Happy New Year!

I am thrilled to report that our bi-annual conference is full (with a waiting list)!  To date we have 70 CAISAP members attending, representing over 40 schools from West to East.  Congratulations to our early bird winner, Lyne Labrecque of BCS! For those who are attending the conference, please expect a welcoming e-mail from the Conference Committee in the upcoming weeks. 

We are fortunate to have the support of many loyal and new sponsors to fund exceptional speakers and keep our costs in line.  In particular, I would like to highlight our conference presenting sponsor Ross W Marsh & Associates Inc. for partnering with us.

We are grateful to our host school of Strathcona-Tweedsmuir and to our excellent conference committee who have volunteered their time to put together an exceptional conference for us. Our volunteers include:

• Caroline Banadar, STS – Co-Chair,
• Nic Carhart, RNS – Communications ,
• John Davies, SMUS – Sam Heaman Award and Speakers,
• Louis de Melo, Ashbury College – Budget,
• Laura Edwards, York House School and  Lori Adam, SMUS – Rising Star Award,
• Jaime McMillan, Selwyn House – Sponsorship,
• Gwenn Nowosad, STS – Conference Logistics, 
• Courtney Prieur, Selwyn House – Speakers, and 
• myself, Jeanette - Co-Chair, Albert College  

Additionally, I would like to thank Lindsay and Artie at the CAIS office for their assistance with our conference registration.

I unexpectedly took over the reigns of the CAISAP in the autumn of 2007, but I was blessed with a talented group of volunteers to work with. We have experienced quite a few “transitions” over the last two years and I am delighted to report that many of our current volunteers are willing to continue to serve.  I am currently recruiting new volunteers for CAISAP and if you are interested in working and networking with a terrific group of professionals and helping out with our organization, please contact me.   

I am pleased that we have been able to offer Regional PD from Coast to Coast since the time of our last conference. In fact our colleagues in the East are planning to get together at the end of January in Halifax. 

In the upcoming weeks, you will receive an email outlining the proposed changes to CAISAP’s guidelines. These guidelines were adopted in 1989 and twenty years later definitely needed to be updated!  I encourage you to read through them to ensure you are aware and agree with the updated guidelines. Your CAISAP Executive has reviewed them and in particular I would like to thank Robin Kester and Louis de Melo for their assistance with this endeavour.  We will review these guidelines at our conference business meeting and each school in attendance will have a vote.

Thank you for your continued support of CAISAP. I look forward to seeing many of you in Banff! 

Sincerely,

Jeanette Hepburn
Albert College
President

The Annual Business Meeting of CAISAP will be held January 29, 2009 from 7:45-8:30pm as part of the Banff Conference. We encourage and appreciate your attendance.

On the agenda:

• Approval of the minutes from the 2007 AGM. Please review them by clicking here.
• Approval of recommended changes to the CAISAP Guildelines as proposed by the CAISAP Executive. These guidelines will be circulated and posted on the website shortly. Please take time to review them in advance of our meeting.

We're only weeks away from our national CAISAP Conference in Banff! Keep up to date with speakers, sessions, hot topics and logistics by regularly checking the CAISAP website by clicking here.

For those who are attending the conference, please expect a welcoming email from the Conference Committee in the upcoming weeks. 

See you in Banff!

If advancing an independent school requires an understanding of cradle-to-grave relationships, then Sharon Cozens has the whole spectrum covered. Earning her education degree at Lakehead University, Sharon went on to teach at Elmwood School in Ottawa, Queen Margaret’s School in Duncan, BC, and then was hired as the Director of Admissions at Selwyn House in Montreal where she stayed for five years. Her husband’s work required a temporary move to Vancouver and when she returned to Montreal she joined the Advancement Office as the Director of Alumni and Parent Relations in 1998. In 2006 she accepted the position of Director of Advancement at Trafalgar School for Girls.

