I have never been one to like center stage. I enjoy my role as the "man behind the curtain", planning the event, orchestrating movements, and scripting the songs for school leaders to take the limelight. (At the Partnership, we like the bass rather than the lead, the off-beats rather than the downbeats.)[caption id="attachment_1042" align="alignright" width="150"] Time Life photo[/caption]
Periodically, however, we like to illuminate recent successes where our advancement services helped one of our Partner schools. Recently Emmaus Lutheran was revising their fundraising needs. Not planning more bake sales mind you, but assessing how they should jazz-up their advancement work to help meet their 2015-16 financial goals. We met with their financial committee to sound out ideas and concerns, then began to compose a systematic advancement plan designed for success.As we crafted the best arrangement, there was an important stanza missing from the score: outside grant funding to kick-start the plan. Using the Partnership's experience and connections, we worked with key staff, researched options, met with gatekeepers, applied, and eventually received over $60,000 in funding! The grant will help underwrite a plan that now includes a database consultant and a Director of Major and Planned Giving -- two key positions to set the stage for a successful future.Have we worked with your school leadership yet? Send me a note. Mark likes to ensure that my bookings stay full and steady.Helping advance Lutheran education,Jon Dize
