Is there a slow time in Advancement?  Although the summer offers a change of pace, our advancement offices are year round active offices….whether it is evaluating last school year’s activities, figuring out a social media communications strategy, Annual Fund and Capital Campaigns in a tough economy, and planning for the upcoming year!

With this in mind, I am truly grateful to our many advancement colleagues that dedicate their limited time to CAISAP. Our executive is comprised of many dedicated volunteers and it is a privilege to work with such a talented group.  It is all too common to have many transitions within our schools, and our CAISAP executive is certainly not immune to these changes.  In particular, I would like to acknowledge the service of Louis de Melo of Ashbury College as our Vice-President.  As you will note in transitions, Louis was recently scooped up by the University of Ottawa to lead their Advancement team.    We wish him well, and will miss his contributions to CAISAP and his keen sense of humour!

I am delighted to announce that our faithful secretary, Robin Kester of The York School, has agreed to take on the role of Vice-President.  Robin’s extensive knowledge and work on the executive will be very helpful for the stability of our organization.  I am also grateful to Angela Dudek of St. John’s School for stepping into Robin’s role as Secretary, and also continuing to serve on the Communications Committee.

Lyne Labrecque of Bishop’s College School has done a terrific job of managing our database, but her role at BCS has changed to Admissions.  We are looking for a volunteer to take over Lyne’s responsibilities of the CAISAP database.  This important but not onerous task is perfect for someone looking to increase their involvement with CAISAP.

In addition, Courtney Prieur of Selwyn House has moved into a non-advancement role and we are looking for someone to take on coordinating the Quebec Regional PD.  I would like to thank Courtney for her help and enthusiastic support of the last conference!

This summer, I attended the Ontario Regional PD at the York School and I was once again reminded of the incredible value of our organization.  I encourage you to attend an upcoming PD event, be in touch with your mentor or volunteer to be a mentor and of course plan to attend our next National Conference in January 2011!

Best wishes to all for a successful school year.

Jeanette Hepburn
Albert College

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“A day without asking for a gift is a day wasted.” You might think of attributing this quote to Rosso or Greenfield or another famed father of fundraising. John Davies, who recently shared this pearl with me, has come to be a luminary of Independent School Advancement in Canada. 

I can recall a colleague telling me about the most wonderful fundraising presentation she’d seen recently at a Conference for CAIS Business Officers. She was sure she now “got Advancement” and she hoped that I knew this brilliant presenter: John Davies.

Interestingly, John came to an Advancement Office on the way to becoming a School Head, or so he thought. He felt that to become a Head of School he should learn about Advancement, so in 1990, he became the first Director of Advancement at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island.  In that role, he fell in love with Advancement and his plans were forever changed. He will soon celebrate his 20th year in Advancement. In those 20 years, John has inspired donors, colleagues and it would seem Business Officers alike.

After a 20 year a career at Shawnigan Lake School as a teacher, a housemaster, a rugby coach, a department head and a Director of Advancement, John moved to St. Michael’s University School (SMUS) in Victoria, BC.  He is now in his 8th year as President of the SMUS Foundation. 

John is happiest when he can spend a day meeting with donors face to face to ask for support for his school. He believes that all the money a school needs is already accessible in its own community of parents and alumni. The task remains to identify potential supporters, to educate them on the needs and priorities of the School, and most importantly to ask them to give to the School. John travels constantly on behalf of SMUS doing just that.  

John’s first CAISAP experience was at the 1990 Conference hosted by St. John’s Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg. He attended the conference three months before beginning his Advancement role at Shawnigan. Like many of us at our first CAISAP event, he was overwhelmed by the collegial and generous attitude of the group.  A fixture at CAISAP Conferences both as a presenter and as a participant since then, John continues to see the tremendous benefit of CAISAP conferences and mentoring for newcomers and veterans alike.

John is passionate about the importance of Independent Schools in society. He believes that our schools are the most well placed to set the pace for others and to make change in society. Beyond his work at SMUS, John mentors several Advancement Directors and runs a successful consulting business advising schools on a long term basis.  John truly believes that Independent Schools are a key part of positive change in our world.

So, the next time you are buried in reports or event details, remember John Davies’ advice: “A day without asking for a gift is a day wasted.”

Thanks, John.

Contributed by Dale Carter, Net Directories Inc.

While most North American educational institutions find themselves reeling from the after shock of a widespread recession, they are taking time to survey the new landscape and re-examine their fund raising practices to seek new ways of attracting and retaining donors. 

The challenge of signing new donors is never finished - however the challenge can be made somewhat easier today if the new donor is encouraged to become a recurring contributor.