Sharon advises her colleagues to build meaningful volunteer opportunities for their constituents and get to know them personally. The smallest conversation can lead to big things! Opening the doors to your constituents will allow them to feel great about supporting a good cause and it gives the school a volunteer army that can enhance the marketing, admissions and fundraising efforts of your school.

Sharon is married with three daughters, ages 9-17. She enjoys the great outdoors, travel, gardening and good times with friends.

CAISAP is committed to encouraging the sharing of ideas between our members and their independent schools. In each EQuarterly we will highlight a topic or insight from a colleague. This is a great way for you to share what's going on at your school, or to find out what others are doing at their school. If you have a Bright Idea for the next newsletter, email info@caisap.ca . 

This month's bright idea is from CAISAP Volunteer David Fisher.

Annual report listings have historically used giving levels and symbols after a person's name to reflect how long they have been a consecutive donor.  An added level of touch would be to replace the symbol with the number of consecutive giving years in superscript at the end of the name.

For example:  

John Smith*  (* = 5 to 10 years) 
would become John Smith⁷

Donors will be able to watch their number grow year after year and will more clearly recognize long term commitment to the cause.

If you use Raiser's Edge, it has a reporting tool that can be used to create this type of donor listing.  Go to Reports, Analytical Reports and finally, Consecutive Years Report.

We wish to extend a fond farewell to our CAISAP colleagues who have moved on to other opportunities and a very warm welcome to those who are new to our community. 

Ridley College welcomes Jay Goulart as Executive Director of Advancement and Heather Cousins as Communications Officer.  Brian A. Iggulden has transitioned from his position as Director of Advancement into his full-time roll as the Deputy Headmaster. 

Lindsay Nelson joined Stratford Hall in Vancouver in the new position of  Director of Community Development.

Halifax Grammar School welcomes Development Officer Doris Robbins who will be with them until June 2009.

Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School welcomes Director of Advancement, Shaun G. Lynch, CFRE, Associate Director of Advancement, Véronique Courey and Coordinator of Advancement,  Angela Kelley.

The Advancement Staff at Glenlyon Norfolk School is pleased to welcome three new staff members: Frank Stanley, formerly a Senior School Socials teacher, joins us as an Advancement Officer, Annual Giving; Jessica Natale, who has worked as a teacher and freelance writer, will be acting as Assistant to the Director of Advancement as well as writing for various communications; and Laura Lee, who recently completed a marketing diploma, is now the Database Coordinator.

The Toronto French School welcomes Darlene Frampton, Acting Director of Advancement, Elizabeth Sweet, Development Assistant, and congratulates Verle Thompson on her new position as Alumni Relations Development Coordinator. They also bid farewell to Sharon Gregory (Director of Development) and Resham Popat (Alumni Relations Development Co-ordinator). 

Queen Margaret’s School welcomes back Rebecca McKay as the Assistant Director of Admissions.

St. George’s School in Vancouver welcomes Betty Lo as Executive Assistant to the Chief Advancement Officer.

Shawnigan Lake School welcomes Noralie Hooper as she returns to her role as Advancement Assistant and congratulations Margot Allen on her new role as Advancement Special Events Coordinator.  Also new to Alumni Relations at Shawnigan Lake are Old Boys Roland Borsato ’72 and Ryan Panton ’97.  Matthuw Ronald-Jones who was Director of Alumni Relations has taken a new position with the Rugby Canada Foundation as Executive Director. 

The Advancement & Alumni Development Department at Royal St. George’s College in Toronto welcomes Fiona Cooper to the team as Advancement & Alumni Development Assistant.

Out on the east coast, Rothesay Netherwood School welcomes Jayne Fillman as its new Director of Admission.

Ashbury College bid farewell to Bronwen DearLove who moved onto the National Art Centre. Carla Cardell has taken on the new role of Manager of Annual Giving and Rosalby Kelly has a new position as Database Coordinator.

Albert College welcomes Karen Windover as Special Events and Development Coordinator.