From the Nominator

During the pandemic and restrictions period (spring 2020-23), Taipei American School (TAS) paused active fundraising. In SY23-24, the first year free of pandemic restrictions, our new CAO was tasked with bringing back a fundraising program. She decided to introduce a proper unrestricted annual fund. In October 2023, our CAO coordinated a matching gift challenge of $125,000 from an anonymous donor. The advancement team developed “3 Weeks to 300,” a participation campaign during which the community would have three weeks in December to give a total of 300 gifts of any size, to unlock $100,000. When this goal was met in week two of the challenge, a stretch goal of 600 total gifts was introduced, with a reward of an additional $25,000. Pre-existing community perceptions of the impact of giving suggested that only major donations with naming recognition made a difference to the school. The campaign's goal was to educate our community about philanthropy in an engaging and fun way, conveying that annual giving is accessible to all and that when a community gives together, it is more impactful than giving alone.  The campaign far surpassed our expectations, resulting in a noteworthy sum of over $250,000 raised from the collective contributions of more than 780 donors. Particularly notable was the 13% increase in parent participation in giving compared to the corresponding period in the 2022-2023 school year.

From the Judges

This is a strong plan for a small shop to reintroduce an annual fund campaign. We like the revamped "let's get back to business" approach to reengaging audiences and setting measurable goals. "Three weeks to 300" is a clever way to show urgency and teamwork. The prospect pool to donor ratio was very good, as were the funds raised relative to the pool and expenses.