Fundraising News

The Development Committee met on Thursday, June 25th at 5 p.m. The meeting was led by Carina Urbach, Committee Chair, and Director of Development, Janet Easlea. In attendance were Kent Julye, Faith Paulsen, Kathy Gallagher, Sharon Fichthorn, and Martha Platt.

The goal of the first meeting was to review the successes and challenges of past fundraising efforts and review some statistics regarding participation rates and fundraising totals by constituency (i.e., board members, current parents, alumni, alumni families, etc.). To date, the most successful fundraising effort was the Tribute Campaign which raised $800,000 for the building of the Leah Cutler Gymnasium and renovations to the Perch Hankin Classroom Building. This campaign marked the high point of participation and resulting revenue. Since that time, there has been a slow decline in both participation and total revenue raised. Over the past 5 years, the top 10 donors have been made up by 55% current families, 16% alumni, 13% board members who are not current parents, 7% alumni families, 5% friends and former board members, and 3% faculty.

The Committee discussed some preliminary ideas on how to strengthen communication with alumni and their families, the need to involve our consistent donors in the process of moving the school forward, and looking for volunteers to lead some outreach efforts. In the coming months, the Development Committee will be developing a fundraising campaign that will include targeted financial goals, a case statement describing how the money raised will be used, and marketing materials. In addition, the Committee will be planning several events that will allow donors to see the new location and demonstrate how the funds being raised will benefit Oak Lane Day School and its students.

Anyone interested in joining the conversation or joining the committee is invited to attend the next Development Committee meeting to be held on Wednesday, July 29 at 7 p.m. in the 6th grade classroom/Summer Camp office. Please RSVP to Carina Urbach at curbach@oaklanedayschool.org.