Harvey McKinnon, author of “Hidden Gold” and president of Harvey McKinnon Associates of Vancouver and Toronto is well recognized as the godfather of monthly or recurring giving.  He writes, “Monthly giving is a great way to raise more money from your donor base and guarantee a minimum level of income each month.  This helps with monthly income and cash flow.”

Who are these guys?

Beyond this advice we must take a close look at today’s new generation of potential donors.  These new donors hit the radar as a bright, very desirable target for non-profit organizations in general and their educational institutions in particular. 

These new donors are much different from their predecessors. They generally live differently, they spend differently and they communicate differently.  Academic institutions must find ways to tap into their lifestyle to be successful in attracting and holding this new breed. 

Their alma maters also have to realize that, as strong as school ties might be, they will be competing with every other non-profit on the planet for donor dollars - many with greater resources and advanced fund raising machinery.

Part of the secret to success to reaching this group can be found in their spending habits. Under closer examination, we find that they prefer payment forms involving credit cards and debit cards and have quickly adapted to the recurring payment plans for cell phone, computer and Internet costs and other common day to day expenses. 

Taking this into account, enlightened advancement professionals will develop programs and systems that cater to this new group, reflecting their lifestyle and their ability to contribute.

Credit card payments allow the donor a greater convenience and flexibility which often means larger gifts. According to research conducted by VISA USA, a charitable gift using a credit card is on an average five times greater than a gift of cash or a cheque. 

Harvey McKinnon says that according to their analysis, a donor upgraded to monthly giving will show at least an 800% increase in income over a lifetime (That’s like eight donors for the price of one!) and that most monthly donors stay with an organization for five to 10 years particularly if they are allowed to give using an EFT…electronic fund transfer system.  He also claims that monthly donors are the most likely to leave organizations money in their wills. 

Advantages of recurring gifts…

Recurring giving can be a compelling fundraising tool for non-profit organizations of all sizes because:

• This option dovetails with other ongoing fundraising methods and can be easily added to direct mail messages or phone appeals and integrates easily with online fundraising programs.
• It provides a predictable, steady income stream with low drop out rates.  
• The program can be very cost efficient because the donor commits only once to a method of giving that that continues for months, years or even decades.
• The implementation of an advanced end-to-end technology solution allows an institution to establish hundreds or even thousands of RD accounts lowering processing costs, ensuring accuracy and reducing staff involvement.

The overall objective of institutions planning to establish a recurring donations program within their fundraising efforts is to do so with as little administrative involvement - resources - as possible.  This then frees up valuable people power to aggressively pursue new donors and to meet the ongoing demands of the institution’s overall financial objectives.

For more information on articles by or about Harvey McKinnon and his group go to www.harveymckinnon.com  His book “Hidden Gold” is available on the website.

Dale Carter is the Director of New Business for Net Directories Inc in Toronto, Canada.  The company helps clients improve communications and build loyalty through innovative online communities for alumni and families. It has recently introduced a fully automated Recurring Donations program.
You can reach Dale at 1-877-833-7178 or dcarter@netdirectories.com

A Dynamic Duo
Featuring the team of Protégé Chad Holtum, Deputy Head, Operations at Queen Margaret’s School in Duncan, BC and Mentor Steve Housser, President of the Shawnigan Lake School Foundation at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island.

In an effort to show how well the CAISAP Mentorship Program can work, we asked Chad and Steve to share with you the mentorship experience they have so warmly embraced for the past three years.

Chad sums up his experience by saying, “It is professional development at its finest. I think it’s important to have someone in the field to chat with on a regular basis.” Steve agrees, “I think the mentoring experience has been terrific for me. As a mentor I gain validation and some comfort that I actually have learned a fair bit. It is also rewarding when Chad reports back that something I suggested, such as fundraising in Korea, has worked out perfectly for him. It’s sort of like high fives all round.”

Chad adds, “It has been incredibly valuable not only for me but for my school. When I entered advancement three years ago I needed to learn. He had me over to his house and walked me though the entire concept of advancement. I was there for hours absorbing everything he was teaching me. Here we are three years later and he has answered a million phone calls from me, has met with me on many occasions, gave a presentation to our Board of Governors and even came to the opening of our first new building in more than 30 years. The school has had solid movement in the advancement world. It was incredibly important for me to have someone to call and ask questions in addition to cheer me on.”

The pair speaks at least once a week, often more. Queen Margaret’s and Shawnigan Lake are close-by (by island standards) but the two schools do not share the same profile. This adds a level of comfort for Steve as he can be less concerned about helping a “direct rival”. Chad likes the fact that they are close enough to speak face to face on a regular basis.

