From the Nominator

"At The Miami Valley School, our annual fund campaign serves as a significant source of critical annual revenue. Student tuition only covers 80% of the school's operating revenue, and we utilize every dollar raised to have an impact across all of our divisions. 

In 2021, the MVS Advancement team created a robust, engaging, and comprehensive annual fund campaign that has helped us achieve a significant portion of our goal to fill in this revenue gap, making the difference between a school that gets by and a school that truly thrives. Armed with a strong eight-week plan that combined social media, email communication, and in-person promotion, we saw a significant increase in both parent giving and participation. We also created a campaign for faculty and staff, yielding increased participation over the previous years. 

Campaign results have been significant, especially in parent giving. In 2020, we had raised $33,970 from 65 parents between July 1 and December 31. In 2021, we raised nearly double that amount--$66,628 from 86 parents--over the same period of time.

 We also made a special effort to engage our faculty and staff in annual giving, as their giving behavior serves as a model for other constituents to give. We celebrated their annual fund participation with special treats, including a homemade crepe station, which was a huge hit and really made employees feel appreciated. As a result, employee giving increased from 56% in 2020 to 74% in 2021 even before the year was over!"

From the Judges

We liked the data-driven approach that guided the messaging in this campaign, as well as the variety of videos and integrated solicitations. This team used  their storytelling effectively to communicate the impact of giving.