John C. Carr is director of development at Savannah Country Day School, an independent pre-K through 12 school in Savannah, Ga., that is poised to announce the second phase of a comprehensive $50 million capital enhancement program this spring. A 20-year veteran of the independent school development environment, Carr arrived at SCDS in August 2006. Previously, he served as director of leadership giving and assistant head for advancement at the Hutchison School in Memphis, Tenn. A former board member of CASE District III, Carr has presented at various CASE conferences and will moderate a discussion on compliance at the 2008 CASE-NAIS conference in January. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of the South and master's and doctoral degrees from Duke University. He can be reached at carr@savcds.org.

Please tell us about the scope of your capital campaign at SCDS.

When put together over a 10-year time frame and four phases, what we're really seeing is a total transformation of our campus based on a master plan. The project will help SCDS put in place facilities for its 1,007 students that match the caliber of its programs and support its aspirations for educational excellence.

The first phase was a $10 million construction of a new middle school building that opened in 2005. The school is now embarking on the second phase-a two-story, 55,000 square-foot lower school building. This $15 million project will be completed by August 2008. Some of its key features include technology integrated classrooms. The new building will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified and will feature a science center, art gallery space and a media center.

Phase three will bring a new upper school building for grades nine through 12 and expansion of our athletic facilities. Phase four brings a new arts facility; by the end of the four-phase campaign, all of our classroom buildings will be new.

What will these capital improvement projects mean for your institution?

Most of our campus was built during the 1950s through the 1970s. Its architectural style can be characterized by the very low rise, boxy classroom buildings that were common to independent school construction during that period.

The implementation of the campus master plan will improve the academic spaces to meet the needs of today's students and teaching styles. For inspiration, the architects turned to historic Savannah with its federal-style architecture. We will have the latest technology in classrooms while keeping the traditional, historic feel of our city.

Who are your donors and potential donors and what are some of the ways you are reaching out to them?

Primarily, our donors are parents, alumni and grandparents. We're probably doing more face-to-face solicitation than we have done in the past and a lot of personalization.

One of my continuing goals is to think outside of the box a little bit. Thinking about how we can become more donor-centered. In educational fundraising, I think we tend to create some artificial distinctions, getting hung up on the differences between annual funds and capital funds and restricted and unrestricted gifts. I don't think those distinctions are very meaningful to individuals sitting in the donor's chair. It's rather more important to break down hurdles.

I think the key to it is sitting in the donor's chair and thinking about what you are saying and how they may interpret what you've said. Additionally, being open and attentive to donors' thoughts and needs is paramount to a successful campaign.

What are some of the ways you are reaching them?

We are working to engage alumni into our school in new ways. This year, for the first time ever, we held an alumni career day that brought more than 30 alumni to campus. They made presentations to upper school students about how to prepare for various careers, the best college majors for getting there and what working in those careers is like. We had doctors and lawyers, real estate professionals, entrepreneurs and people from entertainment and the arts.

We're also visiting key cities with clusters of alumni and offering social events to engage their interest and provide them with a way to talk about the school's long-range plans. We held one recently in New York City that went very well, and another one is scheduled in Atlanta for the spring.

The school is in the process of developing a new Web site that is more user-friendly, and we've worked to improve the quality of our publications. We produce a magazine for the school community that is published twice a year, an annual report, and then in any given year, we do two or three other publications. We have for the first time published an alumni directory that will soon be available online.

How would you characterize the challenges and opportunities faced by today's donors?

One of the things I've noticed as a challenge is financial pressure on parents due to rising tuition. Whereas traditionally, independent day schools relied strongly on parents for support, it has become more difficult for them to support us in the same way they have in the past because they are stretched already through paying tuition. As a result, we rely more now on alumni to help us with fundraising.

The parameters of fundraising in some ways always remain the same. You hope to match your school's "case" with donors' interests. With our alumni, we make a good case that their experience here was formative in helping them achieve their success so it's natural that they would like to help provide a similar experience for future students.

Some parents have a special interest in new programs. A group of parents last year gave us equipment to start a wrestling program. These dads thought it would be a great addition to the school's athletic offerings. The same was true with a gift for a strings program provided by a grandparent with a special interest in strings music education.

Another specific way we communicate with our donors is by making them aware that instruction has changed significantly and so has the way in which students learn. Under the old educational model, instruction was primarily by lecture. The teachers were the experts and their job was to impart knowledge to students. That model is changing partly because of technology. Teachers now are doing more coaching, mentoring and leading inquiry. There is more directing and less of the teachers being the sole expert in the classroom. There is much more hands-on work.

This article is from the December 2007 issue of BriefCASE.
Please share your questions and comments with Pam Russell via e-mail at russell@case.org or by telephone at +1-202-478-5680.