We discovered that for them, the real value of a mentor relationship is that once it is set up, you don’t have to explain why you’re calling, and can quickly bounce off an idea to get immediate feedback. It also helps when someone is willing to share samples of their materials and ideas for building a stronger program. Finally, with sometimes limited budgets, it enables new advancement professionals an opportunity to learn without the costs of travel.

To all of you possible Mentors, Steve shares his final thoughts, “In fundraising we’re always working up to asking someone for something. Psychologically and philosophically it feels good to be on the other end of the equation and actually giving back something. I highly recommend mentorship to others.”

A note to all mentors and protégés
Many thanks to all of the Mentor/Protégé teams who've made contact so far. Mentors are asked to touch base with the Protégés at least once a month. Protégés should feel free to contact their Mentors whenever they have a question. For anyone else who has yet to be paired up and would like to be, please fill out the appropriate forms (Mentors click here and Proteges click here) and forward them to Sharon Cozens at cozens@trafalgar.qc.ca or Genevieve Delaquis at gdelaquis@balmoralhall.com. Please let Sharon know if there are any pairs that need re-arranging.

The York School hosted the fifth CAISAP Regional PD Day on June 23, 2009 for Ontario area schools.

The event was well-attended with 22 schools represented by more than 60 advancement professionals, providing a terrific learning and networking opportunity.

The day started off with an informative presentation from Justin Medved, Technology and Learning Coordinator at the York School speaking on the hot topic of social networking. The slides from his presentation and other helpful information can be found by clicking here. Participants then benefited from excellent presentations and discussions on all areas of Advancement.  A big thank you to everyone who led discussions and contributed to a wonderful day.  The results of the post-event survey reinforced the importance of CAISAP colleagues taking the time to get out of their office to meet with their colleagues and discuss common issues, solutions and new ideas.

Thank you to Robin Kester and the team at The York School for hosting a terrific event.

East Coast Regional PD Day - An event is planned for Spring 2010, stay tuned for details.

The Bishop Strachan School Advancement Team has already signed up to host next year's Ontario Regional PD Day so mark your calendars for June 29, 2010.

The 2011 CAISAP National Conference, hosted by Appleby College, will be held from January 27 – 30, 2011 at the Hockley Valley Resort in Orangeville, ON.  To learn more about the resort please visit their website at www.hockley.com .  During the conference CAISAP will have exclusive use of the resort.  More details on the conference will follow in the New Year.

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

This bright idea comes from a recent AFP audio-conference “12 Deadly Mistakes of Major Gift Campaigns and How to Avoid Them” led by Julia Ingram Walker, an independent fundraising consultant based in Louisiana who served as vice president of Advancement for Tulane University and has published several fundraising books. 

During the planning and preparation of any major gift campaign, take the time to raise the sights of your prospects before the campaign starts.

Sight Raising is a method of securing larger gifts by building the expectation that they are vital to the success of the campaign. Most importantly, you must communicate the expectation of larger gifts to leadership groups like boards, committees and top prospects. Talking to campaign volunteers about the need and importance of larger gifts will have the psychological effect of raising their own sights when it comes to their personal support of the project. 

In addition to discussing the topic when reviewing gift tables and other plans, be sure to solicit top prospects first to set the pace for others. You should also set top recognition levels at a level that sets higher expectations for potential donors. 

This portion of the eQuarterly is devoted to reporting the comings and goings of Advancement team members at member schools. We would like to encourage you to email changes on your team to info@caisap.ca and include the following details: school name, departing/arriving person's full name and position/location. Please help us to keep our members database current by updating your school’s record when transitions occur.

Catherine Raaflaub has left Appleby College to be Head of School at Morgan Park Academy, Chicago.

Ashbury College wishes Louis De Melo well as he joins the University of Ottawa. His new role is Vice-President, External Relations.

Ashbury College welcomes Derrick Poon Young as Director of Communications and Marketing, Jana Lee Rand as Director of E-Marketing, and Calum Green as Desktop/Graphics Coordinator.

Susan Baxter has left Rothesay Netherwood School.

Ailee Soulliere-Rouse has left Royal St. George’s College and is now Advancement Officer at Ridley College.

Adrian Turner has left St. George's School of Montreal to work at a foundation.

Courtney Prieur is now the Director of Community Service and Student Leadership at Selwyn House.

David Hutchison is now the Director of Advancement at Shawnigan Lake School.

The Sterling Hall School welcomes Kim Martin as Communications Assistant.

Kari Parker rejoins the team at St. John's-Ravenscourt School as Annual Giving Officer.

The Crescent School bid farewell to Sarah Behl just before The York School welcomed her as their new Advancement Officer.