School Council gave approval for the Campaign go ahead. From November 2016 to April 2017, the Principal and I undertook a quiet phase by holding a steady succession of early morning and evening group meetings. We engaged prospects about the project and aimed to secure future pledges. We then assessed our progress and determined a specific fundraising target. Progress turned out to be good overall and so a ‘sod turning’ ceremony and public announcement were executed in late April 2017. The public phase ran from May 2017 to June 2018, exceeding our $1M goal. There were many challenges in securing gifts with the unexpected ‘wins’ along the way and moments of disappointment where we had held out hopes of more support. Things that worked really well during the campaign were: . . Holding a training session for Council and Foundation directors with our consultant prior to the silent phase on what to expect during a capital campaign . . Providing flexible donation payment plans and pledge forms . . Using our database (Synergetic) to undertake thorough recording of important information in the Development tab under ‘Pledges’ and ‘Prospect Tracking’ . . Construction of a temporary donor wall with personal acknowledgements in high foot traffic area during the public phase . . Case for Support – this was designed externally but printed in-house (effective/inexpensive) . . Using seats for recognition for gifts in the public phase . . ‘Hard hat’ tours for donors during construction. Recommendations for future campaigns: . . Better identification of major prospects . . Run a longer silent phase and a shorter public phase. Once the build started, donations slowed dramatically . . Communicate more about the building progress and share more stories of alumnae champions in fields associated with the benefits of the project . . Pending school app availability, have a direct link to donations . . Use WeChat for donations with Chinese families . . Have materials (Case for Support, seat donation flyer) translated to Mandarin . . Consider engaging alumnae in fundraising competitions – in year levels or in particular eras. My final words of advice: be persistent; record diligently; be interested in your prospects’ lives and endeavours; follow up as promised; communicate warmly….and don’t give up. You’ll get there! A sincere thank you to Jeff Buchanan, Senior Consultant, AskRight for his phenomenal expertise in guiding me through my first campaign. His high-level fundraising experience, confidence in me and sense of humour were critical and reassuring when we hit those inevitable tough moments. ROSLYN HOLLOWAY ADVANCEMENT MANAGER MENTONE GIRLS’ GRAMMAR SCHOOL Amazing Impact by Real People Award Winner - Capital Campaign/Major Gifts/Bequests FACE 2 FACE MAGAZINE 2 2